Reintroduction of Employment Regulation Orders in Hospitality, Catering, Retail-Grocery, Contract Cleaning, Security and Agriculture sectors one step closer.
The reintroduction of Employment Regulation Orders in six relevant sectors: Hospitality, Catering, Retail-Grocery, Contract Cleaning, Security and Agriculture came a step closer last week when on January 28th 2014 the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, signed Orders giving effect to recommendations contained in the Labour Court Review of the Joint Labour Committees (JLC) which the Minister had published on October 2nd 2013.
It should be stressed that the ministerial order establishes Joint Labour Committees only at this stage. Employment Regulation Orders will not come into effect unless agreed by the parties.
When this occurs, it is intended to update this feature in Bright Contracts package in order to assist employers within these sectors.
This development is part of an overall process that will reduce the number of previous JLCs by half and make further changes to improve competitiveness by enhancing wage flexibility while at the same time ensuring protection for vulnerable workers.
The Orders signed by Minister Bruton provide for the abolition of two existing Joint Labour Committees i.e. Dublin Hotels and Law Clerks
They also provided for amendments to the existing JLC Establishment Orders in respect of:
- Contract Cleaning
- Hairdressing
- Hotels (non-Dublin and Cork)
- Security
The Minister indicated that, as the Agricultural Workers JLC was established under primary legislation, effecting the recommendation of the Labour Court Review will require an amendment to primary legislation. In this regard his officials are engaged with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine to see how this can be implemented as early as possible.
The Minister also indicated that it is not his intention to alter the current scope of the two catering JLCs or the Retail Grocery JLC.
Minister Bruton said: “From the start of this process I have said that reform in this area is necessary in order to make the system fairer and more responsive to changing economic circumstances and support job-creation.
“The Orders I have signed will provide the framework within which employee representatives can come together voluntarily to negotiate terms and conditions for workers in their respective sectors. For vulnerable workers, the advantage of JLCs is that they see fair terms and conditions such as wage rates, sick pay etc. agreed and given effect by Employment Regulation Orders. For employers, the advantage of the JLC system, based on the principle of self-governance, means that they can agree and set minimum pay and conditions, agree on work practices which are custom-made to their industry – a flexibility which cannot be achieved by primary legislation. Where both parties to a JLC see commonality of purpose and outcome then an agreement may emerge”.
Bright Contracts - Employment Contracts and Handbooks
