Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017 proposes to introduce measures to improve the security and predictability of working hours for employees who work under insecure contracts and also those who work variable hours. The Bill addresses areas that have been identified where current employment rights legislation should be strengthened to the benefit of employees, particularly low-paid more vulnerable workers, without imposing unnecessarily onerous burdens on employers and businesses.

Like many others, employers in my home town, Dundalk, have concerns that vulnerable low-paid workers are being exploited by unscrupulous employers in various ways, such as workers being called into work and then sent home without being given the hours of work or any compensation; insecure working arrangements; employees not knowing what hours they will be working from one week to the next; workers not being properly informed of their terms and conditions of employment by their employer; workers not knowing who their employer is or what is the legal entity that employs them; and workers on low-hour contracts who consistently work more hours than provided for in their contract. These cause difficulties for workers when they try to get a mortgage or access to other financial credit.

It may also be used as a means of exercising undue control over employees where the threat of being put back on lower hours hangs over the employee. The Bill will address these issues. The Bill will prohibit zero-hour contracts in most circumstances except in situations of genuine employments and where they are essential to allow employers to provide cover in emergencies or to cover short-term absences.

All employees, including those on if-and-when contracts, will benefit from the balanced measures proposed in the Bill. It will also provide for a new minimum payment for low-paid workers who may be called into work but are sent home again without the promised work or any meaningful compensation. The focus is on low-paid employees and this new minimum payment is being linked to the national minimum wage to ensure the measure is focused on those most in need of stronger protection in this area. It is expected that the provision will also act as a deterrent against the unscrupulous practice of employers calling into work, for example, ten people where there is only work for five people and the first five who show up get the work.

The Bill also provides that employers must give employees five core terms of employment within five days of commencement of employment. Employers who have not provided this statement after one month will be open to prosecution, which is a new offence. It will also be an offence for an employer to deliberately misrepresent the information required in the statement of five core terms.

The Bill will provide strong anti-penalisation measures for employees who invoke their rights under the legislation. This is a key element of the Bill, particularly for workers in less secure employment who may be afraid to exercise their rights. The legislation will also introduce new rights for employees whose contract of employment does not reflect the reality of the hours they habitually work. This creates difficulties for employers in accessing credit, including mortgages.

Under the Bill, such employees will be entitled to be placed in a band of hours that better reflects the hours they have worked over the 18 month reference period. The banded hours provisions will significantly improve the predictability and security of working hours for employees so that they can better plan and get on with their lives outside of work.

The Bill is the result of extensive consultation, including a public consultation following the University of Limerick study on zero-hour contracts and low-hour contracts. The University of Limerick study was published in 2015 and was commissioned in 2014 by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The key objective of the study established by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation included the following:

To fill the gap that currently exists in terms of the hard data and information that is available concerning the prevalence of zero hours contracts in the Irish economy and the manner of their use.

To assess the impact of zero hours contracts on employees.

To enable the Minister to make any evidence-based policy recommendations to Government considered necessary on foot of the study.

The research found that zero-hour contracts within the meaning of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 are not extensive in Ireland. There is evidence, however, of if-and-when contracts. The fundamental difference between the two is that individuals with zero-hour contracts are contractually required to make themselves available for work with an employer while individuals with an if-and-when contract are not contractually required to make themselves available for work with an employer. It is also reported in the study that employer organisations argued that if-and-when contracts and low hours suit employees. It is claimed that such arrangements especially suit students, older workers and women with caring responsibilities. Some employer organisations argued that they have difficulty finding employees who want to work more hours. A number of employer organisations also argue that providing any work to people reduces the cost to the State of paying unemployment benefits.

The University of Limerick recommended amending the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to 2012 to require employers to provide a written statement on the terms and conditions of the employment or by the first day of the employee commencing employment. The requirement should also apply to people working non-guaranteed hours on the data of first hire. It also recommended amending the Act to require employers to provide a statement of working hours which are a true reflection of the hours required of an employee. This requirement should also apply to people with non-guaranteed hours. It also recommended repealing section 18 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and introducing either new legislation or a new section into the Act to include the following provisions:

(i) For employees with no guaranteed hours of work, the mean number of hours worked in the previous 6 months (from the date of first hire or from the date of enacting legislation) will be taken to be the minimum number of hours stipulated in the contract of employment.

(ii) For employees with a combination of minimum guaranteed hours and If and When hours, the mean number of hours worked in the previous 6 months (from the date of first hire or from the date of enacting legislation) will be taken to be the minimum number of hours stipulated in the contract of employment.

(iii) A mechanism will be put in place whereby, after the minimum number of hours is established, employers and employees can periodically review the pattern of working hours so that the contract accurately reflects the reality of working hours.

(iv) Where after 6 months an employee is provided with guaranteed minimum hours of work as per subsection (i) and (ii), but is contractually required to be available for additional hours, the employee should be compensated where they are not required by an employer in a week. The employee should be compensated for 25% of the additional hours for which they have to be available or for 15 hours, whichever is less.

These are only some of the recommendations from the University of Limerick study. We must improve the security and predictability of working hours for employees who work under insecure contracts and also those who work variable hours. I agree with the Minister that it is difficult for people to plan their lives outside of work and this Bill will significantly improve employment protection for these people. I wish the Minister the best going forward with the Bill. I think she has done a fantastic job with it. She will be getting my full support.

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