Workplace Relations Act to come into operation on 1 October 2015
Tuesday, 09 June 2015Minister Richard Bruton yesterday announced that the Workplace Relations Act 2015 will come into operation on 1 October 2015. The Act was signed into law by the President last month, but required an order of the Minister to come into operation.
The Act will streamline the operation of the State’s employment-rights and industrial-relations bodies. It will reduce forum-shopping and duplication of claims, limit rights of appeal to the civil courts and provide for alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.
In an unprecedented institutional reform, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Equality Tribunal and the office of rights commissioner will all be abolished. All first-instance employment claims will be heard by adjudication officers and all appeals will be heard by the Labour Court. The current functions of the Labour Relations Commission will be subsumed into the new Workplace Relations Commission.
The Act will also make some changes to substantive employment law. In particular, private-sector employees who are absent from work for long periods because of illness will be entitled to accrue annual leave during their sick leave and (Subject to certain limitations) to take that accrued annual leave after their sick leave ends.
The Act will significantly expand the powers of the labour inspectorate (NERA). NERA inspectors will be empowered to serve "compliance notices" which will oblige employers to comply with the directions of those inspectors, on pain of criminal prosecution. Inspectors will also have limited powers to impose on-the-spot fines for certain breaches of employment law. In both cases, employers will have the right to challenge the views of the inspectors in the appropriate courts and tribunals.
For further information on the Act, please contact Michael Kennedy or Loughlin Deegan from our Employment Law Team.
(c) Byrne Wallace
