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2 1936

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACT, 1936

PART II.

Conditions as to Piece Work, the Employment of Certain Classes of Persons and Annual Leave.

Prohibition of employment of persons under fourteen years of age.

13. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any employer to employ any person whose age is less than fourteen years to do industrial work.

(2) If any employer employs a person in contravention of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and such person shall also be guilty of an offence under this section.

Proof of age of young person before employment.

14. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any employer to employ a young person unless or until a birth certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the age of such young person has been produced to such employer.

(2) Whenever a birth certificate of a young person is required for the purposes of this section, such young person or his parent or guardian shall, on presenting a written requisition in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars and on payment of a fee of sixpence, be entitled to obtain a certified copy of the entry of the birth of such young person in the register of births under the hand of the registrar or superintendent registrar or other person having the custody thereof; and forms for such requisition shall on request be supplied without any charge by every registrar of births and by every superintendent registrar or other person having the custody of the register.

(3) If any employer employs a young person in contravention of this section, such employer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and such young person shall also be guilty of an offence under this section.

Restrictions on employment of young persons.

15. —(1) The Minister may in respect of any form of industrial work, after consultation with representatives of employers interested in such form of industrial work and with representatives of workers so interested, by order make regulations either—

(a) prohibiting the employment of young persons to do such form of industrial work, or

(b) fixing a proportion which the number of young persons employed by any employer to do such form of industrial work may bear to the number of other workers so employed.

(2) Where any regulations made under this section are for the time being in force in respect of any form of industrial work it shall not be lawful for any employer to employ to do such form of industrial work either (as the case may be) any young person or so many young persons that the number of young persons so employed by such employer bears to the number of other workers so employed a proportion greater than that fixed by such regulations.

(3) If, when any regulations made under this section are for the time being in force, any employer employs a young person or a number of young persons in contravention of such regulations such employer shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

(4) In this section the expression “young person” does not include any apprentice who at the commencement of this Act is employed under indentures whereby he is bound to serve as apprentice for a period not less than three years or any apprentice who, at or after such commencement, is employed as apprentice under rules made by an apprenticeship committee under the Apprenticeship Act, 1931 (No. 56 of 1931).

Restrictions on employment of female workers.

16. —(1) The Minister may in respect of any form of industrial work, after consultation with representatives of employers interested in such form of industrial work and with representatives of workers so interested, by order make regulations either—

(a) prohibiting the employment of female workers to do such form of industrial work, or

(b) fixing a proportion which the number of female workers employed by any employer to do such form of industrial work may bear to the number of other workers so employed.

(2) When any regulations made under this section are for the time being in force in respect of any form of industrial work it shall not be lawful for any employer to employ to do such form of industrial work either (as the case may be) any female worker or so many female workers that the number of female workers so employed by such employer bears to the number of other workers so employed a proportion greater than that fixed by such regulations.

(3) If, when any regulations made under this section are for the time being in force, any employer employs a female worker or a number of female workers in contravention of such regulations such employer shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

Prohibition of employment of outworkers.

17. —(1) The Minister may in respect of any form of industrial work by order make regulations prohibiting the employment of outworkers in such form of industrial work and when any regulations made under this section are for the time being in force it shall not be lawful for any employer to employ any outworker to do such form of industrial work.

(2) Any regulations made under this section in respect of any form of industrial work may be expressed to be limited in effect to an area specified therein and whenever such regulations are expressed to be so limited they shall render unlawful the employment of outworkers resident in that area to do such form of industrial work but shall not restrict the employment of any other outworkers.

(3) If any employer employs any outworker in contravention of any regulations made under this section and for the time being in force such employer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and such outworker shall also be guilty of an offence under this section.

Registers of outworkers.

18. —(1) Every employer who employs any outworkers shall keep in accordance with regulations made under this section, a register of all outworkers for the time being employed by him.

(2) The Minister may by order make regulations for the following purposes, that is to say:—

(a) prescribing the form of the register of outworkers to be kept in pursuance of this section and, if the Minister so thinks fit, prescribing different such forms in respect of different classes of industrial work, and

(b) prescribing the matters and things to be entered in every such register and, where necessary, prescribing different such matters and things in respect of every different form (if any) of such register.

