Terms of Employment

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.