18 March 2008
The proposed new employment law compliance legislation has been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) which has over 6,000 members working in the personnel and training functions.
'Professional people managers welcome the strengthening of the labour compliance legislation which will help prevent unscrupulous employers gain an unfair advantage over the majority who are compliant with wage rates, holidays and overtime requirements,' said CIPD-Ireland director Michael McDonnell.
'Already well-managed organisations maintain full details of employees recruited, remuneration, holidays, sick-leave, working time and health and safety procedures. They have nothing to fear from improved monitoring by labour inspectors to deter those who exploit vulnerable employees.'
Mr McDonnell added that 'recent cases at the Rights Commissioners, Employment Appeals Tribunal and investigations by the new National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) have highlighted unacceptable behaviour by a minority of employers. This was especially evident in six specific sectors where a majority of the workplaces inspected last year were found to have breached minimum wage or employment standards.'
'CIPD members want the highest professional standards in help employees make a full contribution to their organisations by going beyond minimum compliance towards achieving best practice in human resource management,' Mr McDonnell said.
The Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 was published this afternoon by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin, TD.