Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The adult wage rates that may be proposed by a JLC will also be linked to sub-minimum rates that will apply in the same proportions as were originally fixed under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 in respect of employees aged under 18 years, first-time job entrants, and employees undergoing training.

JLCs will no longer set certain conditions of employment that are already provided for in existing primary legislation. In particular, provision for a Sunday premium will be removed from the scope of employment regulation orders. However, it is important to bear in mind that the special position of Sunday working is still recognised and provided for under the Organisation of Working Time Act. During the debate on Committee Stage in the Dáil on the issue of the Sunday premiums, there were some suggestions that these new provisions would mean a downward revision of pay or the removal of such premiums where these have been paid to workers previously covered by employment regulation orders. This is not the case. Under the new legislation, workers in sectors covered by JLCs will have the same statutory entitlement to compensation for Sunday working as all other workers in the country.

Section 13 inserts a number of amendments to replace provisions struck down by the High Court judgment in the John Grace Fried Chicken case. The High Court judgment highlighted how questions about the appropriateness of criminal sanctions exacerbated concerns about the delegation of broad regulatory powers to bodies such as JLCs and the Labour Court. The Bill introduces an alternative enforcement mechanism to criminal prosecutions. The new enforcement mechanism will offer an alternative to a criminal prosecution by enabling a complaint about non-enforcement to be brought before the Labour Court.

Section 13 introduces a new procedure to enable an employee or an employee's trade union to make a complaint to a rights commissioner that an employer has contravened an employment regulation order in relation to the worker. The Minister does not consider that this alternative to the original enforcement provision in section 45, which was struck down by the High Court, should be the only enforcement mechanism to ensure that wages are not paid at less than the statutory minimum rates set out in employment regulation orders.

The Minister intends, by means of the proposed workplace relations reform programme, to develop a new and comprehensive system of supervision and sanctions within the framework of the workplace relations commission. It will bring together the existing services of the Labour Relations Commission, the Rights Commissioner Service, the Equality Tribunal, the National Employment Rights Authority and the first-instance functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

As Senators will be aware, last week the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, announced his proposals for the workplace relations reform programme. One of the features of the programme is to ensure a more proportionate, efficient and effective enforcement of all employment law, including the national minimum wage, registered employment agreements and employment regulation orders. The Minister will present his proposals to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education this week. He intends to seek approval for drafting the workplace relations (reform) Bill, which will give statutory effect to the reforms, including strengthening the enforcement of awards. He intends to make provision in the Bill for a range of enhanced compliance measures, including the use of compliance notices, fixed charge notices and a new mechanism for enforcing awards of the workplace relations commission adjudicators and Labour Court determinations. I am sure Senators will agree on the importance of ensuring there is a consistent approach to enforcement mechanisms across the range of employment rights legislation.

Section 14 provides for a derogation from the scope of employment regulation orders, EROs, for companies in cases of financial difficulty. As I have mentioned, these provisions mirror the mechanisms for claiming an exemption from the requirement to pay the rates of remuneration in a registered employment agreement, REA, at section 9. The basis for claiming an exemption on grounds of inability to pay is less restrictive than the equivalent measure under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, which has never been used to date. The objective of the provision in the Act of 2000 was that the relief sought by an employer would be available in cases in which a majority of employees so agree. The new provision covers situations in which a majority of employees may not necessarily agree but it can be proved to the satisfaction of the Labour Court that there is a genuine - albeit temporary - inability to pay and that appropriate safeguards can be assured. The maximum period of an exemption will be 24 months, with a minimum of three months. An amendment to the Bill as presented provides that two consecutive exemptions will be permitted within the overall two-year time limit rather than a single one under the Bill as introduced, where this is necessary to safeguard employment. An amendment to the Bill as presented provides that an employer's application for an exemption on grounds of inability to pay should not rest solely on the declared support of the majority of workers. The key criterion should hinge upon the survival of the employer and the preservation of the jobs of the individuals concerned. The Labour Court must also have regard to whether granting an exemption might have an adverse effect on employment levels and cause a distortion of competition in the sector to the detriment of employers not party to the particular application.

Section 15 provides that, in the context of the reconstitution of existing JLCs, all current independent members of the JLCs will cease to hold office and new appointments will be made. In future, independent members will hold office for a period not exceeding five years. Section 16 provides for consequential amendments to the Employment Permits Act 2006 and the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.

Section 17 amends the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act 1984. It will ensure that payments due to a worker arising from a decision of a rights commissioner or a determination of the Labour Court made under the Bill, when enacted, will be treated as debts for the purposes of employees' rights on the insolvency of their employer.

Section 18 strengthens the provisions for informing workers of their statutory entitlements by requiring the employer of any worker to whom an ERO or REA applies to include the terms of that ERO or REA in the written statement of terms of employment to be given to the worker under section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994. This section also provides for prompt rectification of incomplete or incorrectly stated terms by allowing a NERA inspector to give directions to the employer concerned. The new approach will enable matters to be rectified earlier at workplace level, thereby avoiding unnecessary recourse to rights commissioners and on appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

To complement the provisions of the amending legislation, the Minister will proceed with the following additional reforms. Steps will be taken to reduce significantly the number of JLCs in place through a process of abolition or amalgamation using the Minister's powers under section 40 of the Industrial Relations Act 1946. Benefits in the nature of pay, including overtime and the conditions under which it becomes payable, will be standardised across sectors covered by JLCs, either by means of a nationally agreed social partnership protocol, a statutory code of practice or through a request to be made to the Labour Relations Commission to initiate social partner consultations to this end. The Minister will arrange for the preparation of a new statutory code of practice on Sunday working to provide guidance to employers, employees and their representatives in sectors covered by employment regulation orders on arrangements that may be put in place to comply with the options specified at section 14 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. The rights commissioner or Labour Court will have regard to this code in making a decision, and implementation and enforcement will be as per the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. The Minister intends to request the Labour Relations Commission to prepare the code. The code of practice will subsequently be given formal status by means of a ministerial order.

The legislation represents an appropriately balanced approach. The reform of the statutory wage setting machinery operating at sector level and placing the JLC and REA systems on a more secure legal and constitutional footing represents a significant commitment by the Government to protect the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers. The overall effect of these reforms will be to help reduce the cost burden of record keeping and compliance and will make the long-established minimum wage setting mechanisms fairer and more responsive to changing economic circumstances. These measures, in turn will enhance competitiveness and preserve jobs in the affected sectors.

I commend the Bill to the House.