Employment - General
Thesaurus Software Ltd launched Bright Contracts in 2012 to automate the creation of employee contracts and company handbooks so that employers can meet their legal obligations towards their employees.
Each time a new employee is added to the payroll you will be prompted to set up the employee contract, Bright Contracts offers an automated solution for this.
To download a free trial or find out more about the license fees simply visit www.brightcontracts.ie or call 01-8499699
CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT
Anyone who works for an employer for a regular wage or salary has
automatically a contract of employment whether written or not. Section
23 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, states that a contract of
employment, for the purposes of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to
1990, may be 'expressed or implied, oral or in writing'. Many of the
terms of a contract of employment may emerge from the common law,
statutes or collective agreements made through trade unions or may
be derived from the custom or practice in a particular industry. The
Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 and 2001 provides that
an employer must provide an employee with a written statement of
certain particulars of the terms of employment.
Employers are required by section 14(1) of the Unfair Dismissals Act,
1977 to 2001 to give a notice in writing to each employee setting out the
procedure which the employer will observe before, and for the purpose
of, dismissing the employee. This must be given not later than 28 days
after entering into a contract of employment.
The Payment of Wages Act, 1991, gives every employee the right to a
written statement every pay day of wages and with every deduction
itemised.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENTThe Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 and 2001 which has
effect from 16th May 1994, requires employers to provide employees with a
written statement of certain particulars of the employee’s terms of
employment. The Act, in general, applies to any person
- working under a contract of employment or apprenticeship
- employed through an employment agency or
- in the service of the State (including members of the Garda Siochana
and the Defence Forces, civil servants and employees of any local
authority, health board, harbour authority or vocational education
committee).
The Act does not apply to a person who has been in the continuous service
of the employer for less than 1 month. Prior to December 20, 2001 the Act
did not apply to a person who was normally required to work for the
employer for less than 8 hours a week. However, from that date the
Protection of Employment (Part-Time Work) Act, 2001 has removed the
exclusion relating to the number of hours worked.
In the case of agency workers, the party who pays the wages (employment
agency or client company) is the employer for the purposes of this Act and
is responsible for providing the written statement.
The written statement of particulars must be provided by the employer
within two months of the date of commencement of employment. In the
case of employees whose employment commenced before 16th. May,
1994, (the commencement date of the Act) the written statement must be
provided by the employer within two months of being requested to do so by
the employee.
The written statement, which is not, of itself, a contract must include
particulars of the terms of employment relating to the name and address of
the employer, the place of work, job title/nature of the work, date of
commencement of employment, nature of contract (temporary or fixed
term), pay and pay intervals, hours of work (including overtime), paid leave,
incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, pensions and pension
schemes, notice entitlements, collective agreements. The statement
must also indicate the pay reference period for the purposes of the
National Minimum Wage Act 2000, and furthermore must state the
employee is entitled to ask for a statement of the employee’s average
hourly rate of pay for any pay reference period falling within the
previous 12 months as provided for in section 23 of the National
Minimum Wage Act 2000.
As an alternative to providing some of the details in the statement, an
employer may use the statement to refer the employee to certain other
documents containing the particulars provided that the document is
reasonably accessible to the employee.
An employer is also required to notify an employee of any changes to the
particulars contained in the written statement within 1 month after the change
takes effect. Where an employee is required to work outside the State for a
period of not less than one month, the employer is obliged to add certain
particulars to the written statement and to provide the statement prior to the
employee’s departure.
Regulations made under the Act, require employers to give to their workers
under 18 a copy of the official summary of the Protection of Young Persons
(Employment) Act together with other details of their terms of employment
within one month of taking up a job.
The Act provides a right of complaint to a Rights Commissioner where an
employee believes that his/her employer has failed to provide a written
statement in accordance with the terms of the Act or failed to notify the
employee of changes to the particulars contained in the statement. There is a
right of appeal by either party to the Employment Appeals Tribunal from a
recommendation of a Rights Commissioner.
The Act also repeals sections 9 and 10 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of
Employment Act, 1973 relating to terms of employment as those sections are
overtaken by the provisions of this Act.
WAGESPay rates are normally determined by the contract of employment.
Rates of pay where specified in collective agreements between trade
unions and employers may also be incorporated expressly or by
implication in the individual worker’s contract of employment.
The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 became law on 1st April 2000
and provides that an experienced adult worker must be paid an
average hourly rate of pay of not less than €8.65. Lesser rates apply in
certain circumstances.
Legal minimum rates of pay for particular categories of workers are
also laid down through Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) set up by the
Labour Court under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946. Legally binding
Employment Regulation Orders are made by the Labour Court on the
basis of proposals submitted by the JLCs.
The categories of workers covered by JLCs include agricultural
workers, grocery assistants, contract cleaners, hairdressers in Dublin
and Cork, law clerks and hotel and catering workers in certain areas.
Minimum pay rates are also set down in certain Registered
Employment Agreements. These are collective agreements covering a
particular class, type or group of workers which, when registered with
the Labour Court under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946, become
legally binding on all employers and workers concerned.
The duty to pay wages is a fundamental aspect of an employer’s
obligations. If the employer fails to do so an employee may sue for
wages due in the ordinary courts. Alternatively, if their employees’ pay
is governed by an Employment Regulation Order or a Registered
Employment Agreement, employers will be guilty of an offence under
the Industrial Relations Acts if they pay less than the prescribed legal
minimum and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
will seek to recover the arrears for the worker.
The Payment of Wages Act, 1991, provides that every employee has
the right to a readily negotiable mode of wage payment. The list of
modes provided in the Act include cheque, credit transfer, cash,
postal/money order and bank draft.
The Act applies to any person
- employed under a contract of employment
- employed through an employment agency or through a
subcontractor
- in the service of the State (including members of the Garda
Siochana and the Defence Forces, civil servants and employees
of any local authority, health board, harbour authority or
vocational education committee).
In the case of agency workers, the party who pays the wages is the
employer for the purposes of the Act.
The Act obliges employers to give to each employee with every wage
packet a written statement of gross wages and itemising each
deduction. If wages are paid by credit transfer, the statement of wages
should be given to the employee soon after the credit transfer has
taken place.
Employers may not make deductions from wages or receive payment
from their workers unless:
- required by law, such as PAYE, USC or PRSI;
- provided for in the contract of employment, for example, certain
occupational pension contributions; or to make good such
shortcomings as bad workmanship, breakages or till shortages;
or for the provision of goods and services necessary for the job
such as the provision or cleaning of uniforms;
- made with the written consent of the employee, for example VHI
payment or trade union subscriptions.
Special restrictions are placed on employers in relation to deductions
(or the receipt of payments) from wages which:
(a) arise from any act or omission of the employee or
(b) are in respect of the supply to the employee by the employer
of goods or services which are necessary to the employment.
Employees have the right under the Act to complain to a Rights
Commissioner against an unlawful deduction or payment.
Transitional arrangements apply to employees who were paid their
wages in cash immediately before the coming into operation of the Act
on 1 January, 1992. These employees are entitled to continue getting
their pay in cash until such time as they come to an agreement with
their employer to be paid in some other legally acceptable form.
Transitional arrangements also apply to employees who were paid
their wages by a mode other than cash, on the coming into operation of
the Act, in accordance with an agreement under the Payment of Wages
Act, 1979.
Need help? Support is available at 01 8352074 or thesauruspayrollsupport@brightsg.com.
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