| | | | | | | Employment Law Update | | The Law Society Newsletter - Tuesday, 03 August, 2010 | | | | | This article provides a review of recent employment law practice and procedure initiatives and case law developments.
The Minister for Labour Affairs and Public Service Transformation, Mr Dara Calleary TD, speaking at the conference, 'Industrial Relations Act 1990 – Twenty Years On' on 17th July, 2010 in UCD, said his Department is currently considering a number of reforms of the employment rights system. The Minister advised that he is currently consulting with the various employment rights bodies and users to ascertain how resource-saving changes might be implemented. Such an initiative is taken against an already-changing backdrop, with the Equality Tribunal having transferred from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the newly-constructed Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. Furthermore, the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008, when enacted, is expected to bring additional substantive changes to the practice and procedure of employment law.
In a further sign of the stresses being imposed on the current system, the Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey, speaking at the same conference, said the services at the Labour Relations Commission are overwhelmed. He said that, due to the thousands of referrals currently being received by the Commission, investigating all of the cases is impossible.
In relation to recent case law, a recent High Court decision of Mr Justice Hedigan on 30th June, 2010, in respect of a Judicial Review from the Labour Court, upheld the validity of a Registered Employment Agreement (REA) relating to the electrical contracting industry. The applicants who were electrical contractors had in various ways set out to challenge the validity and constitutionality of the REA. It was argued in the Labour Court that the rates of pay under the REA were highly punitive in the current economic climate. The applicants further asserted that the REA was not representative of the electrical industry taken as a whole. In rejecting the application, the High Court held that the Industrial Relations Act 1946 does not provide for cancellation of an REA on grounds of representativity.
In a separate decision of Mr Justice Hedigan on 13th May, 2010, in respect of a Judicial Review from a determination of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, it was held that, for a penalisation claim under the health & safety legislation alleging unfair dismissal, the service rule (i.e. one-year) under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977-2007 applies. Previously, it was widely understood that that a penalisation claim under the health & safety legislation alleging unfair dismissal was an exception to the one-year service requirement rule under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977-2007. | | |
For further information, please contact Rory O’Boyle.
Secretary to the Employment & Equality Law Committee |
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