It was announced today that an information campaign will be launched to inform workers of new entitlements that will accompany important new employment legislation coming into effect on 4 March 2019. The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which was signed by the President on 25 December 2018, delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to address the challenges of increased casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious employment.
Hailing the Act as one of the most significant pieces of employment legislation in a generation, Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D said:
“I was very happy to introduce this important new piece of legislation and the information campaign launching this weekend is intended to bring workers up to speed on their new rights. When it comes into effect, just ten days away, this new law will profoundly improve the security and predictability of working hours for employees on insecure contracts.
“My Department has worked closely with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to provide information about the changes being introduced in the Bill, ahead of its introduction, in order to ensure employers are brought fully up to date on their new obligations. This information campaign complements this work and will serve as a reminder to all workers concerned that the new protections are now coming into effect.”
The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act provides that:
- Employers shall give employees core terms of employment within 5 days of starting work
- Zero hours contracts will be restricted
- There will be minimum payments for people called into work but sent home without work
- A “band of hours” system will be introduced where an employee’s contract does not reflect actual hours worked
- There are strong anti-penalisation provisions for employees who invoke their rights under this legislation
- National Minimum Wage rates for younger people and trainees have been simplified.
The Department’s advertising campaign to make employers and employees aware of the new changes will begin this Sunday (24 February 2019) and will comprise of print, radio, digital and social media advertising.
