David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 139:

In page 70, after line 12, to insert the following:“(4) Section 7(2)(b) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 shall be deleted.

(5) The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 is amended:

(a) in section 24(2) by the deletion of the words "referred to or" after the word "be",

(b) in section 24 by the insertion of a new subsection after subsection (2):

"(2A)(a) In the event of an employee referring to an adjudicating officer a complaint and being unable to prove to the Director General evidence of having obtained under section 23 a statement of his or her average hourly rate of pay in respect of a relevant pay reference period, or

(b) having requested the statement has not been provided with it within the time limit by that section for the employer to supply the information,

(c) the Director General shall advise the employee of the requirement to request a statement under section 23 and shall advise the said employee that the said complaint shall be placed on hold for a period of 90 days to enable the employee to furnish evidence under paragraph (a) or (b). For the avoidance of doubt any request made under section 23 within 90 days of receipt by the employee of a request from the Director General under paragraph (c) shall be a valid request under section 23 for the purposes of subsection (2) thereof.",

(c) in section 36(1) by the insertion after the word cause of "or threaten to cause".".

The reason for this amendment is that it is unnecessary that a party wishing to appeal a payment of wages decision must notify not only the entity to which he or she is appealing but also the other party. Many payment of wages claims that go on appeal fail because of this archaic condition, which is unnecessary.