Sick Leave Act 2022 – Time to Prepare
Most recently the Sick Leave Bill 2022, sponsored by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, passed all stages of both Houses of the Oireachtas on 13 July 2022 and was signed into law by the President on 20 July 2022. Note: On 14.09.22 the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar publicly stated that the Sick Leave Act is to commence on 01.01.23 and so the first year’s paid entitlement of up to three days medically certified sick lea
The Proposed Introduction of The Living Wage
Could Represent a 30.5% Increase On The Current National Minimum Wage (NMW) Over The Next 4 Years* Background In 2021, The Low Pay Commission (LPC) was requested to examine the Programme for Government commitment to “progress to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government” and make recommendations on how best to achieve this commitment. The LPC made several recommendations including: Adopting a fixed threshold approach for the calculation of a living wage (LW) and setti
Stratis Insights on The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022
The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 has introduced substantial changes to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 by significantly enhancing the protections for whistle-blowers in Ireland, thereby giving effect to the EU Whistleblowing Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1397 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law). The Act gives further enhanced protections for workers who suffer penalisation as a result of making a protected disclosure by providing f
What’s Happening in the Labour Market?
Amidst a continuing ‘cost of living crisis’, there are growing concerns across the business community about a deterioration in our competitive position and at a rapidly increasing labour cost, which is also being impacted by significant political commitments on labour policy issues. Everyone is acutely aware of the significant effects for citizens, workers and for businesses from the escalating price inflation (CPI) in Ireland, which rose to 9.1% annually in July, unchanged s
Dealing with Behavioural Complaints – The Bullying Standard
There is increasing emphasis being placed on “how” organisations go about dealing with issues between people at work, especially with regard to the appropriateness and correct application of procedures. In many “Employment Rights” cases, in third parties, the focus can, too often, be more on process and procedures than the substantive issue itself and can materially affect any finding. Whilst this article is mainly focused on the issues arising in “bullying” cases, there are
The Four Day Week – If It Sounds Too Good To Be True!
Introduction The standard working week in Ireland typically ranges from 35-39 hours per week in the Public Sector to 39 - 40 hours per week in the Private Sector and this has been standard practice for a number of decades. The Programme for National Recovery (PNR), which was agreed in 1987, provided for a reduction in the standard working week in the Private Sector by one hour, (from 40 to 39) the implementation of which was negotiated locally at enterprise level. At the time
