First of all, I would like to acknowledge the sad circumstances that gives context to this question and would like to offer my deepest condolences to the family concerned.
I understand this question is being asked of all Government Departments and each Minister will reply on behalf of their Department in relation to their own employees. On foot of advice received and in the interest of customer and staff safety, all Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection offices closed on 16th October 2017. Staff and customers were advised of this using all available channels including internal email, media as well as the Department’s website and Twitter account.
My Department did issue a notice in relation to whether employees had a statutory right to be paid in the event of severe weather events like 16th October last, as responsibility for the Payment of Wages Act is within my remit: https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Do-employees-have-a-statutory-right-to-be-paid-for-non-attendance-at-work-due-to-severe-weather-conditions.aspx.
The notice was in line with the guidance provided by the Workplace Relations Commission on this matter.
The recent transfer of functions in the area of Labour Affairs did not include Occupational Health and Safety policy and legislation, which remains the responsibility of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
