Blog Posts - EMPLOYER RESOURCES - BEST PRACTICE FOR IRISH NON-PROFITS

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - October 2017

10/26/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Annual Leave and Public Holiday. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Sunday Working and Premium Payments

Where an Employee is to be required to work on a Sunday, either from time to time, or on a regular basis, this should be stated in the contract of employment to ensure that no dispute arises at a later time.

An Employee who is required to work on a Sunday must be compensated in one of the following manners:

payment of a reasonable allowance for the day, and/or
payment of an increased rate of pay for the Sunday, and/or
granting paid leave in order to compensate for the requirement to work on a Sunday.

An Employer may incorporate this benefit into the ordinary payment of an Employee who is required to work on a Sunday if they so wish. However, this must be done in such a manner that the Employer can demonstrate that the Sunday worker is being paid an additional rate over other comparable Employees who are not require to work on a Sunday.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - september 2017

9/25/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Managing Discipline Matters. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Retirement Age

Retirement Age is an area which is continuing to be a topic of concern for Employers. In the past number of years, there has been a surge in case law directly linked to retirement age of Employees, and whether Organisations can stand over compulsorily retiring Employees from work on the attainment of a certain age. At the present time, there is no compulsory retirement age for Employees across the Republic of Ireland, however that is not to say that Organisations cannot enforce retirement age for Employees of the Organisation when same is objectively justified and there is a business / organisational reason for this. In case law, such objective reasons are ‘narrowly defined’.

The age at which an Employee is currently eligible to receive the State pension is 66 (as of the 1st January 2014). In 2021 this will increase to 67 years of age, and in 2021, it will further increase to 68. Therefore, Employers should be cognisant of the difference between the age at which it may seek to enforce retirement age may differ from the age at which an Employee will be eligible to receive State pension.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - august 2017

8/22/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at the Probation Period. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Unpaid Leave for Carers

A fixed term contract is a contract which is put in place for a temporary period and has a definite duration or purpose. The end of the contract is determined by an objective condition such as:

The arrival of a specific date
The completion of a task / project
The occurrence of a specific event.

Fixed-term contracts may only be used for a specific period of time, otherwise the Employee may become entitled to a contract of indefinite duration ie permanent contract of employment.

In respect of Employees who commenced on or after 14th July 2003, the Employer is only permitted to employ that person for a period of four years on two or more successive fixed-term contracts. Following four years of fixed-term employment, the Employee may seek to be made permanent, unless there are objective grounds justifying a further renewal of the contract and not offering a permanent post at that time.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - JUly 2017

7/20/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Risk Management and Pregnant Employees. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Unpaid Leave for Carers

The Carer’s Leave Act 2001-2006 sets out to permit Employees to avail of unpaid leave from employment for the purposes of providing full time care and attention to a person requiring it.

The suitability of the Employee to provide care, and the requirements of the person in respect of whom leave is to be taken are determined by a Deciding Officer of the Department of Social Protection.

To be eligible for leave the Employee must:

have completed one year of service, and
be approved by the Department of Social Protection to provide full-time care to the person requiring it.

Without approval from the Department of Social Protection an Employee may not commence Carer’s leave.

An Employee may avail of up to 104 weeks’ Carer’s leave in respect of each relevant person. This may be extended to 208 weeks in certain circumstances.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - june 2017

6/20/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Absence Management. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Double Employment and The Maximum Working Week

The Organisation of Working Time Act sets out that an Employee who holds more than one employment must still adhere to the provisions of the Act related to the maximum working week. The legislation sets out to restrict the number of hours worked in any 7 day period by an Employee. For the majority of workers, the maximum working week is an average of 48 hours per 7 day period. Note that additional restrictions apply in respect of night workers and under 18’s.

Where there is a breach of this requirement, then both the Employer and Employee may be found guilty of an offence. In order for an Employer to avoid liability in these circumstances, he/she must be capable of demonstrating that they either could not reasonably have known that the Employee was working for another Employer, or that they could not have known the hours that the Employee had been working. Therefore, it is recommended that Employers have in place a policy and practice requiring the Employee to seek approval to hold a second employment, and where permission is granted, to record and monitor working hours in the second employment to ensure that no breaches have occurred.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - may 2017

5/24/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at CCTV footage in the workplace and the Data Protection Acts. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Parental Leave Act Amendment

A Bill has been issued to amend the Parental Leave Act 1998 to extend unpaid Parental Leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.

The Parental leave Acts, 1998-2013 set out to provide unpaid leave to natural and adoptive parents of children of a certain age and also to persons acting in loco parentis to same.

Eligibility for parental leave depends on 3 factors. These are:

The Employee’s status as a parent,
The age of the relevant child in respect of whom leave is being taken, and,
The Employee meeting minimum service requirements.

Leave may be availed of in respect of a relevant child:

Aged under 8 years of age, or
Within two years of an adoption order where the child is adopted between the ages of 6 and 8 years, or
Aged under 16 years in the case of a child with a disability/ long term illness, or earlier where the child ceases to have a disability/ long term illness.

