WHAT TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR…
The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 –
Spent Convictions
The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016, has been recently passed by Government. The primary purposes of the Act is to provide that a person who was convicted of certain types of minor offences will become spent subject to some exceptions, after a period of seven years has passed since the date of the conviction.
In announcing the commencement of the Act, Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald stated: “the Act provides that people convicted of relatively minor offences can eventually leave their past behind them and get on with their lives. The Bill should be of particular benefit to ex-offenders, who often find their path to employment blocked, once they admit to a previous offence. It is in everyone’s interest that offenders who have paid their debt to society and want to leave crime behind are encouraged to do so.”
It is important to note however that the Act does not apply including in circumstances including:
National Employment Rights Authority Recovers €900,000 In Unpaid Wages
Ireland’s employment rights authority has reported an increase of approximately 20% in allegations of unpaid wages and an increase in prosecutions against Employers. The National Rights Authority (NERA) reported the hair and beauty, transport, and food and drink sectors as the worst offenders. NERA stated that the amount of unpaid wages it secured in 2015 was up 40% in comparison to the same period the previous year, despite fewer inspections completed.
Almost 90 prosecutions, with €100,000 in fines, have been imposed to date. Interestingly, in approximately 67 cases NERA were called in to enforce awards made by the Labour Court or the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Between January and the end of September 2015 over 3,500 workplace inspections took place, with almost €900,000 in unpaid wages recovered.
Information officers within NERA handled over 1,200 calls per week from October 2015. It noted that Employees and former Employees accounted for 74% of calls to the Organisations Customer Service Unit. The unit provided information to 48,654 people, an increase of 12% on the previous year.
Of the calls made, the largest call for information at 28% was related to employment permits. Working hours accounted for 16% and 13% of contacts were related to terms of employment, while 11% of people contacting the customer service unit wanted information on redundancy. Payment of wages represented a 10th of queries, while unfair dismissal and complaints both accounted for 6% of contacts made.
Fathers will get €230 per week under new Paternity Bill
Minsters Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald marked Father’s Day by introducing the Paternity Bill. The Bill, when enacted will allow a period of two weeks paid paternity leave within the first 26 weeks following the birth of their child.
The Department of Social Protection will provide paid paternity benefit of €230 per week for the two weeks of paternity leave. Organisations will also have the option of providing a further top-up to the father's regular salary - if they choose to do so. The plan to introduce paid paternity leave has been welcomed by the Dáil.
The Government has estimated that approximately 30,000 to 40,000 fathers will avail of the benefit in a full year, at a cost of €20 million to the state. Ireland will be catching up with most other European countries by introducing the measure, which was flagged earlier this year.
Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar said: "It's great to be able to do something for dads by providing paternity benefit to all PRSI contributors for the first time."
"Parenting is changing and fathers are more and more involved in raising their children. Ireland is behind the curve compared to our European colleagues but this combined package of paternity leave and paternity benefit will help to address that."
Spent Convictions
The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016, has been recently passed by Government. The primary purposes of the Act is to provide that a person who was convicted of certain types of minor offences will become spent subject to some exceptions, after a period of seven years has passed since the date of the conviction.
In announcing the commencement of the Act, Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald stated: “the Act provides that people convicted of relatively minor offences can eventually leave their past behind them and get on with their lives. The Bill should be of particular benefit to ex-offenders, who often find their path to employment blocked, once they admit to a previous offence. It is in everyone’s interest that offenders who have paid their debt to society and want to leave crime behind are encouraged to do so.”
It is important to note however that the Act does not apply including in circumstances including:
- persons involved in the care, training or education for a child or vulnerable person;
- conviction for a sexual offence;
- An offence which was tried in the Circuit Court
National Employment Rights Authority Recovers €900,000 In Unpaid Wages
Ireland’s employment rights authority has reported an increase of approximately 20% in allegations of unpaid wages and an increase in prosecutions against Employers. The National Rights Authority (NERA) reported the hair and beauty, transport, and food and drink sectors as the worst offenders. NERA stated that the amount of unpaid wages it secured in 2015 was up 40% in comparison to the same period the previous year, despite fewer inspections completed.
Almost 90 prosecutions, with €100,000 in fines, have been imposed to date. Interestingly, in approximately 67 cases NERA were called in to enforce awards made by the Labour Court or the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Between January and the end of September 2015 over 3,500 workplace inspections took place, with almost €900,000 in unpaid wages recovered.
Information officers within NERA handled over 1,200 calls per week from October 2015. It noted that Employees and former Employees accounted for 74% of calls to the Organisations Customer Service Unit. The unit provided information to 48,654 people, an increase of 12% on the previous year.
Of the calls made, the largest call for information at 28% was related to employment permits. Working hours accounted for 16% and 13% of contacts were related to terms of employment, while 11% of people contacting the customer service unit wanted information on redundancy. Payment of wages represented a 10th of queries, while unfair dismissal and complaints both accounted for 6% of contacts made.
Fathers will get €230 per week under new Paternity Bill
Minsters Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald marked Father’s Day by introducing the Paternity Bill. The Bill, when enacted will allow a period of two weeks paid paternity leave within the first 26 weeks following the birth of their child.
The Department of Social Protection will provide paid paternity benefit of €230 per week for the two weeks of paternity leave. Organisations will also have the option of providing a further top-up to the father's regular salary - if they choose to do so. The plan to introduce paid paternity leave has been welcomed by the Dáil.
The Government has estimated that approximately 30,000 to 40,000 fathers will avail of the benefit in a full year, at a cost of €20 million to the state. Ireland will be catching up with most other European countries by introducing the measure, which was flagged earlier this year.
Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar said: "It's great to be able to do something for dads by providing paternity benefit to all PRSI contributors for the first time."
"Parenting is changing and fathers are more and more involved in raising their children. Ireland is behind the curve compared to our European colleagues but this combined package of paternity leave and paternity benefit will help to address that."
