Contract workers to get equal rights

THOUSANDS of contract workers are to get the same benefits as permanent staff under a radical shake-up in employment law.

The move is aimed mainly at stopping the exploitation of almost 70,000 workers in the health, education and computer industry who are often given short contracts for years on end.

Changes to employment law mean:

A limit will be placed on the number of times a fixed-term contract can be renewed, with a view to increasing full-time staff positions.

Contract workers will be given the same entitlement to pension and pay as permanent staff.

Employers will be obliged to tell contract workers about vacancies for permanent work.

The law changes are contained in a Brussels directive which Labour Affairs Minister Frank Fahey will bring to Cabinet later this year, months after the deadline for its enactment.

Key details in the proposed legislation, such as the cap for renewal of contracts, have yet to be finalised but it is expected it may be between one and four years. This will have serious implications in the education and health sectors where there is a major reliance on contract staff.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday welcomed the move but underlined the importance of a cap on renewal of contracts which would protect workers.

ICTU assistant secretary general Joan Carmichael said: "Our concern is that a reasonable limit be placed on the renewal of contracts. If there isn't, the abuse of people on fixed-term contracts may continue."

But the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (ISME) group said there was a danger the laws would hinder the labour market if the cap was too strict.

ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said: "It could regulate the flexibility out of the market if a worker must be made permanent within 12 months."

Employers group IBEC welcomed the development and said it was important to strike a balance between employers' flexibility and the rights of employees.

"Our concern has been that contract workers continue to be a flexible way of providing labour - that will continue to be the case," said IBEC director of social policy, Jackie Harrison.

The legislation will not apply to workers involved in short-term projects. Neither will it affect part-time workers, who are covered by recently-enacted legislation, or agency staff, who are not yet covered by new laws.