Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation. In addition, the State’s industrial relations machinery, which is voluntary in nature, can support parties in their efforts to resolve their differences.
In this specific case, both sides availed themselves of this machinery in 2012 when the Labour Court issued a recommendation. The court recommended that the parties bring their issues to the Labour Relations Commission for conciliation, and that, if not resolved at conciliation, they could be referred back to the court under section 20(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1969, by which both parties could agree to be bound by the court’s recommendation. I understand the parties attended the hearing of the commission. The matter was not referred back to the Labour Court under section 20(2).
It is not clear, based on the information available to me, that this is a position of the same employer doing as the Deputy describes. I note that, while there is one individual in common, there are differences in the directorships of the legal entity that has reduced staff and the separate legal entities the Deputy indicates have taken on workers. Under company law, a company has a separate legal identity from its directors and shareholders. Any concern regarding corporate compliance may be brought to the attention of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
In the absence of specifics, it is difficult to ascertain which employee protections may apply. However, the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 and the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006 contain protections in the area of transfer of undertakings. A complaint may be brought to a rights commissioner who shall determine whether there was a breach of the regulations. The Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Act 2007 addresses the scenario whereby an employer seeks to replace existing employees with new employees working for lower pay or other less favourable terms and conditions. A complaint alleging a breach of this legislation may be referred to the Secretary General of my Department for consideration by the redundancy panel or the Labour Court.
Employees may be entitled to compensation pursuant to the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2013, which include provisions regarding lay-offs. Where an employer can prove to the satisfaction of the Department of Social Protection that it is unable to pay the statutory redundancy to its eligible employees, that Department will make lump sum payments directly to the employees.
