The long running story of reform of the Industrial Relations fora in Ireland has received an update, as on Tuesday 8th July 2014 the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD secured Government approval for the Workplace Relations Bill 2014. The law, when enacted, will replace the current five workplace relations bodies with two. As we have reported the new system will aim to provide a world-class service for employers and employees, while also delivering savings for the taxpayer.
It forms part of a broader reform programme within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation which will see the total number of agencies under the responsibility of the Department reduced by 41 by end 2014.
The new workplace relations system will comprise two bodies – the Workplace Relations Commission which will deal with complaints at first instance, and the Labour Court which will deal with appeals. The various responsibilities of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA), the Equality Tribunal, Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) and the Labour Court, which have built up over time, will be subsumed into the two new bodies.
Enactment of this legislation is targeted by the end of 2014, however no timeframes have been set in terms of the transfer of the existing agencies.
