Employment FAQs
Q: Am I obliged to give my employee a Contract of Employment?
Anyone who works for an employer for a wage has a Contract of Employment whether it is written or not.
The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001 provide that an employer must provide an employee with a written statement of certain terms of employment no later than two months after the commencement of employment.
For more information on these employment law requirements please contact the Malcomson Law employment team who will be pleased to advise you on your existing Contract of Employment or to draft a Contract that will suit your situation.
Q: I employ young people to work in my business during their summer holidays from school and at the weekends. Is this legal?
The employment of people under the age of 18 is governed by the Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996.
The legislation generally prohibits the employment of children under 16. However a child over 14 may be permitted to do some light work during the school holidays provided it is not harmful to health development or schooling.
A child over 15 may also do such work for up to eight hours a week during school term.
A young person aged 16 or 17 may not work for more than 8 hours a day, and the maximum hours that person may work in a week is 40 hours.
Q: I am looking after a sick relative. Am I entitled to take leave from work for this purpose?
Yes, under the Carers Leave Act, 2001 you may be entitled to unpaid leave subject to a maximum of 65 weeks in respect of any one care-recipient.
For more information on what is covered by the Act please contact the Malcomson Law employment team.
Q: I have been told that I am no longer entitled to smoke in the staff canteen. I have being smoking there for the last 30 years. What are my rights?
On 29 March, 2004 the workplace smoking ban introduced by the Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Act 2004 came into effect. A workplace is defined under the Act as "any place, land or other location at, in, upon or near which, work is carried on, whether occasionally or otherwise".
If you continue to smoke in your workplace then you may be liable on summary conviction, to a fine of up to €3,000 and/or up to 3 months imprisonment and on indictment, a fine of up to €125,000 and/or up to 2 years imprisonment.
If you are an employer in charge of that workplace and you facilitate the breach of the ban you may also be held accountable.
Q: I am not being paid the minimum wage. As I work on a part time basis, what are my entitlements to the minimum wage?
The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 applies to all employees, including part-time. Since 01 January 2007, the National Minimum hourly wage is €8.30 gross for an experienced adult worker. This will be increased to €8.65 per hour from 01 July 2007The Minimum Wage Act provides the following sub-minimum rates.
Sub-minimum Wage
- An employee who is under 18 is entitled to €5.81 per hour (this is 70% of the minimum wage)
- An employee who is in the first year of employment since the age of 18 is entitled to €6.64 per hour (80% of minimum wage)
- An employee who is in the second year of employment since the date of first employment over the age of 18 is entitled to €7.47 per hour (90% of the minimum wage)
Q: I am buying a business. Do I have any responsibility towards the existing employees?
It is important when purchasing a business to be fully informed of all matter in relation to the employees of that business.
An EU Directive became a part of Irish law by virtue of the European Communities(Safeguarding of Employees' Rights on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 1980 (SI 306/19800('the Regulations')
Regulation 3 of this Directive provides
'The rights and obligations of the transferor arising from the contract of employment or from an employment relationship existing on the date of a transfer shall, by reason of such transfer, be transferred to the transferee'.
When you are acquiring a Business the employment team at Malcomson Law want to ensure that you are not acquiring more than you bargained for.
Q: My Partner has just had a baby. Am I entitled to take leave from work?
If you are the natural or adoptive parent of a child, you may be entitled to a period of fourteen weeks parental leave to enable you to take care of the child under the Parental Leave Act.
In order to qualify, an employee must have one year's continuous service with his/her current employer. Such an employee is entitled to parental leave for each and every child of which that employee is the natural or adoptive parent. If an employee as the natural parent is availing of this leave that parent must take such leave before the child reaches eight years of age.
If a child was adopted between the age of six and eight, leave in respect of that child may be taken up to two years after the date of the adoption order.
In the case of a child with a disability leave may be taken up to 16 years of age. In addition an extension may also be allowed where illness or other incapacity prevented the employee taking the leave within the normal period.
Q: I returned to work recently after taking Maternity Leave. I was disappointed when I was told that I would not be doing the same job as I was doing prior to going on maternity leave. Can my employer do this?
The main legislation covering this position is the Maternity Protection Act, 1994. Section 27 of the act relates to this issue and it provides that on returning to work after a maternity leave an employee has a right to suitable alternative work if for some reason it is no longer feasible for you to return to your former position.
Therefore, it may be the case that your employer does not have to offer you your original job back. If it is not reasonably practical for your employer to offer you your original job back, then you are entitled to be offered suitable alternative employment under a new Contract of Employment.
The new position offered to you should be suitable and appropriate.
Seeking Employment Law Advice
If you would like to set up a consultation with an Employment Law Solicitor please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422.