Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if, under employment legislation, a person has a right to receive an explanation as to the reason their employment was terminated after only two weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24046/06]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Section 14(4) (as amended) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 provides that where an employee is dismissed, the employer shall, if requested, provide particulars in writing of the principal grounds for dismissal to the employee within 14 days of the request.

However, the Unfair Dismissals Acts generally do not apply to employees with less than one year's continuous service, with certain exceptions. These are:

∙an employee's pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected therewith;

∙the exercise or proposed exercise by an employee of a right under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004;

∙the exercise or contemplated exercise by an employee of the right to adoptive leave or additional adoptive leave under the Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005;

∙the exercise or proposed exercise by the employee of the right to parental leave or force majeure leave under and in accordance with the Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006;

∙an employee's entitlements, future entitlements, exercise or proposed exercise of rights under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000;

∙an employee's trade union membership or activities;

∙the exercise or proposed exercise by the employee of the right to carer's leave under and in accordance with the Carer's Leave Act 2001 (as amended).

When determining if an employee has the necessary service to qualify under the Acts, a Rights Commissioner, the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Circuit Court, as the case may be, may consider whether the employment of a person on a series of two or more contracts of employment, between which there were no more than 26 weeks of a break, was wholly or partly for or connected with the avoidance of liability by the employer under the Acts. Where it is so found, the length of the various contracts may be added together to assess the length of service of an employee for eligibility under the Acts.

Employees with less than one year's service, and who do not qualify under any of the above exceptions, may consider availing of a mechanism under the Industrial Relations Act 1969 whereby the Rights Commissioner Service of the Labour Relations Commission may investigate disputes and grievances (including matters associated with dismissal) which are referred to them by individuals or small groups of workers. Having carried out an investigation, a Rights Commissioner issues a recommendation giving his/her opinion on the merits of the dispute. The matter may then be appealed to the Labour Court or, alternatively, the matter can be heard by the Labour Court in the first instance under certain conditions. It is important to note that the recommendations made by the Rights Commissioners and/or Labour Court under this process are not legally enforceable.