FAQ

Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, it is the employer who decides the times at which a worker takes their annual leave having regard to work requirements. However, the employer is obliged, when making such a decision, to take into account the needs of the worker to reconcile work and family responsibilities as well as the opportunities for rest and recreation that the worker has available to them.

Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, if an employee works eight months or more in a leave year then they are entitled to an unbroken period of two weeks annual leave.

All employees are entitled to paid annual leave that is taken in accordance with the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 lays down the amount of annual leave that an employee is entitled to. In accordance with this Act annual leave is based on the hours that the employee has worked.

The method that is used to calculate an employees annual leave entitlement is set out in the Act as follows:

– Four working weeks annual leave, where the employee works more than 1,365 hours in the leave year

– Or if the employee works less than 1,365 hour in the year then

Either

• 1/3 of a working week where the employee works at least 117 hours in a calendar month

OR

• 8% of the hours the employee worked in the leave year (to a maximum of four working weeks per year)

An employee may receive more annual leave than is laid down in the Act (in accordance with their contract of employment) but they cannot receive less.

The Act provides a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that a contravention of the Act has occurred.

A comparable permanent employee is a permanent employee to whom a fixed-term employee compares himself/herself where the following conditions are met:

• the permanent employee and the fixed-term employee are employed by the same or associated employer and one of the following conditions are met:

• both employees perform the same work under the same or similar conditions or each is interchangeable with the other in relation to the work
• the work performed by one of the employees concerned is of the same or a similar nature to that performed by the other
• the work performed by the relevant fixed-term employee is equal or greater in value to the work performed by the other employee concerned, having regard to such matters as skill, physical or mental requirements, responsibility and working conditions

OR

• the employee is employed in the same industry or sector of employment as the fixed-term employee and one of the conditions referred to above is met

OR

the permanent employee is specified in a collective agreement, being an agreement that for the time being has effect in relation to the relevant fixed-term employee, to be a comparable employee in relation to the fixed-term employee

A fixed-term employee may be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable permanent employee where such treatment can be justified on objective grounds.  An objective ground means a reason which is based on something other than the status of the employee as a fixed-term employee. The less favourable treatment must also be for the purpose of achieving a legitimate objective of the employer and such treatment is necessary for that purpose

A fixed-term employee can be treated less favourably than a comparable permanent employee in relation to any pension scheme or arrangement when his/her normal hours of work constitutes less than 20 per cent of the normal hours of work of the comparable permanent employee.

• A fixed-term worker cannot be in receipt of less favourable terms and conditions of employment than the comparable permanent employee.
• All employee protection legislation, other than unfair dismissal in certain circumstances, applies to a fixed-term employee in the same manner as a permanent employee. Any qualifying conditions applying to permanent employees in any of that legislation, also apply to a fixed-term employee
• An employer cannot continually issue fixed-term contracts. If the fixed-term employee has been engaged on two or more continuous contracts where the aggregate duration exceeds 4 years, then if the contract is renewed again, it is deemed to be a contract of indefinite duration, unless the employer has objective grounds for renewing the contract again on a fixed-term basis. (i.e. the reason for not granting it should not be the fixed-term status of the employee but could be other legitimate but measurable reasons)
• The Act provides that where an employer proposes to renew a fixed-term contract the employee shall be informed in writing, not later than the date of renewal, of the objective grounds justifying the renewal of the fixed-term contract and the failure to offer a contract of indefinite duration.
• Fixed-term employees must be provided with the same opportunity as other employees to secure any permanent positions in the employment and an employer shall inform fixed-term employees in relation to relevant vacancies which occur in the undertaking.
• Fixed-term employees must be provided with appropriate training opportunities, such access shall be provided by an employer as far as practicable.

