Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2024
• Citation: IR No. 14/2024

Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024

2024 14

An Act to amend certain provisions of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 ; to provide for the establishment of an employment law review group to monitor, review and advise the Minister on matters relating to employment law; to amend certain provisions of the Companies Act 2014 ; and to provide for related matters.

[9 May 2024]

Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:

1 Short title, collective citation and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024.

(2) The Protection of Employment Acts 1977 to 2014 and Part 2 may be cited together as the Protection of Employment Acts 1977 to 2024 and shall be construed together as one.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

2 Definition

2. In this Act, “Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

3 Definition (Part 2)

3. In this Part, “Act of 1977” means the Protection of Employment Act 1977.

4 Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1977

4. Section 2 of the Act of 1977 is amended by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘responsible person’, in the case of an employer whose business is being terminated following the commencement of bankruptcy or winding up proceedings or for any other reason as a result of a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, means—

(a) the liquidator,

(b) the provisional liquidator (within the meaning of Part 11 of the Companies Act 2014),

(c) the receiver who has assumed full responsibility for the management of the business concerned, or

(d) any other person appointed by the court where that person has assumed full responsibility for the management of the business concerned.”.

5 Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1977

5. Section 9 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Where an employer or a responsible person proposes to create collective redundancies, he or she shall, with a view to reaching an agreement, initiate consultations with employees’ representatives.”,

and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) Where an employer has initiated consultations with employees’ representatives under this section, a responsible person may continue any consultation so initiated.”.

6 Amendment of section 10 of Act of 1977

6. Section 10 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “the employer or responsible person concerned” for “the employer concerned”, and

(b) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “An employer or a responsible person” for “An employer”.

7 Amendment of section 11 of Act of 1977

7. Section 11 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the designation of the section as subsection (1), and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(2) Subject to subsection (3), a responsible person who fails to initiate consultations under section 9 or fails to comply with section 10 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(3) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it shall be a defence for a person against whom such proceedings are brought to show that, having exercised all reasonable professional care and skill, he or she had reasonable grounds for believing that the employer had complied with the obligations imposed on an employer under section 9 or 10.”.

8 Amendment of section 11A of Act of 1977

8. Section 11A of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of “section 9, 10 or 14(1)” for “section 9 or 10”, and

(b) in paragraph (b), by the deletion of “of the Act of 1977”.

9 Amendment of section 12 of Act of 1977

9. Section 12 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) The Minister may prescribe the particulars to be specified in a notification under this section and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, regulations under this section shall make provision for the following:

(a) particulars of the employer;

(b) particulars of the proposed collective redundancies;

(c) particulars of the consultations with the employees’ representatives;

(d) such other particulars in relation to the employer’s proposal as the Minister considers appropriate.”,

and

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) In the case of collective redundancies arising from the employer’s business being terminated following the commencement of bankruptcy or winding up proceedings or for any other reason as a result of a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, the responsible person shall comply with the obligations of an employer under this section.”.

10 Amendment of section 13 of Act of 1977

10. Section 13 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the designation of the section as subsection (1), and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(2) Subject to subsection (3), a responsible person who contravenes section 12(4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(3) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it shall be a defence for a person against whom such proceedings are brought to show that, having exercised all reasonable professional care and skill, he or she had reasonable grounds for believing that the employer had complied with the obligations imposed on an employer under section 12.”.

11 Amendment of section 14 of Act of 1977

11. Section 14 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) An employer or a responsible person shall not effect collective redundancies before the expiry of the period of 30 days beginning on the date of the relevant notification under section 12.”,

and

(b) by the deletion of subsection (3).

12 Amendment of section 20 of Act of 1977

12. Section 20 of the Act of 1977 is amended by the substitution of “shall be sent by electronic means or by registered post” for “shall be sent by registered post”.

13 Establishment of Employment Law Review Group

13. There is hereby established a group to be known as the Employment Law Review Group, referred to in this Part as the “Review Group”.