EMPLOYMENT CASE LAW / HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 – Key Considerations
The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 sets out to protect the health, safety and welfare of Employees by regulating their working patterns. The legislation sets out an Employees rights in relation to working time and the provision of rest periods. In addition, there are additional restrictions are imposed on the working time of under 18’s, details of which are also outlined further below.
Employee entitlements under the legislation:
Minimum break entitlements:
An Employee is entitled to a 15-minute break when they have worked for 4 ½ hours. If they work more than 6 hours, then they are entitled to a 30-minute break, which can include the first 15-minute break. There is no entitlement to be paid for these breaks and they are not considered working time.
Special rules apply to shop employees who work more than 6 hours and whose hours of work include the period 11.30am–2.30pm. These employees are entitled to a one-hour consecutive break which must occur between 11.30am–2.30pm.
Note that minimum breaks must be taken during the working day. Breaks afforded at the end of the working day are not regarded as fulfilling the requirements of the legislation, i.e. allowing an Employee to work through their half hour break in order to finish their working day a half hour earlier is not deemed appropriate.
Minimum daily rest periods:
An Employee is entitled to 11 consecutive hours rest in any period of 24 hours
Minimum weekly rest periods:
An Employee should get 24 consecutive hours rest in any period of 7 days and this should normally follow on from one of the 11-hour rest periods mentioned above, or
As an alternative an Employer can give an Employee two 24-hour rest periods in a week if it follows a week, in which the Employee did not get any 24-hour rest periods. Unless a contract states otherwise the 24-hour rest period above should include a Sunday.
Maximum weekly working hours:
The maximum average working week for many employees cannot exceed 48 hours. This does not mean that a working week can never exceed 48 hours; it is the average that is important. The average may be calculated over one for the following:
Entitlements in respect of Sunday working:
If an Employee is required to work on a Sunday, they are entitled to receive a benefit for same. This entitlement is subject to agreement with an Employer and their Employee(s). If there is no agreement in place with regards to same, an Employer is obliged to provide one or more of the following to their Employee’s for Sunday working:
Specific entitlements for night workers:
Night work means work done in the period between midnight and 7am. A night worker is an Employee who normally works at least 3 hours between midnight and 7am and who works at night for at least half of their working hours in a year.
In general, the maximum average working week is 48 hours (similar to what is outlined above). Normally, a night worker should not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. The average is calculated over either a 2-month period or a longer period if it is part of a collective agreement.
Annual leave entitlements:
Legislation provides for a basic annual (paid) leave entitlement of 4 weeks, although an Employee's contract could give greater rights. There are 3 different ways of calculating an Employee’s annual leave entitlement:
An employee may use whichever of these methods gives the greater entitlement.
Benefits to be provided in respect of public holidays:
Most Employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. One exception is part-time Employees who have not worked for their Employer at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks before the public holiday. If an Employee does qualify for public holiday benefit, they are entitled to one of the following (as decided by the Employer):
The Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 regulates the working hours of young people under the age of 18.
Employers cannot employ children aged under 16 in regular full-time jobs. Children aged 14 and 15 may be employed as follows:
The Act is further supported by regulations requiring an Employer to have in place systems for recording and monitoring Employee working time. Although there are limited exceptions to the Act (the Gardaí, defence forces, employees who control their own working hours or family employees on farms or in private homes), the majority of employment relationships will be affected by this legislation.
If you require assistance with regards to exactly what working time records you need to retain on file and the relevant retention periods, contact the team at Adare Human Resource Management – info@adarehrm.ie / 01 5613594.
Employee entitlements under the legislation:
Minimum break entitlements:
An Employee is entitled to a 15-minute break when they have worked for 4 ½ hours. If they work more than 6 hours, then they are entitled to a 30-minute break, which can include the first 15-minute break. There is no entitlement to be paid for these breaks and they are not considered working time.
Special rules apply to shop employees who work more than 6 hours and whose hours of work include the period 11.30am–2.30pm. These employees are entitled to a one-hour consecutive break which must occur between 11.30am–2.30pm.