The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 gives protection to fixed-term employees. An employee is deemed a fixed-term employee where the end of a contract is determined by:

• The arrival of a specific date; or
• The completion of a specific task; or
• The occurrence of a specific event (e.g. a worker returning from maternity leave where cover was given by a fixed-term employee)

In general the Act applies to any fixed-term employee:

• Working under a contract of employment or apprenticeship
• Holding office under, or in the service of, the State
• Agency workers employed directly by an employment agency

The Act does not apply to:

• Agency workers placed by an employment agency at the disposition of a user enterprise
• Apprentices
• A member of the Defence Forces
• Trainee garda or a trainee nurse
• Employees in initial vocational training or in apprenticeship schemes nor employees with a contract of employment concluded within the framework of a publicly-supported training, integration or vocational retraining programme.

The Act provides a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that a contravention of the Act has occurred.

The Act does not affect the right of an employer or employee to terminate a contract of employment without notice due to the misconduct of the other party.

Due to your service with your employer, the notice period you are entitled to under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005 is two weeks-notice. Your employer is therefore giving you more notice then the Act requires. While your employer may give you more notice than the Act requires, they cannot give you less.

Yes. Part-time workers, regardless of the number of hours worked, are also covered by the

Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005.

The Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005 provide that employees in continuous service with the same employer for at least 13 weeks are entitled to a minimum period of notice before their employer may dismiss them.

The notice periods are based on your service with your employer and are as follows:

The Act provides a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that a contravention of the Act has occurred.

Casual employees can be treated less favourably. The following circumstances may define an employee as being casual:

• The employee has been working for less than 13 weeks; and
• The period of service and any previous period of service could not be reasonably considered to constitute regular or seasonal employment;

The employee fulfils conditions for casual employment specified in a collective agreement that has been approved by the Labour Court

A comparable employee is a full-time employee to whom a part-time employee compares himself/herself where the following conditions are met:

• where the comparable employee and the part-time employee are employed by the same or associated employer and one of the following conditions is met:

• both employees perform the same work under the same or similar conditions or each is interchangeable with the other in relation to the work
• the work performed by one of the employees concerned is of the same or a similar nature to that performed by the other
• the work performed by the part-time employee is equal or greater in value to the work performed by the other employee concerned, having regard to such matters as skill, physical or mental requirements, responsibility and working conditions

OR

• the full-time employee is employed in the same industry or sector of employment as the part-time employee and one of the conditions referred to above is met

OR

the full-time employee is specified in a collective agreement to be a comparable employee in relation to the part-time employee

A part-time employee may be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable full-time employee where such treatment can be justified on objective grounds.  An objective ground means a reason which is based on something other than the status of the employee as a part-time employee. The less favourable treatment must also be for the purpose of achieving a legitimate objective of the employer and such treatment is necessary for that purpose

A part-time employee can be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee in relation to any pension scheme or arrangement when his/her normal hours of work constitutes less than 20 per cent of the normal hours of work of the comparable full-time employee.

All employee protection legislation applies to part-time employees in the same manner as it already applies to full-time employees

The Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act, 2001 covers all part-time employees where a part-time employee is an employee whose normal working hours are less than those of a comparable full-time employee (e.g. the part-time employee works 15 hours per week whereas the full working week is 39 hours)

In general, the Act applies to any part-time employee:

• working under a contract of employment or apprenticeship
• employed through an employment agency
• holding office under, or in the service of, the State
• In the case of agency workers, the party who is liable to pay the wages (employment agency or client company) will, normally, be deemed to be the employer for the purposes of the Act

The Acts provide a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that a contravention of the Act has occurred.

The Payment of Wages Act 1991 does not require employers to pay sick pay to employees. If, however, your contract of employment or a collective agreement provides for sick pay and you do not receive it, you may be able to make a claim under the Act.

Sick Pay and Sick Leave

In general the matter of sick pay and sick leave is not covered under employment rights legislation. Policy on sick pay and sick leave in individual companies may be decided by the employer and agreed as part of the employee’s terms and conditions of employment or may be set out through collective agreements negotiated between employers and employee representatives.

The Payment of Wages Act 1991 prevents employers from making deductions from wages or from receiving payment from their workers unless:

• required to do so by law (e.g. PAYE or PRSI)
• the deduction is provided for in the contract of employment (e.g. if the contact requires an employee to make pension contributions or to pay for till shortages etc.)
• the deduction is made with the written consent of the employee (e.g. private health insurance payments etc.)

