Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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311. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of cases that have been taken by workers or their unions to the Rights Commissioner, Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court in 2011 and 2012; the timeframe and the average waiting time to have cases heard in each of these bodies. [40974/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) received 8,004 referrals from employees/trade unions in 2011 and 4,977 in 2012. The average waiting time to be heard was 76.5 weeks in 2011 and 79.5 in 2012. To address waiting times and maximise efficiency, Divisions of the EAT have extended sitting times, are dealing with more cases per hearing. This approach has resulted in a significant increase in the number of claims disposed of over the past few years: 2010 – 6,064(+ 30%); 2011 – 6,723(+ 11%); 2012 -7,624(+ 13%). In addition, in planning its work schedule, the Tribunal targets geographic areas by longest waiting period and highest level of claims outstanding.

The Rights Commissioner Service received 9,206 referrals in 2011 and 8,852 referrals in 2012. While the Service does not differentiate between employer/employee referrals in terms of data capture, the vast majority of such referrals comprise workers’ claims. At end-2012 claimants were being offered a first Hearing within 8-12 weeks of receipt. It should be borne in mind that there is a holding period specified in some legislation (e.g. 3 weeks for unfair dismissals and industrial relations cases. It is accepted that a minimum period of 6-8 weeks for scheduling a hearing is appropriate, as this provides adequate notice and allows sufficient time for preparation by both parties and minimises the number of adjournment requests. In addition, claims are now also screened for suitability for the Early Resolution Service (ERS) of the Labour Relations Commission. Any claims unresolved by the ERS are generally scheduled for a hearing within 4 weeks.

The Labour Court hears claims under various separate pieces of legislation, some of which are lodged as direct claims to the Court and others which come to the Court by way of appeal or implementation from the other Employment Rights bodies. The Labour Court received a total of 1254 referrals in 2011 and 1254 referrals in 2012; these were comprised of a range of referrals by workers or their representatives and employers or their representatives. Similar to the Rights Commissioner Service, the Labour Court does not differentiate referrals by referrer.

The majority of the Labour Court's Dublin based cases are heard within 12 weeks with an average of approx. 10 weeks and the majority of regional cases are heard within 6 months with an average of approx. 4/5 months. The option of having a regional case transferred to a Dublin hearing is available should the parties wish to have the hearing within a shorter timescale.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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312. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the findings that are made in favour of employees by the Rights Commissioner, Employment Appeals Tribunal and Labour Court in 2011 and 2012; the number of times these outcomes have not been honoured by the employers; the number of times these instances have been referred to the National Employment Rights Authority for enforcement; and the rate of success for enforcing these outcomes. [40975/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Once a complaint submitted to any of the Employment Rights bodies listed has been either adjudicated upon or withdrawn/settled, the body in question has no further role in the matter. The complaints submitted are often complex and range across a number of employment-related areas. The bodies do not collect data on the findings that are made in favour of employees or employers.

In the event that an award made by a body remains outstanding the person(s) affected may seek the Minister's assistance in having this enforced. In such instances, the enforcement function is carried out on behalf of the Minister by the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). NERA received 79 award referrals in 2011 and 75 in 2012 (see Table 1 below).

The value of the arrears paid to employees as a result of civil enforcement for both 2011 and 2012 respectively is as follows;

A "fit for purpose" workplace relations system must be supported by proportionate, effective and efficient compliance and enforcement measures. It is my view that the current system of enforcement of employment rights awards is cumbersome, expensive and, accordingly, not "fit for purpose". For this reason, I am proposing to make provision in the Workplace Relations 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 WRC Adjudicators and Labour Court Determinations. I am confident that the introduction of these measures will provide for more proportionate, efficient and effective enforcement of employment law.