In order to qualify for leave the Employee must have completed 12 months service with the Organisation. However, where the child is about to go over the ages specified in this section, and the Employee has completed more than 3 months service but less than 12, he/she will be entitled to avail of 1 working week of leave per completed month of service.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - April 2017

4/24/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at part-time working arrangement & considerations. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Paternity Benefit Payments

The Government have set aside €16 million for paternity benefit payment this year as it expects 20,000 of applications from fathers.

Paternity leave is applicable where the date of confinement in respect of the child falls on or after the 1st September 2016, or where a child is or is to be adopted and the date of placement in respect of the child falls on or after the 1st September 2016.

Paternity Leave applies to all Employees who are relevant parents to a child (other than the mother):

The father of the child;
The relevant adopting parent ;
The spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the mother of the child;
A parent of a child where the child is a donor conceived child.

A relevant parent is entitled to avail of 2 weeks paternity leave from employment, to enable him or her to provide or assist in the provision of care to the child or to provide support to the relevant adopting parent or mother of the child. The period of leave comprises a single period of 2 continuous weeks.

Only one person who is a relevant parent in relation to a child is entitled to paternity leave in respect of that child. Where a child is part of a multiple birth, or a person adopts 2 or more children at the same time, the relevant parent is only entitled to one period of paternity leave.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - march 2017

3/22/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Effective Performance Management. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Sunday Working and Premium Payments

It is assumed that the weekly rest period will be provided on a Sunday. Therefore, unless agreed otherwise in the contract of employment, an Employee may not be required to work on a Sunday without agreement. Where an Employee is to be required to work on a Sunday, either from time to time, or on a regular basis, this should be stated in the contract of employment to ensure that no dispute arises at a later time.

An Employee who is required to work on a Sunday must be compensated in one of the following manners:

payment of a reasonable allowance for the day, and/or
payment of an increased rate of pay for the Sunday, and/or
granting paid leave in order to compensate for the requirement to work on a Sunday.

An Employer may incorporate this benefit into the ordinary payment of an Employee who is required to work on a Sunday if they so wish. However, this must be done in such a manner that the Employer can demonstrate that the Sunday worker is being paid an additional rate over other comparable Employees who are not require to work on a Sunday.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - february 2017

2/25/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Recruitment & Selection. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Double Employment and Working Week

The Organisation of Working Time (Records) (Prescribed Form and Exemptions) Regulations, 2001 came into effect on 1st November 2001. These regulations require Employers to maintain working time records in respect of Employees.

The following information is to be retained in respect of each Employee:

The days and total hours worked in each week by the Employee,
Any annual leave and/or public holiday leave provided to the Employee and the payment made in respect of that leave,
Any additional day’s pay where this is the benefit provided in respect of a public holiday rather paid leave.

A copy of any written notification issued to advise the Employee of their working hours where hours are not fixed, e.g. a roster.

Records of rest periods and breaks provided, unless these have been advised to the Employee in writing, and there are established complaints procedures in place for an Employee to raise the issue where a breach of their entitlements occurs.

Records should be retained in a clear form. Where an Organisation has a clock-in system this will suffice for the retention of records. If not, then a form designed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (OWT1) may be used, or any other similar form which contains the same information.

EMPLOYER RESOURCES NEWSLETTER - january 2017

1/19/2017

Welcome to the latest issue of the Employer Resources Newsletter, where you will find in-depth and expertly researched and written articles (courtesy of Adare Human Resource Management) covering key areas of employment law and best practice.

If there are any specific topics you would like covered in this publication, please forward your suggestions to Thomas McDonagh of Adare Human Resources Management: tmcdonagh@adarehrm.ie.

Newsletter Content:

Employment Case Law – each month we review a number of interesting employment law cases and consider their implications for organisations. This month we look at Agency Workers. Read more >>>
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Decisions – each month we look at and review the decisions from the WRC. This provides a valuable insight into the types of discrimination cases before the WRC and the decisions that are issued. Read more >>>
What to Keep an Eye Out For – what is new, changing, potentially changing or what you may have missed. Read more >>>

Did you Know?

Double Employment and Working Week

The Organisation of Working Time Act sets out that an Employee who holds more than one employment must still adhere to the provisions of the Act related to the maximum working week. Where there is a breach of this requirement, then both the Employer and Employee are guilty of an offence. For example, an Employee who is employed to work in a charitable organisation for 39 hours a week, and who also works a further 12 hours per week in a second evening / weekend post for another Employer will breach the Act. Either, or both, Employer(s) could be found guilty of an offence under the Act in permitting the Employee to be employed in excess of the maximum working week.

In order for an Employer to avoid liability in these circumstances, it must be capable of demonstrating that it could not reasonably have known that the Employee was working for another Employer, or that they could not have known the hours that the Employee had been working. Therefore, it is recommended that Employers have in place a policy / practice requiring the Employee to seek approval to hold a second employment, and where permission is granted, to record and monitor working hours in the second employment to ensure that no breaches of the Working Time regulations have occurred.