Note that minimum breaks must be taken during the working day. Breaks afforded at the end of the working day are not regarded as fulfilling the requirements of the legislation, i.e. allowing an Employee to work through their half hour break in order to finish their working day a half hour earlier is not deemed appropriate.
Minimum daily rest periods:
An Employee is entitled to 11 consecutive hours rest in any period of 24 hours
Minimum weekly rest periods:
An Employee should get 24 consecutive hours rest in any period of 7 days and this should normally follow on from one of the 11-hour rest periods mentioned above, or
As an alternative an Employer can give an Employee two 24-hour rest periods in a week if it follows a week, in which the Employee did not get any 24-hour rest periods. Unless a contract states otherwise the 24-hour rest period above should include a Sunday.
Maximum weekly working hours:
The maximum average working week for many employees cannot exceed 48 hours. This does not mean that a working week can never exceed 48 hours; it is the average that is important. The average may be calculated over one for the following:
- 4 months for most employees,
- 6 months for employees working in the security industry, hospitals, prisons, gas/electricity, airport/docks, agriculture or in businesses which have peak periods at certain times of the year (such as tourism), or
- 12 months where this has been agreed between the employer and the employees (and this must be approved by the Labour Court).
Entitlements in respect of Sunday working:
If an Employee is required to work on a Sunday, they are entitled to receive a benefit for same. This entitlement is subject to agreement with an Employer and their Employee(s). If there is no agreement in place with regards to same, an Employer is obliged to provide one or more of the following to their Employee’s for Sunday working:
- A reasonable allowance
- A reasonable pay increase
- Reasonable paid time off work.
Specific entitlements for night workers:
Night work means work done in the period between midnight and 7am. A night worker is an Employee who normally works at least 3 hours between midnight and 7am and who works at night for at least half of their working hours in a year.
In general, the maximum average working week is 48 hours (similar to what is outlined above). Normally, a night worker should not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. The average is calculated over either a 2-month period or a longer period if it is part of a collective agreement.
Annual leave entitlements:
Legislation provides for a basic annual (paid) leave entitlement of 4 weeks, although an Employee's contract could give greater rights. There are 3 different ways of calculating an Employee’s annual leave entitlement:
- An employee who has worked at least 1,365 hours in a leave year is entitled to the maximum of 4 working weeks' paid annual leave unless it is a leave year in which they change employment
- By allowing 1/3 of a working week for each calendar month in which the Employee has worked at least 117 hours
- 8% of the hours worked in the leave year, subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks.
An employee may use whichever of these methods gives the greater entitlement.
Benefits to be provided in respect of public holidays:
Most Employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. One exception is part-time Employees who have not worked for their Employer at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks before the public holiday. If an Employee does qualify for public holiday benefit, they are entitled to one of the following (as decided by the Employer):
- A paid day off on the public holiday
- An additional day of annual leave
- An additional day's pay
- A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
The Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 regulates the working hours of young people under the age of 18.
Employers cannot employ children aged under 16 in regular full-time jobs. Children aged 14 and 15 may be employed as follows:
- Doing light work during the school holidays – they must have at least 21 days off work during this time
- As part of an approved work experience or educational programme where the work is not harmful to their health, safety or development
- In film, cultural, advertising work or sport under licences issued by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation
- Children aged 15 may do 8 hours a week light work in school term time. The maximum working week for children outside school term time is 35 hours, or up to 40 hours if they are on approved work experience.
The Act is further supported by regulations requiring an Employer to have in place systems for recording and monitoring Employee working time. Although there are limited exceptions to the Act (the Gardaí, defence forces, employees who control their own working hours or family employees on farms or in private homes), the majority of employment relationships will be affected by this legislation.
If you require assistance with regards to exactly what working time records you need to retain on file and the relevant retention periods, contact the team at Adare Human Resource Management – info@adarehrm.ie / 01 5613594.
