Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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144. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will meet with representatives of workers of a supermarket chain (details supplied) who have been employed there since before 1998 and who have faced numerous attacks on their status by the company, including the refusal by the company to award them pay rises given to other staff; if he can clarify the protections that are presently in place or are planned by his Department to stop employers like the aforementioned company from targeting senior staff in this way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9248/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I must emphasise that Ireland’s system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and that responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests in the first instance with the employer, the workers and their representatives.

I would encourage both sides to engage constructively with each other and to make every effort to reach resolution by agreement.

Where employer and employee representatives come together and agreement is reached to resolve their differences, it’s a win/win with buy in from both sides.

When a resolution cannot be reached at local level, I would encourage all sides to make every effort to reach a resolution by agreement between companies and workers with the help of the industrial relations machinery of the State.

While I have no direct role in these matters, I stand by the professionalism of the industrial relations machinery of the State who are always available to facilitate a solution where both parties are prepared to work with those institutions.

Statutory and contractual employment terms apply in relation to the payment of wages. Failure to pay all or part of the wages due to an employee is considered an unlawful deduction and a complaint can be made under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991. If an employee believes that their employer has made an unlawful deduction from their pay, or they are not being paid then they may refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). An employee may also contact the WRC Customer Service for information in relation to their employment rights.