However, if the deduction or the receipt of payment:

• arises from any act or omission of the employee (e.g. breakages)

Or

• is in respect of the supply to the employee by the employer of goods or services that are necessary to the employment (e.g. uniforms supplied)

then, it must be authorised by virtue of a term in the employee’s contract of employment

and

the employee must be given at some time prior to the act or omission, or the provision of the goods or services, written details of the terms in the contract of employment governing the deduction or payment to the employer from wages or written notice that such a term exists

and

the amount of the deduction must be fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances including the amount of the wages of the employee

and

if the deduction relates to an act or omission by the employee, the employee must be given written details of the act or omission at least one week before the deduction is made.

The modes of payment prescribed in Payment of Wages Act 1991 include cheque, credit transfer, cash, postal/money order and bank draft.

The Payment of Wages Act 1991 requires all employers to provide all employees with a written statement of their gross wages and any deductions made.

Yes there are minimum rates of pay and these are contained in the National Minimum Wage Act (as amended)

The current minimum rates of pay (as at April 2020) are:

• For the purposes of the national minimum wage your gross wage is your basic salary and any shift premium, bonus or service charge.
• If you receive food and accommodation from your employer, the following amounts are included in the minimum wage calculation:

€0.87 per hour for full board only

€23.15 for lodgings only per week, or €3.32 per day

• There are a number of items that are not to be included in the minimum wage calculation, these are:

Overtime premium, Call-out premium, Service pay, Unsocial hours premium, Tips which are placed in a central fund managed   by the employer and paid as part of your wages, Premiums for working public holidays, Saturdays or Sundays, Allowances for special or additional duties, On-call or standby allowances, Certain payments in relation to absences from work, for example, sick pay, holiday pay or pay during health and safety leave, Payment connected with leaving the employment including retirement, Contributions paid by the employer into any occupational pension scheme available to you, An advance payment of, for example, salary: the amount involved will be taken into account for the period in which it would normally have been paid, Payment in kind or benefit in kind, other than board and/or lodgings, Payment not connected with the employee’s employment, Compensation for injury or loss of tools, Award as part of a staff suggestion scheme, Loan by the employer to employees, Redundancy Payments

• The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 (as amended) applys to all employees except the following:

1. close relatives of the employer such as a spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, brother and sister

2. apprentices

• Minimum rates of pay for particular categories of employees may also be contained in Employment Regulation Orders  (EROs), Registered Employment Agreements (REAs) and Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs).

The two main pieces of legislation governing pay at work are:

The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 (as amended)

And

The Payment of Wages Act 1991

Separately, you may also have a particular rate of pay which is included in your contract of employment or perhaps it is contained in a collective agreement which forms part of your contract.

The Acts provide a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that his/her employer has failed to provide a written statement in accordance with the terms of the Acts or failed to notify the employee of changes to the particulars contained in the statement

No, it is not. A contract of employment and the terms of the contract that you have agreed with your employer can be made orally, in writing, implied through custom and practice, implied through statute or a combination of all or any of these.

An employer is also required to notify an employee of any changes to the particulars contained in the written statement within 1 month after the change takes effect

Regulations made under the Acts require employers to give their employees who are under 18 years of age a copy of the official summary of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996 within one month of taking up a job

In the case of agency workers, the party who is liable to pay the wages (employment agency or client company) is the employer for the purposes of the Acts and is responsible for providing the written statements.

In general, the Acts apply to any person:

• Working under a contract of employment or apprenticeship
• Employed through an employment agency
• In the service of the State (including members of the Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces, Civil Servants and employees of any local authority, health board, harbour authority, the Health Service Executive or education and training board)

• The Acts do not apply to a person who has been in the continuous service of the employer for less than 1 month.

