Employment laws stalled by collapse of Government

SEVERAL pieces of key employment legislation, long sought by trade unions, have been stalled by the collapse of the last Government and the resultant general election.

Chief among the casualties is the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008. At the launch of that piece of legislation, then Enterprise Minister and now Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said it would “modernise the labour inspectorate, strengthen enforcement of employment rights and work permits, promote greater compliance in the workplace and increase the penalties for those employers who seek to gain advantage by denying employees their entitlements under law”.

One of the key facets of the bill was to give legal standing to the National Employment Rights Authority.