Employment Rights

Thursday, 28 September 2017

Questions (81)

Michael McGrath

Question:

81. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 141 of 20 September 2017, if the legal obligation to comply with the order in terms of rates of pay and so on only relates to the employer concerned; if there will be an obligation on the end user of the employee's services in which, for example, an agency is the employer but a building contractor is the end user of the employee's services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41074/17]

View answer

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation

Ireland has a robust suite of employment legislation which applies where an employer/employee relationship exists. In general, in the case of agency workers, the party who pays the wages is the employer for the purposes of employment legislation.

Specifically in relation to Sectoral Employment Orders, Section 19 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 provides that once enacted by the Oireachtas, the terms and conditions relating to the remuneration and any sick pay scheme or pension scheme set out in the Sectoral Employment Agreement will apply to every worker of the class, type or group in the economic sector in relation to which the Order was made and to the employers of such workers regardless of whether the employer is an agency or a construction firm.

Queries in relation to the application of a Sectoral Employment Order fall under the remit of Adjudication Service of the Workplace Relations Commission and ultimately the Labour Court.