Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill is more than three years in the making and it is important for Senators to understand the work that has gone into the Bill, including the extensive consultations that have helped to shape and focus it. This work includes the UL study and the public consultation that followed it and it also includes detailed discussions with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, over many months. I thank the many stakeholders who contributed to the development of this Bill at the different stages of the process.

We must remember that this legislation will apply to all employers in every sector of the economy. It is important that we strike a fair balance between the respective rights and obligations of employees and employers. The Government’s approach in the legislation is to ensure that where we introduce new rights for employees or strengthening existing provisions in the law, the measures are proportionate and counterbalanced by reasonable defences for employers. We need to recognise the challenges faced by employers in running their businesses or providing their services. We must also remember that the vast majority of employers are good employers who treat their employees well and meet their responsibilities under employment law. These employers should have nothing to fear in this Bill. On the contrary, it is aimed at tackling exploitative employment arrangements.

I refer to a number of important points that came up in commentary as the Bill passed through the Dáil. First, there has been much discussion in recent weeks on bogus self-employment. I remind the House that if an individual believes that he or she is being denied employment rights appropriate to an employee, he or she should pursue a case to the WRC. Similarly if one believes he or she may be falsely self-employed for PRSI purposes, he or she should contact my Department’s scope section. Both services are free to the user and easy to access.

The second point concerns the use of if-and-when contracts. There is a suggestion that the Bill does nothing for employees on such contracts. That is not true. On the contrary, the measures in the Bill both individually and in the round will also help to protect employees on if-and-when contracts. The banded hours provision, for example, will apply to someone on an if-and-when contract so that where they have worked an average number of hours over the previous 12-month reference period, they will be entitled to be placed on a band of hours that reflects the reality of the hours they have worked. Employers are obliged to inform employees by the fifth day of their employment what the employer reasonably expects the normal length of the working day or the working week will be. There will be no more waiting on a Sunday night for a text message as to whether one will work for one hour or 30 hours the following week. Employers are also obliged to state the expected duration of the contract and whether the contract is temporary or fixed term on or before the fifth day of employment. Employees on if-and-when contracts will also benefit from the new minimum compensation provisions where they are given notice of hours of work but do not receive those hours. Finally, employees on such contracts will also benefit from the various anti-penalisation measures.

When I completed my Second Stage contribution in the Dáil, I said that I was proud to commend the Bill to that House. However, the passage of the Bill through the Dáil resulted in a number of Opposition amendments being made. There was much compromise on Committee Stage between amendments that went back and forth. For example, we will reduce the reference period in the banded hours provision from 18 months to 12 months on the suggestion of the Opposition. We also accepted an amendment to reduce from 2 months to 4 weeks the time within which an employer must respond to an employee’s request to be placed on a band of hours. Unfortunately, I was not able to persuade all Deputies on a small number of problematic amendments, with the result that the Bill, as passed by the Dáil, contains a number of provisions that need to be revisited. I intend to table a small number of amendments on Committee Stage and I will outline them as we come to the relevant section.

I now propose to outline the main provisions of the Bill, as passed by the Dáil. Section 1 is the commencement provision. Section 1(2) is a deviation from the standard commencement provision and is the result of an Opposition amendment that was carried. I said on Report Stage in the Dáil that this amendment to the commencement provision was problematic for us. It does not exist anywhere else on the Statute Book and it genuinely could have unintended consequences. My officials are discussing this with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and, therefore, I highlight that it may require an amendment.