New era for employment rights and industrial relations takes effect today
1 October 2015
Improved service and reduced cost for every employer and employee in the State with establishment of new ‘5-Agencies-into-2’ Workplace Relations Commission
New sectoral wage agreements bring certainty for employers and improved pay for 50,000 workers
The Minister of State for Business and Employment Ged Nash TD today (Thursday) announced a new era for employment rights and industrial relations, as two major changes take effect today to provide certainty and improve services, pay and conditions for thousands of employers and employees across the country.
Firstly, the reinstatement of Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) for the security and for the contract cleaning industries brings improved rates of pay for workers in these sectors, with new basic hourly rates of €10.75 and €9.75 respectively. The Orders, which take effect today, also set enhanced rates for overtime and other improved terms and conditions for workers.
Following their striking down by the High Court, Minister Nash spearheaded reform of this area to reinstate the protection previously provided to workers by Employment Regulation Orders. The new rules and enhanced conditions taking effect today for the contract cleaning and security industry mark a major step on this road, as part a new flexible system more responsive to changing conditions in the economy.
Secondly, the five bodies previously responsible for disputes in the workplace are merged into two, to provide a better service at less cost to the State, employers and employees. When completely bedded in the reforms will result in 20% reduction in staff and 10% reduction in budgets. This represents the biggest reforms to the State’s employment rights and industrial relations machinery in 70 years.
As a result of these reforms:
The delay for Equality cases has been halved in a three-month period this year
The backlog for Rights Commissioners hearings has been reduced from over 20 weeks to an average of 8 weeks now
Complaints are acknowledged within a matter of days. Before these reforms it took an average of 8 months
The Workplace Relations Commission will reduce waiting times with a target of three months from the time of complaint to hearing
Employers are notified, on average, within 10 working days of the complaint being lodged, thus increasing the possibility of a resolution being reached without the need for any hearing
There are now a total of two e-forms to be used – one for the first complaint, one for appeals – replacing the 44 paper forms that existed previously
A series of measures have made the process less legalistic and to encourage early resolution
Appointments are more transparent, with all adjudicators and decision-makers appointed by public competition through the PAS
The previous practice bringing cases related to the same incident to multiple for a has ended
Minister Nash said: “I am very pleased to have signed the new Employment Regulation Orders for the Security and Contract Cleaning sectors. From today, some 20,000 security industry staff will see their pay increase from €10.01 to €10.75 per hour and 30,000 contract cleaners will see their hourly pay increase to €9.75. They will also see their terms and conditionsimprove and employers now have certainty on their costs and industrial peace.
“It is fitting that these new EROs or sectoral wage agreements come into effect on the first day of the Workplace Relations Commission who will be tasked with promoting harmonious industrial relations and resolving disputes. Importantly, the new WRC and expanded Labour Court should mean a simpler, faster and user-friendly experience for all its clients.”
The Workplace Relations Commission starts receiving cases from today.