Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 March 2017
367. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the legislation she plans to develop to prevent and penalise exploitation in the workplace; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10936/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland has a comprehensive suite of employment rights legislation including measures to prevent exploitation in the workforce. We have a well-resourced labour inspectorate, which forms part of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). In addition, where an individual believes they are being deprived of employment rights applicable to employees, they may refer a complaint to the WRC where the matter can be dealt with by way of mediation or adjudication leading to a decision enforceable through the District Court. Anti-penalisation and victimisation provisions are strong in Irish employment rights legislation e.g. a former employee can be awarded compensation of up to five years' remuneration for unfair dismissal on the grounds of having made a protected disclosure.
In conjunction with my colleague Minister Mitchell-O'Connor, I intend to bring forward proposals dealing with the Programme for Government commitments to tackle the increasing casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious employment for consideration by Government. We intend to include protections aimed particularly at low-paid, more vulnerable workers. Our proposals will address the issue of workers on low hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week but whose contracts do not reflect the reality of their hours worked. The proposals will also seek to ensure that employees are better informed about the nature of their employment arrangements and their core terms at an early stage in their employment.
The policy response is being informed by the University of Limerick (UL) study on zero hour contracts and low hour contracts as well as the extensive material and practical examples provided by respondents to the public consultation conducted by my Department. My Department is currently engaged in a dialogue process with ICTU and IBEC to secure broad agreement before proposals are finalised. This work is being progressed as expeditiously as possible and is nearing conclusion. The intention is to bring our proposals to Government in Q1 2017.