(3) Every employer who is required by this section to keep a register of outworkers and fails to keep such a register in accordance with this section and the regulations made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

Piece work wages.

19. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this section every employer who for the doing of any industrial work pays to any worker or outworker any remuneration (in this Act referred to as piece work wages) calculated by reference to the amount of work done by such worker or outworker shall, before or at the commencement of any work in respect of which any particular payment of piece work wages is to be calculated, give to such worker or outworker a note in writing (in this Act referred to as a piece work particulars docket) showing, in sufficient detail to enable such worker or outworker to compute the piece work wages payable to him, particulars (in this Act referred to as piece work particulars) of both the rate of piece work wages and of the work in respect of which such rate is payable.

(2) On the application of an employer, the Minister may, if he thinks proper so to do having regard to all the circumstances of the case, issue to such employer a permit authorising him, subject to compliance with such conditions (if any) as may be stated in such permit, to pay piece-work wages to workers and outworkers employed by him without complying with the next preceding sub-section of this section, and whenever any such permit is so issued to an employer the following provisions shall have effect in regard thereto, that is to say:—

(a) the Minister may at any time revoke such permit by seven days' notice in writing given or sent by post to such employer;

(b) so long as such permit remains unrevoked and such employer complies with the conditions (if any) stated in such permit, it shall not be obligatory on such employer to comply with the said next preceding sub-section of this section.

(3) Save as otherwise provided by this section, every employer who for the doing of any industrial work in a building under his management and control pays to any worker piece work wages shall exhibit continually, in accordance with this Act, in every room in such building where such industrial work is done, a placard (in this Act referred to as a piece work particulars placard) giving the piece work particulars in respect of such industrial work.

(4) Every piece work particulars placard shall comply with the following conditions, that is to say:—

(a) shall not contain symbols other than letters and figures used with their ordinary significance,

(b) shall contain the piece work particulars in respect of the industrial work to which it relates and no other matter,

(c) shall be exhibited in such a position that it may be easily read by workers employed to do the industrial work to which it relates,

(d) shall be maintained in a clean and legible state,

(e) shall be in both the Irish and English languages,

and if any piece work particulars placard exhibited by any employer does not comply with such conditions such placard shall be deemed not to be exhibited in accordance with this Act.

(5) Where the piece work particulars relating to any form of industrial work are of such a complicated character that they cannot conveniently be comprised in a piece work particulars placard, any employer who employs workers to do such form of industrial work for piece work wages may, in lieu of exhibiting a piece work particulars placard, keep a book (in this Act referred to as a piece work particulars book) containing such piece work particulars readily available for inspection by all workers so employed.

(6) If any employer fails to comply with the requirements of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

Penalties for alteration of or disclosing information in placard or docket.

20. —(1) If any person, otherwise than for the purpose of correcting a mistake, alters any piece work particulars docket, any piece work particulars placard or any piece work particulars book such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or at the discretion of the court to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) If for the purpose of divulging a trade secret any person discloses any information derived by him from a piece work particulars docket, from a piece work particulars placard or from a piece work particulars book he shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) If any person for the purpose of trade competition solicits or procures from any other person information derived by such other person from a piece work particulars docket, from a piece work particulars placard or from a piece work particulars book, or for the purpose of securing any such information so derived gives or offers or causes to be given or offered to such other person any reward such person shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Reckoning of piece work.

21. —(1) If piece work wages are paid by any employer to any worker or outworker in respect of any industrial work the amount of work done shall be reckoned by such employer for the purpose of ascertaining the piece work wages to be paid in respect thereof in such a manner that such worker or outworker shall have an opportunity of checking the result of such reckoning before each payment of such wages.

(2) For reckoning the amount of work done for the purpose of ascertaining the piece work wages to be paid in respect thereof an automatic machine (in this Act referred to as an automatic reckoner) may be used and if any automatic reckoner is made and operated in accordance with this Act an opportunity of observing the amount reckoned by such automatic reckoner shall be deemed to be an opportunity of checking the amount of work reckoned by such automatic reckoner.

