Page 30 - Workplace Relations Guide to Employment Law

Zero Hours In relation to (i) above, the Regulations
incorporate statutory Form OWT1 on which
Employees will be entitled to be paid for 25% employers who do not have electronic
of the time which they are required to be means of recording must record the number
available or 15 hours whichever is the lesser, of hours worked by employees on a daily and
e.g. if an employee’s contract of employment weekly basis.
operates to require the employee to be
available for 48 hours in a week, he/she will The Regulations also require that an employer
keep a copy of the statement provided to each
be entitled to a minimum payment of 12 employee under the provisions of the Terms
hours even if not required to work that week. of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to
2014 – See Terms of Employment -Section 3.
The Zero Hours provision does not apply to
lay-offs, short-time, emergency or exceptional The Regulations provide for exemptions,
circumstances, employee illness or employee subject to certain conditions, in relation
on-call. to the keeping by employers of records
of rest breaks and rest periods under the
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.
Records

Records required to be kept by the Complaints
employer are prescribed by S.I. No. 473
of 2001, Organisation of Working Time The Acts provide a right of complaint
(Records) (Prescribed Form and Exemptions) to the Workplace Relations Commission
Regulations, 2001. These records must be (WRC) where an employee believes that
retained for 3 years and must be available a contravention of the Organisation of
for inspection by Inspectors of the Workplace Working Time Act, 1997 has occurred. The
Relations Commission. relevant complaint form is available on
www.workplacerelations.ie or by contacting
The regulations provide that employers are the Commission’s Information and Customer
required to keep: Services on 1890 80 80 90. There is a right
of appeal by either party to the Labour Court
from a decision of a WRC Adjudication Officer.
(i) a record of the number of hours
worked by employees (excluding Where a WRC inspector is satisfied
meals and rest breaks) on a daily and that certain contraventions under the
weekly basis; Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
(ii) a record of leave granted to have occurred, he/she may, in accordance
employees in each week by way of with Section 28 of the Workplace Relations
annual leave or in respect of a public Act 2015, issue a Compliance Notice on the
holiday and payment made in respect employer setting out the compliance actions
of that leave; to be taken by a specified date. An employer
may, not later than 42 days of the service of
(iii) a weekly record of the notification the notice, appeal that notice to the Labour
of the starting and finishing time of Court. Failure to comply with a Compliance
employees. Notice is an offence. Compliance Notices
may be issued in respect of the following
contraventions of the 1997 Act:

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