STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 488 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS, 2000.

S.I. No. 488 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS, 2000.

I, MARY HARNEY, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No.27 of 1972 ), and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive No. 75/129/EEC of 17 February 1975 relating to collective redundancies¹ , as amended by Council Directive No. 92/56/EEC of 24 June 1992² , make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Protection of Employment) Regulations, 2000.

2. (1) In these Regulations-

“Act of 1977” means Protection of Employment Act, 1977 ( No.7 of 1977 ), as amended by the Protection of Employment Order, 1996 ( S.I. No.370 of 1996 );

“Act of 1994” means Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 ( No.5 of 1994 ).

3. Section 2(1) of the Act of 1977 is amended-

(a) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “employees' representatives”:

“ ‘employees’ representatives', in relation to employees who are affected, or are likely to be affected, by proposed collective redundancies (whether by being selected for redundancy or otherwise), means-

(a) a trade union, staff association or excepted body with which it has been the practice of the employer to conduct collective bargaining negotiations, or

(b) in the absence of such a trade union, staff association or excepted body, a person or persons chosen (under an arrangement put in place by the employer) by such employees from amongst their number to represent them in negotiations with the employer;”,

and

(b) by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘excepted body’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 6(3) of the Trade Union Act, 1941 (No. 22 of 1941) , as amended;”.

4. Section 9(2) (a) (as amended by Article 8 of the Protection of Employment Order, 1996) of the Act of 1977 is amended by the substitution of “mitigating their consequences” for “mitigating their circumstances”.

5. The Act of 1977 is amended-

(a) in section 11, by the substitution of “£1,500” for “£500”,

(b) in section 13, by the substitution of “£1,500” for “£500”,

(c) in section 17(3), by the substitution of “£1,500” for “£500”, and

(d) in section 18(3), by the substitution of “£1,500” for “£500”.

6. (1) An employee, or a trade union, staff association or excepted body on behalf of an employee, may present a complaint to a rights commissioner that an employer has contravened section 9 or 10 of the Act of 1977 and, if he, she or it does so, the commissioner shall give the parties an opportunity to be heard by him or her and to present to him or her any evidence relevant to the complaint, shall give a decision in writing in relation to it and shall communicate the decision to the parties.

(2) A decision of a rights commissioner under paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall do one or more of the following:

(a) declare that the complaint is or, as the case may be, is not well founded,

(b) require the employer to comply with the provision of the Act of 1977 concerned and, for that purpose, to take a specified course of action,

(c) require the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as is just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances, but not exceeding 4 weeks remuneration in respect of the employee's employment calculated in accordance with regulations under section 17 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 ( No. 10 of 1977 ),

and the references in this paragraph to an employer shall be construed, in a case where ownership of the business or part of the business of the employer changes after the contravention to which the complaint relates occurred, as references to the person who, by virtue of the change, becomes entitled to such ownership.

(3) A rights commissioner shall not entertain a complaint under this Regulation unless it is presented to him or her within the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the alleged contravention to which the complaint relates or (in a case where the rights commissioner is satisfied that exceptional circumstances prevented the presentation of the complaint within the period aforesaid) such further period, not exceeding 6 months from the expiration of the first-mentioned period of 6 months, as the rights commissioner considers reasonable.

(4) For the purposes of this Regulation--

(a) subsections (4) to (6) and (7) (a) of section 7 of the Act of 1994 shall apply in relation to a complaint presented under this Regulation as they apply in relation to a complaint presented under subsection (1) of that section 7, with the modification that in that subsection (6) a reference to a decision is substituted for a reference to a recommendation, and any other necessary modifications, and

(b) sections 8 to 10 of the Act of 1994 shall apply as they apply for the purposes of that Act, with the following modifications, namely-

(i) the substitution in those provisions of references to a decision for references to a recommendation,

(ii) the substitution in section 9 of the Act of 1994 of-

(I) references to the Circuit Court for references to the District Court, and

(II) the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) An application under this section to the Circuit Court shall be made to the judge of the Circuit Court for the circuit in which the employer concerned ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, trade or business.”,

and any other necessary modifications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Protection of Employment Act, 1977 , to provide for representation of, and consultation with, employees in the absence of a trade union, staff association or excepted body; to provide for a right of complaint to a rights commissioner where an employer contravenes section 9 or 10 (information and consultation of employees) and to provide for increases in the levels of fines for offences.

¹OJ No. L 48, 22.2.75, p.29

²OJ No. L 245, 26.8.92, p.3