(3) Every automatic reckoner shall comply with the following conditions, that is to say:—

(a) the indicator shall not show the amounts of work reckoned in symbols other than letters and figures used with their ordinary significance,

(b) the indicator shall be fixed in such a position that it may be easily read by workers employed to do the industrial work the amount of which is ascertained by the automatic reckoner,

(c) the indicator shall be clean and legible,

(d) the automatic reckoner shall be accurate in its results and shall be maintained in good repair and working order,

(e) all particulars which may be necessary for the purpose of ascertaining from the indicator the amount of industrial work reckoned by an automatic reckoner shall be legibly marked on such automatic reckoner,

and any automatic reckoner which does not comply with the said conditions shall be deemed not to be made and operated in accordance with this Act.

(4) If any employer reckons otherwise than in accordance with this section the amount of any form of industrial work done by any worker for piece work wages such employer shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

Penalty for interfering with automatic reckoner.

22. —If any person, otherwise than for a lawful purpose alters, interferes with, or causes any interference with the mechanism or indicator of an automatic reckoner such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or at the discretion of the court to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Inspection of weights and measures used in ascertaining wages.

23. —Every Act and regulations for the time being in force relating to appliances which are weights, measures, scales, balances, steelyards, weighing machines or measuring instruments (in this section referred to as measuring appliances) shall extend to measuring appliances used in any place for ascertaining the amount of industrial work done by any worker or outworker for the purpose of calculating the amount of piece work wages payable to him, in like manner as if such measuring appliances were used in the sale of goods and if such place were a place where goods are kept for sale, and every such Act shall apply accordingly, and every inspector of weights and measures or other person authorised to inspect or examine weights and measures shall inspect, stamp, mark, search for and examine the said measuring appliances accordingly and for that purpose shall have the same powers and duties as he has in relation to measuring appliances used in the sale of goods.

Right of worker to annual leave.

24. —(1) Every employer shall allow to each worker in his employment in any industrial undertaking a period of not less than six consecutive days leave (in this Act referred to as annual leave) in every complete employment year of such worker during which he has been continuously in the employment of such employer and has worked in such employment not less than eighteen hundred hours.

(2) Where a worker employed by an employer in an industrial undertaking ceases, at any time other than the end of an employment year of such worker, to be in the employment of such employer, such employer shall either—

(a) allow such worker, before such cesser, six days annual leave in respect of the portion of such employment year during which he was so employed, or

(b) pay such worker, at such cesser—

(i) one day's pay (calculated at the rate which would be applicable if such day were a day of annual leave allowed immediately before such cesser) in respect of every complete period of two months in the said portion of such employment year during which he has worked not less than three hundred hours, and

(ii) one day's pay (calculated as aforesaid) in respect of the period (if any) in the said portion of such employment year which is less than two months but not less than one month and during which he has worked for not less than one hundred and fifty hours.

(3) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he so thinks proper, by order make regulations varying, in respect of all or any particular classes or class of workers, all or any of the periods of eighteen hundred hours, three hundred hours, and one hundred and fifty hours mentioned in sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section by substituting for such periods or period such other periods or period as the Minister shall think proper, and whenever any such regulations are in force the said sub-sections shall have effect, in respect of the workers or the classes or class of workers to which such regulations apply, as if the said periods or such of them as are affected by such regulations were varied in the manner stated in such regulations.

(4) No Sunday nor public holiday shall be reckoned as a day of annual leave but if a Sunday or public holiday intervene between days of annual leave such days shall be deemed to be consecutive notwithstanding such intervention.

(5) It shall not be lawful for any worker, during any period of annual leave to which he is entitled under this section, to do for reward any industrial work, and if any worker does any industrial work in contravention of this sub-section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

(6) Where a worker who is a member of the Reserve Force of the Defence Forces of Saorstát Eireann is absent from his employment for the purpose of attending and performing his duty as such member at any initial training, annual training, or test mobilisation, such worker shall, for the purpose of reckoning any period of employment or of continuous employment within the meaning of this section, be deemed to have been in his said employment during his said absence, and accordingly the period of his said absence shall for the purposes of this section be reckoned in the said period of employment or continuous employment.

(7) Where the ownership of an industrial undertaking is transferred by act of the parties or operation of law, a worker who is employed in such undertaking immediately before and immediately after such transfer shall be entitled to reckon, for the purposes of this section, the period of his continuous employment in such undertaking beginning before and ending at such transfer and the period of such continuous employment beginning at and continuing after such transfer as one uninterrupted period of continuous employment in such undertaking notwithstanding such transfer.

