Maternity Protection (Disputes and Appeals) Regulations, 1981

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 1981
• Citation: IR SI 357/1981

I, LIAM KAVANAGH, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 27 (4) of the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 (No. 2 of 1981), and after compliance with section 4 (5) of that Act, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Maternity Protection (Disputes and Appeals) Regulations, 1981, and shall come into operation on the 23rd day of October, 1981.

2. In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 (No. 2 of 1981);

“the Act of 1977” means the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 (No. 10 of 1977);

“appeal” means an appeal under section 9 of the Act of 1977 (as applied by section 27 of the Act) in relation to a dispute;

“dispute” means a dispute under section 27 of the Act;

“employee” means an employee to whom section 27 of the Act, as modified by Regulations 4 and 5 of these Regulations, applies;

“employer” includes the successor within the meaning assigned to it by section 20 of the Act or an associated employer, and for the purposes of these Regulations sections 1 and 2 (1) of the Act of 1977 shall be construed accordingly;

“the Register” means the Register of Maternity Protection Determinations provided for by Regulation 12 of these Regulations;

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

3. Section 1 of the Act of 1977 shall be construed as if, after “the Redundancy Payments Act, 1971 ” in the definition of “redundancy”, there were inserted “and the reference to redundancy in section 26 (2) of the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 , shall be construed accordingly”.

4. Section 2 of the Act of 1977 shall not be construed as preventing sections 6 (2) (f) and 6 (2) (g) of that Act from applying to an employee within the meaning of these Regulations.

5. Section 2 (1) (a) of the Act of 1977 (which specifies persons in relation to whom that Act does not apply) shall, for the purposes of section 27 of the Act, be construed as if the requirement of one year's continuous service with the employer does not apply to an employee who is a party to a dispute or appeal.

6. Section 8 (4) (a) of the Act of 1977 shall, for the purposes of section 27 of the Act, be construed as if “refer the dispute to” were substituted for “bring the claim before”, and section 27 (3) (b) of the Act shall be construed accordingly.

7. (1) A dispute arising within 156 weeks of the date of confinement of the employee concerned may be referred to the Tribunal by a notice in writing given to the Tribunal within six months of the commencement of the dispute by a party to the dispute.

(2) As soon as possible after a notice under paragraph (1) of this Regulation has been given to the Tribunal a copy of the notice shall be given, by or on behalf of the party who gave the notice, to the other party to the dispute.

(3) An appeal to the Tribunal from a recommendation of a rights commissioner in relation to a dispute shall be initiated by a party to a dispute giving, within six weeks of the date on which the recommendation was given to that party, a notice in writing to the Tribunal indicating that party's intention to appeal against the recommendation, and a copy of the notice shall be...