Under the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 (as amended) your employer must provide you with the following:

Within 5 days of commencing employment;

1. a written statement setting out the full names of the employer and the employee,
2. the address of the employer,
3. the start and end date or duration of the contract,
4. the rate and method of pay,
5. the number of hours which the employer reasonably expects the employee to work per normal working day and per normal working week;

Within 2 months of commencing employment;

1. a written statement setting out the place of work,
2. the title of the job or nature of the work,
3. the date of commencement of the contract of employment,
4. when the employee will be paid,
5. a reference to any REA or ERO that applies,
6. that the employee may request a written statement of their average hourly rate of pay, any terms or conditions relating to hours of work (including overtime), any terms or conditions relating to paid leave (other than paid sick leave), any terms or conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury and paid sick leave, and pensions and pension schemes,
7. the period of notice which the employee is required to give and entitled to receive
8. a reference to any collective agreements which directly affect the employee’s employment.

The Act provides a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, where a person who claims to have been discriminated against or harassed or subjected to victimisation or not to be receiving equal pay or a benefit under an equality clause may seek redress

Penalising a person for making a complaint of discrimination or for giving evidence in someone else’s complaint or lawfully opposing unlawful discrimination is called victimisation and the  Act specifically protects a person against such victimisation.

Sexual Harassment is unlawful under the Employment Equality Acts and is defined as:

• Acts of physical intimacy

OR

• Requests for sexual favours

OR

• Words or gestures

OR

• The production, display or circulation of written words or pictures

which,  are unwelcome and which have the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person.

Harassment is unlawful and is defined as any form of unwanted conduct related to any of the nine discriminatory grounds, which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person.

Such unwanted conduct may consist of:

• Acts

OR

• Requests, spoken words, gestures

OR

• The production, display or circulation of written words, pictures or other material

The Acts outlaw discrimination in work-related areas such as pay, vocational training, access to employment, work experience and promotion. The Acts also outlaw the publication of discriminatory advertisements and discrimination by employment agencies, vocational training bodies and certain other bodies.

Under the Employment Equality Act 1998 to 2014, employers cannot discriminate against employees in any aspect of the employment relationship on any of the following grounds as laid down in Equality Acts:

• Gender
• Family status
• Civil status
• Religion
• Age
• Sexual Orientation
• Disability
• Race
• Membership of the Travelling Community

Yes. Employers are obliged to have proper formal and informal procedures in place for the processing of complaints by employees.

The Health and Safety Authority produced a code of practice on the prevention and resolution of workplace bullying in 2007.

This code is regularly relied upon by the Courts as being the yardstick definition of bullying as follows:

“repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work and/or in the course of employment, which could reasonably regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work”

• The Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work was introduced in 2007 under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and is a code for both employers and employees and is administered by the Health and Safety Authority.
• The Code of Practice detailing Procedures for Addressing Bullying in the Workplace is made under the Industrial Relations Act 1990 and is administered by the Workplace Relations Commission.

There is no employment law statute which outlaws bullying per se but an employer who engages in bullying, or tolerates such inappropriate behaviour, risks being sued for personal injury resulting from such behaviour and would also be in breach of the duty of care explicit in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 for the protection of the health and welfare of the employee.

The Regulations provide a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, by an employee or his or her trade union, where an employer has contravened their obligations to the employee under the Regulations

The employer must discuss details of any measures envisaged in relation to the employees with the employees’ representatives “with a view to reaching an agreement”. Where there are no representatives, the employers must arrange for the employees to choose representatives for this purpose.

Yes. Both the original and new employer must inform their respective employees’ representatives of the date of the transfer, the reasons for the transfer and the legal, social and economic implications of the transfer. This must be done, where reasonably practicable, not later than 30 days before the transfer date, and in any event in good time before the transfer is carried out (or in the case of the new employer, in good time before the employees are directly affected by the transfer regarding conditions of employment).

The obligations on the part of an employer, in a transfer situation, do not apply where the outgoing employer is subject to proceedings whereby he could be adjudicated bankrupt, or where a company could be wound up for reasons of insolvency, by order of the High Court.

No, an employee may not be dismissed by reason of the transfer of an undertaking.

If an employee’s contract of employment is terminated because a transfer involves a substantial change in working conditions to the detriment of the employee, the employer concerned is regarded as having been responsible for the termination.

However, dismissals for “economic technical or organisational reasons entailing changes in the workforce” are not prohibited.

