10/12/2019 Employment Law Update 2019 Employment Law Update December 2019 Laura Murphy Nicola Sheridan The webinar will begin shortly… HR Manager at Thesaurus Employment Specialist at Thesaurus Agenda 2019 Q&A Session Q&A Type into Questions box on your screen 2020 On Demand Rec This session is being recorded Employment Law a Review Surviving Christmas 1
10/12/2019 What was new in 2019….. • Parent’s leave • Parental leave policy changes • Sectoral Employment Orders 1.Leave options for Parents - • Key case law findings • Terms of Employment Law Recap • WRC • Record Keeping Parent’s Leave Parental Leave • 1 st November 2019 • 2 weeks paid leave in the child’s first year Pre September 2019 From 1 September 2019 From 1 September 2020 • Statutory payment – currently €245 per week Weeks Leave 18 22 26 • Taken as a 2 week block or 2 separate 1 week blocks 8 th Birthday 12 th Birthday Availability up until 12th Birthday 16 th Birthday 16 th Birthday 16 th Birthday Children with disabilities What employers need to do: • Add a Parent’s Leave Policy to your Employee Handbook 2
10/12/2019 Entitlement to Parental Leave • 1 Years service • Be a ‘ relevant’ parent • Availability - per parent not per child • Give at least 6 weeks notice in writing 2. Sectoral Employment Orders - • Annual leave entitlement is not impacted • Multiple children, capped at 18 weeks per year • Pro-rata for part-time workers • Can postpone leave for for a max. of 6 months • Minimum periods apply / flexible working • Records kept for 12 years Electrical Sector Construction Sector Category of Worker Rates applying for the period Rates applying from 1 October from 1 October 2019 to 30 2020 Minimum Wage Rates September 2020 Category 1 €23.49 A Craftsperson €19.44 per hour (the ‘ Craft Rate ’) €19.96 per hour (the ‘ 2020 Craft Category 2 €23.96 Rate ’) Category 3 €24.34 Category A Worker €18.86 per hour (this rate is €19.37 per hour unchanged from the 2017 Order) Category B Worker €17.50 per hour (this rate is €17.97 per hour Apprentice Minimum Wage unchanged from the 2017 Order) Year 1 €7.05 Apprentice One third of the Craft Rate and One third of the 2020 Craft Rate Year 2 €10.57 rising to 90% of the Craft Rate in and rising to 90% of the 2020 the fourth year Craft Rate in the fourth year Year 3 €15.27 New Entrant Operative Workers €14.14 per hour (provided that €14.52 per hour (same Year 4 €18.80 the New Entrant is over the age conditions apply to New of 18 years and entering the Entrants) sector for the first time) 3
10/12/2019 Can an employee have legal representation at a disciplinary hearing? The Case: Irish Rail v Barry McKelvey Decided by: Supreme Court 2019 Legal Cases - What we can take from these cases: • Legal representation only permitted in exceptional circumstances • Dismissal is not considered exceptional Who can attend? Setting a compulsory retirement age Case: John O'Brien v PPI Adhesive Plastics • John took a case against his employer for being • A colleague or a trade union representative made retire against his wishes • Legal representation is not generally permitted • Following an investigation, the WRC found the • Should be stated in the disciplinary procedure company’s compulsory retirement age did not • Be open to requests to be accompanied satisfy a legitimate aim or was objectively justifiable • The WRC ordered PPI Adhesive Plastics to pay John €35,000 4
10/12/2019 What employers should learn from this • Ensure the retirement age can be objectively justified • Don’t let your ability to rely on a legitimate aim be undermined by your Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) actions - Act 2018 • Before enforcing a retirement age, be clear what that age is • An employee can work under a fixed-term contract • WRC's Code of Practice on Longer Working 5 core terms within 5 days Terms & Conditions of Employment • Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 1. The full name of employer and employee Name of Employer/Employee Rate, calculation & frequency of remuneration 2. The address of the employer Address of Employer Reference to statement under minimum wage Place of work Paid leave 3. Temporary contract; the expected duration of the contract or the date of expiry Job Description/details Sick Pay 4. The rate of method of calculating pay and the pay reference period Start date & duration Pension details Hours of work incl. overtime Notice on termination 5. What the employer reasonably expects to be the normal length of the working week Rest periods and breaks Details of any collective agreements 5
