David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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We should be aware of the distinction. There are some contracts and some workers who know what their hours are on a weekly basis. They are on fixed hours. They know that they start at 8.30 a.m. and that they finish at 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday. In those circumstances there is no need to display their hours. In situations where a worker does not know his or her hours from week to week, there are already mechanisms in place where employers will communicate what those hours are. There has to be, otherwise how would an employee know what hours they do?

The problem is that, very often, the workers get the notice too late and it does not allow them to plan for the week ahead. In situations where there are no set hours, but there is a number of hours although the times may vary, all we are asking is that notices be placed in a manner and form which is appropriate to both the employer and the employee. That can be worked out in a reasonable way at a local level. This is one of the many issues that came up. It is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue by far was the low hour contracts and the fact that many of these workers are on contracts which are not reflective of the hours that they do. The problem is, not so much that they are not getting the hours, but that when they raise concerns about different aspects of their employment they can then be subject to sanction by some unscrupulous employers. I have to say the vast majority of employers are not unscrupulous, and do not engage in these sharp practices, but we have a responsibility to put in place legislation to protect workers from those who do.