No. The rule under the Regulations which acts to protect the contractual rights of employees in a transfer situation, does not apply in respect of employee’s rights to old age, invalidity or survivor’s benefits under supplementary company or inter-company pension schemes outside the Social Welfare Acts.

The Regulations provide that the rights and obligations of the original employer (“the transferor”) arising from an employment contract existing at the date of a transfer shall, by reason of such transfer, be transferred to the new employer (“the transferee”).

Also, the transferee must continue to observe the terms and conditions agreed in any collective agreement on the same terms as were applicable to the transferor under that agreement until the date of termination or expiry of the agreement or the entry into force of another collective agreement.

The European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 protects the contractual rights of employees in respect of their employment, in the event that the business or part of the business in which they are employed transfers to another employer.

If an apprentice is dismissed within one month of the completion of their apprenticeship, they are not entitled to a redundancy payment under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967

An apprentice is deemed to be an employee for the purpose of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and is therefore afforded the protections of this legislation. This means that, among other things, an apprentice’s employer owes them a duty of care to protect their safety at work and in turn apprentices have duty to protect their own safety and those with whom they work.

A contract of apprenticeship is not regarded as contract of employment for the purposes of this the Protection of Employees (Fixed-term) Work Act 2003. This means that apprentices do not have any claims under this legislation.

Any period of apprenticeship stands suspended while an apprentice is on Maternity, Adoptive or Parental leave in accordance with the Maternity Protection Acts, the Adoptive Leave Acts and the Parental Leave Acts. This in effect means that the length of apprenticeship is extended by the time spent on leave under these Acts.

Where an employee has been unfairly dismissed they are protected, and may make a claim, under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, subject to them meeting the criteria set down by the Act. Apprentices, however, are not covered by this legislation if their dismissal takes place within six months after the start of the apprenticeship or within one month of the completion of the apprenticeship.

The exceptions to this are if an apprentice is dismissed for:

• trade union membership or activity,
• their race or colour or sexual orientation
• their age
• their membership of the travelling community
• their pregnancy, attendance at ante-natal classes giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected therewith

If the dismissal occurs for any of the above reasons then an apprentice can make a claim at any time.

Apprentices, in general, have different rules applied to them under employment legislation. Apprentices do however, have limited protections under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1997, the Maternity Protection Act 1994, Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Redundancy Payments Act 1967.

: The Act provides that claims are made through the person legally appointed to wind up the business (normally the Liquidator or Receiver), who will certify the claims from the records available, and submit them to the Insolvency Payments Section of the Department of Social Protection to be processed. The Liquidator or Receiver, once they have received the payments from the Department, then makes the payments to the employees

The scheme covers employees who are over 16 years of age and are in employment which is insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts at the date of termination of employment

Yes.

A wage limit of €600 per week applies to all pay-related entitlements payable under the Scheme.

And

There are statutory limits on the amounts of payments and the periods to which they apply.

The main payments payable under the Scheme are arrears of wages, sick pay, holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice due under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts. Payments on foot of adjudication decisions or mediation resolutions under equality, maternity leave, adoptive leave, parental leave and unfair dismissals legislation may also be paid.

The Scheme also pays employees’ outstanding contributions to occupational pension schemes which have been deducted from wages of the employees but not paid into the pension scheme.

The Insolvency Payments Scheme, provided for under the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Acts 1984 to 2012, protects certain outstanding pay-related entitlements of employees in the event of their employer becoming insolvent as per the legislation.

Insolvency includes such circumstances as liquidation, receivership and bankruptcy.

