Vol. 531 No. 3
100 Mr. P. Carey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether it is fair that long-term illness patients, for example diabetics, who have to attend hospitals for regular check-ups are in some cases forced by their employers to take a day of annual leave to cover these appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5939/01]
In general, conditions of employment in excess of statutory entitlements are not regulated by law but are determined by negotiation and agreement between employers and employees or a trade union acting on their behalf. Any dispute arising in relation to the operation of sick pay schemes or authorised absences from employment fall, therefore, to be settled either between the parties involved or by availing of the State's industrial relations dispute settling machinery as provided for under the Industrial Relations Acts. In the event of the employees being unable to resolve their difficulties with management on this issue it would be open to them to refer the matter to the Labour Relations Commission for investigation under the Industrial Relations Acts.
Anyone who works for an employer for a regular wage or salary has automatically a contract of employment whether written or not. A contract of employment, for the purposes of employment legislation, may be expressed or implied, oral or in writing. Many of the terms of a contract of employment may emerge from the common law, statutes or collective agreements made through trade unions or may be derived from the custom or practice in a particular industry.
The Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 which has effect from 16 May 1994, requires employers to provide employees with a written statement of certain particulars of the employee's terms of employment. The Act, in general, applies to any person working under a contract of employment or apprenticeship; employed through an employment agency or in the service of the State including members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, civil servants and employees of any local authority, health board, harbour authority or vocational education committee.
The Act does not apply to a person who is normally required to work for the employer for less than eight hours a week or who has been in the continuous service of the employer for less than one month.
In the case of agency workers, the party who pays the wages, employment agency or client company is the employer for the purposes of this Act and is responsible for providing the written statement.
The written statement of particulars must be provided by the employer within two months of the date of commencement of employment. In the case of employees whose employment commenced before 16 May 1994, the commencement date of the Act, the written statement must be provided by the employer within two months of being requested to do so by the employee.
The written statement, which is not, of itself, a contract must include particulars of the terms of employment relating to the name and address of the employer, the place of work, job title-nature of the work, date of commencement of employment, nature of contract, temporary or fixed term, pay and pay intervals, hours of work, including overtime, paid leave, incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, pensions and pension schemes, notice entitlements, collective agreements.
The Act provides a right of complaint to a Rights Commissioner where an employee believes that his or her employer has failed to provide a written statement in accordance with the terms of the Act or failed to notify the employee of changes to the particulars contained in the statement. There is a right of appeal by either party to the Employment Appeals Tribunal from a recommendation of a rights commissioner.
