Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is an obligation on the WRC to make employees aware of their rights and employers aware of their obligations under employment law. Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 would add an unnecessary burden on employers for little practical benefit to employees. Employers could be required to reproduce and somehow display in the workplace the equivalent of the bulk of the material available on, for example, the website of the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, or even a synopsis of same in plain English and, as Deputy Calleary suggested, other languages. I am not sure that this would be feasible. That said and to the best of my recollection, certain codes of practice are required to be available on site to all staff. Importantly, staff joining an organisation are required to be appraised of those codes so as to ensure that people are in compliance.

The obligations on employers Under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act are more appropriate. The Act requires employers to provide each employee with a written statement of his or her terms of employment and to notify the employee of any change in the particulars as given in that statement.

As stated previously, I will consider how best to improve compliance with that Act and I will not accept this amendment.

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