Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017 (the “Bill”), as currently drafted, proposes a ban on “zero hours” contracts with the exception of situations involving genuine casual work, emergency cover or short-term relief work. 

A zero hours contract of employment is a type of employment contract where the employee is required to be available for work but does not have specified hours of work.

The Bill also proposes the introduction of “banded hours” contracts so that employees on low-hour contracts, who consistently work more hours each week than provided for in their contracts of employment, will be entitled to be placed in a band of hours that better reflects the reality of the hours they have worked over a reference period.

In addition, the Bill sets out core terms of employment which must be provided to an employee within 5 days of commencing employment. Currently, employers have 2 months to provide an employee with a written statement setting out certain information in respect of their employment. 

Please click here to read the current version of the Bill.

For further information, please contact your usual contact in the ByrneWallace Employment Law team.