Ireland

• Author: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission), European Centre of Expertise (ECE)
• Pages: 30-32

Flash Re por t 1 2/2018

Decem ber 20 18

30

I reland

Sum m ary

(I ) Leg islat ion b anni ng ze ro-hour s cont ract s in most circu mst ances has been enact ed

by the Iri sh Parlia ment.

(I I) Minist erial regu lations have b een m ade exem pting t hose inv olved in breedin g or

tr aini ng of raceh orses from p rovi sions of t he wo rkin g t ime regu lation s.

(III) The Int er nat ional Tr an spor t Wor kers Feder ation refused t emporary in j unct ion,

restra ining the oper ation of the At ypical Fishin g Schem e for non- EEA cr ew.

(I V) Th e

Suprem e Court rules that I r eland has failed to fu lly t ranspose Direct iv e

2008 / 9 4/ EC.

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1 Nation al Le gislat ion

1.1 W orkin g tim e, m inim um w age

The Emp loyment ( Miscellaneou s Provisions) Act 2018 has been en act ed and w ill come

into operation in March 2019 . Th e Act is designed t o address the problem s cau sed by

th e in crea sed casual isat ion of w or k an d t o st ren gt hen the reg ula tion of pr ecari ous wor k.

The key obj ective is to impr ove t he security an d predictability of w or king hours for

em ploy ees on insecu re cont ract s an d those wo rkin g v ariab le an d ir regu lar hour s.

The principal chang es m ad e by the Act to exist ing legislation such as the Term s of

Emp loym ent (Inform at ion) Act 19 94 and t he Organisation of Working Tim e Act 1997

ar e:

• Employees to be bet t er informed ab ou t th e nature of their employ m en t

arrangem ents w ith in five day s of com men cing their employ ment;

• Proh ibit ion of ze ro-hour s contract s in most cir cumstances; an d

• Int r oduction of a banded hour s pr ov ision so t hat employ ees are ent itled t o be

pla ced o n a band of hour s th at bette r r eflect s t he r ealit y o f t he h ours t hey w ork .

Amendm ent s have also been m ade to the National Min im um Wage Act 200 0 so as t o

inter alia abolish the subm inim um rate s for tr ainees.

The Min ister for Em ploy m en t Affair s and Social Prot ection has pr om u lgat ed the

European Communities ( Organisat ion of Wor k in g Time) (General Exempt ions)

(Amendm ent) Regulat ions 2 018 . These Regulations, which cam e in to operat ion on 19

Dece mber 2018, pr ovide th at the ter m ‘ agricul tur e’ in the Sched ule t o t he Org anisati on

of Wo rking Tim e (Ge neral Exem pt ions) Regu lations 199 8 in cludes ‘ the carin g for or t he

rearing for or the breeding or the t raining of raceh orses’ and con sequently, such

act iv ities ar e now exempt ed fr om t he pr ov isions of th e Organisat ion of Work ing Time

Act 199 7 reg arding rest per iods and breaks.

2 Cou rt Rulings

2.1 At ypica l W orkin g Sche me for m igran t f ishe rm en

High Court, No. 20 18 53 98 P, 07 December 2018, I nternation al Tr an spor t Wor kers’

Feder atio n v Minister for Justi ce and Equality

The High Court has reject ed an applicat ion by t h e I nternation al Tr anspor t Wor kers’

Feder ation f or a tem porary inj unction restrain in g t he Minist er for Justice an d Equ alit y