Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 5, to delete lines 27 to 30 and in page 6, to delete lines 1 to 11 and substitute the following:

" "basic working and employment conditions" means terms and conditions of employment required to be included in a contract of employment by virtue of any enactment or collective agreement, or any arrangement that applies generally in respect of employees, or any class of employees, of a hirer, and that relate to—

(a) pay,

(b) working time,

(c) rest periods,

(d) rest breaks during the working day,

(e) night work,

(f) annual leave, or

(g) public holidays;".

Amendment No. 3, to the definition of what constitutes basic working and employment conditions, expands the definition by including a reference to the fact that these terms arise under contracts of employment deriving under any enactment, collective agreement or other arrangement that applies generally to employees, or any class of employees, of a hirer. An amendment I proposed, and that was accepted, on Committee Stage inadvertently dropped the important words that it applies generally to employees, or any class of employees, of a hirer. This qualification needs to be reinserted into the definition to ensure there is clarity around the fact that the terms that apply generally in respect of employees under any enactment or collective agreement, or that are generally applicable, apply also to temporary agency workers. That principle in these areas, if it is provided for in an agreement, must also be applied to the agency workers.

Amendment No. 8 does not propose any substantive amendment to the definition of the constituent elements of pay that are already included in the Bill. Rather, it is linked to amendment No. 3 in that it proposes to move, from the definition section of basic working and employment conditions to a more logical position under the definition of pay, the items that are specifically referenced in the second paragraph of Article 5.4 of the directive which includes sick pay and pension arrangements.

See this speech in context