The Act provides a right of complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employee believes that they have been unfairly dismissed

The redress for unfair dismissal is:

• re-instatement in your job

OR

• re-engagement in your job or in a suitable alternative job on conditions which the adjudicating bodies consider reasonable

OR

• where financial loss has occurred, financial compensation

(not exceeding 104 weeks’ pay or, in the case of protected disclosure dismissals, 260 weeks’ pay)

OR

• where no financial loss has occurred, financial compensation of up to 4 weeks’ pay

Dismissals are unfair under the Acts where it is shown that they have resulted wholly or mainly from one or more of the following:

• the employee’s trade union membership or activities, either outside working hours or at those times during working hours when permitted by the employer
• the religious or political opinions of the employee
• the employee having made a protected disclosure
• civil or criminal proceedings against the employer in which the employee is, or is likely to be, involved (as party, complainant or witness)
• the exercise or proposed exercise by the employee of the right to parental leave or force majeure leave under the Parental Leave Act 1998 or carer’s leave under and in accordance with the Carer’s Leave Act 2001
• the race or colour or sexual orientation of the employee
• the age of the employee
• the employee’s membership of the travelling community
• the employee’s pregnancy, attendance at ante-natal classes giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected therewith
• the exercise or proposed exercise by the employee of the right under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004 to any form of protective leave or natal care absence or to time off from work to attend ante-natal classes or to time off from work or a reduction of working hours for breast feeding in accordance
• the exercise or proposed exercise by an employee of the right to adoptive leave, additional adoptive leave or time off to attend certain pre-adoption classes or meetings under the Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005
• the unfair selection of the employee for redundancy
• the employee’s exercising of rights or proposed exercise of rights under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 or under the safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005

An employer who has dismissed an employee must, if asked, furnish in writing within 14 days the reason for the dismissal.

Fixed-term workers have the protection of the Unfair Dismissals Acts. However, the Acts do not cover fixed-term workers whose employment terminates when the contract expires or the purpose ceases, provided the contract is signed by both parties and specifies that the Unfair Dismissals Acts do not apply to the expiry only of the contract.

Agency workers have the protection of the Unfair Dismissals Acts. The person hiring the agency worker (i.e. the end user) is deemed to be the agency workers employer for the purposes of the Acts.

A dismissal may be deemed fair if the principal reason for the dismissal is gross misconduct, lack of competence, capability or by reason of redundancy. The employer has to prove also that he/she acted reasonably in coming to the decision to dismiss and that fair investigative and disciplinary methods were used.

An employee has the protection of the Unfair Dismissals Acts if he/she has at least one year’s continuous service in employment. If the dismissal is for trade union activity, pregnancy or for taking a claim under other designated pieces of employment legislation, then there is protection from day one of employment.

Weekly Working Hours

Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 the maximum average working week is 48 hours. The working week average is calculated in one of the following ways:

–              Over a four month period (which applies to most employees)

–              Over a six month period (for employees working in certain industries)

–              Over a 12 month period (where there is an agreement between the employees and their employer which has been approved by the Labour Court)

(There are different weekly working hours for young people aged under 18 and these are fixed by the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996)

Breaks and Rest Periods

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 lays down what breaks and rest periods an employee is entitled to but it also provides that some employees are exempt from these provisions in certain circumstances.

Therefore, in general, but with some exceptions:

–              An employee is entitled to an 11 hour rest period in each 24 hour period during which they work for their employer.

–              For every 4.5 hours worked, an employee is entitled to a 15 minute break

–              For every 6.5 hours worked an employee is entitled to a 30 minute break

–              In each 7 day period worked, an employee is entitled to a rest period of 24 consecutive hours

The Industrial Relations Act 1990 (Code of Practice for Protecting Persons Employed in Other People’s Homes) (Declaration) Order 2007 introduced a code of practice setting out the current employment rights and protections for persons employed in other people’s homes. This code provides:

• for the obligation to provide a written statement of terms and conditions of employment as required under the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 (as amended)
• for the safeguarding of privacy
• that the employer will not keep any personal document belonging to an employee
• for the treatment of accommodation and making of any deductions from wages
• that all additional duties will be by prior agreement only and out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed promptly
• that the employer will facilitate the employee in the free exercise of personal pursuits
• that the employer will not restrict the employee’s right to trade union membership

The test as to whether a person is an employee or not is generally established by reference to the provisions of existing employment legislation and contract law. This test can arise in a number of situations and it is not the title that has been placed on a worker that decides whether they are an employee or not.

Domestic workers have the same protection under Irish employment legislation as all other employees