10/12/2019 Failure to Comply Zero Hours Contracts Banned • Failure to comply can give rise to a criminal offence Ø Fines of up to €5,000 Ø Imprisonment of up to 12 months Liability falls to anyone with responsibility • Anti-Penalisation Ø It is an offence to penalize an employee exercising their rights Ø Compensation of up to 4 weeks pay can be awarded Banded Hours 8 Bands Grounds for Refusal: Band A: 3 to 6 hours • No evidence to support the employee’s claim Band B: 6 to 11 hours WRC Update - • There have been significant adverse Band C: 11 to 16 hours changes to the business Band D: 16 to 21 hours • Due to exceptional circumstances, e.g. Band E: 21 to 26 hours emergency Band F: 26 to 31 hours • The average hours worked were affected Band G: 31 to 36 hours by a temporary situation Band H: Over 36 hours 6
10/12/2019 Industrial Landscape WRC Stats WRC Helpline WRC Claim Numbers Calls Answered 2016 14,400 complaints (15 months) 2017 50,000+ 2017 14,001 complaints 2018 57,000+ 2018 15,415 complains In the news Dispute resolution procedures Nurses and Midwives Conciliation 1062 requests HSE Support staff Mediation 81 requests Ryanair Adjudication 5312 requests Bus Eireann WRC Inspections Workplace Inspections Inspections conducted Pay Recovered Record Keeping 2017 4,747 €1.77m - 2018 5,753 €3.1M • 50% breaches due to insufficient record keeping • Our advice: be sure your employee records are up-to-date! 7
10/12/2019 Keeping your Records up-to-date 2020 - Transparency for Tipping • Contractual pay should not be paid using tips Employee Tips & Gratuities - • Tip policy should be clearly visible 8
10/12/2019 Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019 250+ 50 + Employees Employees Gender Pay Reporting - Information to be reported • The mean and median gap in hourly pay between men and women. • The mean and median gap in bonus pay between men and women. • The mean and median gap in hourly pay of part-time male and female employees. • The percentage of men and of women who received bonus pay. • The percentage of men and of women who received benefits in kind. Equal Pay and Gender Pay Gap are Current Gender Pay Gap different Gender Pay Gap Equal Pay Gap in Europe Gap in Ireland 16.7% 13.9% The difference between men & Men and Women doing the same job women’s average pay across an receiving the same pay organisation 9
10/12/2019 Gender Pay Stats • UK McDonalds 0% BT 4.2% (women) Parental Leave (again!) British Airways 13% (Men) - BBC 17.2% (Men) Barclays 44.1% (Men) Ryanair 66.6% (Men) • Ireland An Post 3.7% (Men) The Central Bank 2.4% (Men) September 2020 will see the parental leave entitlement increase again by a further 4 weeks, to 26 weeks Christmas 2020 - 10
10/12/2019 Bonus & Gift Cards Public Holidays & Annual Leave Full-time employees • Do you pay discretionary bonuses? • Do you have a bonus policy in place? • A paid day off that day • A paid day off within a month of that day • Beware of custom & practice • An additional day of annual leave • An additional days pay Have you considered? Part-time employees • Small non-cash benefit • If a public holiday falls on a day that a part-time employee usually works, they are entitled to one of the benefits as listed above, if they have worked at least 40 hours • Up to €500 per employee per year in total in the 5 weeks prior to the public holiday. • Where the public holiday falls on a day on which the employee does not normally • Can be ordered through Thesaurus Payroll Manager work, the employee is entitled to one fifth of his/her normal weekly wage. The Christmas Party Tips for employers to relax and enjoy the Christmas Season: • Plan well: ensure everyone is included, use a venue accessible to all. • Beforehand, remind staff of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and of any appropriate company policies (bullying and harassment policies & social media) • Avoid offering a free bar. If providing alcohol, be sure to supply food • Make sure staff get home safe. • Don’t discuss work topics 11
10/12/2019 • Simply create staff contracts / • Secure and user-friendly way to handbooks in minutes backup & restore payroll data • GDPR compliant staff policies & • Employee self-service app procedures • GDPR compliant Questions & Answers - • Automatic content updates • Access to reports on the go • Online HR database • Provides Bureaus with a multi- • Links with Thesaurus & company platform BrightPay • Free Connect access for 2019 • Bureau toolkit • Free telephone & email support • Free telephone & email support www.thesaurus.ie/connect/ www.brightcontracts.ie Email: connect@thesaurussoftware.com Email: Support@brightcontracts.ie 12
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