(8) This section shall apply to the employment year current at the commencement of this Act of every worker who, at such passing, is in the employment of an employer in an industrial undertaking, and this section shall have effect in respect of such employment year and such worker as if this section had been in force at the beginning of such employment year, but subject to the modifications that—

(a) if such employment year expires within one month after the commencement of this Act, such employer shall be deemed to have complied with this section if he allows to such worker, not later than three months after the expiration of such employment year, such annual leave as such worker may be entitled to under this section in respect of such employment year, and

(b) if such employer shall, before the commencement of this Act, have allowed to such worker in such employment year one or more days' leave which would be annual leave for the purposes of this section but for the fact that such days were not consecutive or were less than six or were both not consecutive and less than six, the said leave so allowed shall be deemed to be annual leave for the purposes of this section and such worker shall only be entitled in respect of such employment year to such number (if any) of consecutive days' annual leave after the commencement of this Act as is equal to the number (if any) of days by which the said leave so allowed is less than six.

(9) In the application of this section to workers who are young persons, the several periods of fifteen hundred hours, two hundred and fifty hours and one hundred and twenty hours shall respectively be substituted throughout this section for the several periods of eighteen hundred hours, three hundred hours and one hundred and fifty hours, and this section shall have effect in relation to such workers accordingly.

(10) In this section and the two next following sections of this Act the expression “employment year” in relation to any worker means a period of one year beginning on the day on which such worker last entered the employment in relation to which the expression is used or on an anniversary of that day.

(11) If any employer fails to pay to any worker any moneys which become payable to such worker under this section such worker may recover such moneys as a simple contract debt from such employer.

(12) If any employer fails to allow annual leave to any worker in contravention of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

Remuneration during annual leave.

25. —Whenever a worker for salary or wages is allowed by his employer any annual leave to which he is entitled by virtue of this Act, such employer shall pay to such worker, in respect of each day of such leave, salary or wages at whichever of the following rates is applicable, that is to say:—

(a) in the case of a worker whose ordinary remuneration is wholly calculated by reference to time, at the rate at which such remuneration was payable immediately before the commencement of such annual leave, and

(b) in the case of a worker whose ordinary remuneration is wholly piece-work wages, at the average daily rate of his earnings (exclusive of pay for overtime) in the period in respect of which he is allowed such annual leave, and

(c) in the case of a worker whose ordinary remuneration is partly calculated by reference to time and is partly piece-work wages, at the average daily rate of his earnings (exclusive of pay for overtime) in the period in respect of which he is allowed such annual leave.

Time of annual leave.

26. —(1) The time in any employment year at which an employer shall allow annual leave to a worker who is entitled to annual leave under this Act shall be selected by such employer.

(2) If in any employment year of a worker with an employer such employment year has so far expired that there remains only six working days thereof unexpired and such employer has not at that time allowed such worker annual leave, such worker if he is entitled to annual leave under this Act may absent himself from his work for such employer for such six days and shall not by reason of so absenting himself be deemed to have committed any breach of his contract of service with such employer, and such employer shall pay to such worker in respect of such six days the amount which he would be liable to pay if he had allowed such six days as annual leave.

(3) If an employer allows to a worker in any employment year a period of annual leave earlier than the last six working days of such employment year and such worker leaves the employment of such employer before the termination of such employment year, such employer shall not be entitled in respect of such allowance of annual leave to reduce the period of notice required for terminating such employment, nor the pay nor other emoluments to which such worker may be entitled at the time of leaving such employment.

(4) If any employer fails to pay to any worker any moneys which become payable to such worker under this section such worker may recover such moneys as a simple contract debt from such employer.

Notice of time of annual leave.

27. —(1) Every employer who is required by this Act to allow annual leave to a worker, shall give to every worker to whom he is so required to allow such annual leave notice in writing of the day on which such annual leave will begin, and shall so give such notice not less than two weeks before such day.

(2) A notice given in pursuance of this section to a worker may be given either by handing such notice to such worker or by exhibiting such notice in a prominent position to which such worker has access in the place in which he is employed.

(3) Every employer, required by this section to give to any worker such notice as is mentioned in the preceding sub-sections of this section, who fails or neglects to give in accordance with this section such notice to any worker on any occasion on which he is so required so to do shall be guilty of an offence under this section.