No. 164/1937:

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (PRESCRIBED ABSTRACT) ORDER, 1937.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (PRESCRIBED ABSTRACT) ORDER, 1937.

THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (PRESCRIBED ABSTRACT) ORDER, 1937, MADE BY THE MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE ON THE 17TH DAY OF JUNE, 1937, PURSUANT TO SECTION 11 of THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACT, 1936 .

WHEREAS it is enacted by Section 11 of the Conditions of Employment Act, 1936 , that the Minister for Industry and Commerce may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing referred to in the Act as prescribed or to be prescribed :

AND WHEREAS the abstract of the said Act is referred to as prescribed in Section 53 (1) of the said Act :

NOW, THEREFORE, the Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the power conferred on him by Section 11 of the Conditions of Employment Act, 1936 , and of every and any other power him in this behalf enabling, makes by this order the following regulations, that into say :—

(1) These regulations may be cited for all purposes as the Conditions of Employment (Prescribed Abstract) Order, 1937.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1923 (No. 46 of 1923), applies to the interpretation of this order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

(3) The abstract of the Act shall be the abstract set out in the Schedule to these regulations.

By Order of the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

Dated this 17th day of June, 1937.

JOHN LEYDON,

Secretary,

Department of Industry and Commerce.

Form No. C.E. 6.

SCHEDULE.

SAORSTÁT EIREANN.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACT, 1936 .

ABSTRACT PRESCRIBED BY THE MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

A Copy of this Abstract in both the Irish and English Languages must be constantly displayed where it can be easily read.

DEFINITIONS.

1. Industrial work does not include agricultural, commercial, nor domestic work, nor mining, nor the transport of persons or goods, but subject to that limitation the expression includes all forms of industrial work, and in particular industrial work done for or in connection with the several activities specifically mentioned in Section 3 of the Act.

Industrial undertaking means an undertaking in which industrial work is carried on by way of trade or for the purposes of gain or for the supply of any public service, or is carried on by a local authority or other public body in the exercise or performance of statutory powers or duties.

Worker means a person, other than an outworker, who does industrial work for a salary or wages, or for the purpose of learning any trade or calling.

Adult worker means a worker whose age is not less than eighteen years.

Young person means a worker whose age is less than eighteen and more than fourteen years.

Woman means a female whose age is not less than eighteen years.

Ordinary working day means any day which is not a short day, a Sunday, nor a public holiday.

Day work means work which is neither continuous process shift work nor licensed shift work.

APPLICATION OF ACT TO PERSONS EMPLOYED BY THE STATE.

2. The Act applies in relation to workers employed by or under the State (other than members of the Defence Forces of Saorstát Eireann or of the Gárda Síochána).

GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN, YOUNG PERSONS AND WOMEN, AND OF OUTWORKERS.

3. The employment on industrial work of a person under the age of fourteen years is prohibited.

4. A young person shall not be employed unless a birth certificate or other satisfactory evidence of age has been produced to the employer. Such birth certificate may be obtained from a Registrar or Superintendent Registrar of Births on presentation of the prescribed form of requisition and payment of a fee of 6d.

5. Every employer who employs any outworkers shall keep the prescribed Register of Outworkers.

6. The Minister may make regulations prohibiting or restricting the employment of young persons, females or outworkers.

RESTRICTIONS ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AND YOUNG PERSONS AT NIGHT.

7. A woman may not be permitted to do industrial work between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the following day, nor to commence work on any day until eleven hours after the time at which she ceased work on the previous day.

8. A young person, not being a young person deemed to be an adult worker, may not be permitted to do industrial work between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the following day.

9. The Minister is empowered in certain circumstances to make regulations deeming young persons to be adult workers. A young person so deemed to be an adult worker may not be permitted to do industrial work between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the following day, nor to commence work on any day until 11 hours after the time at which he ceased work on the previous day.

10. The Minister may make regulations authorising the employment of male young persons over sixteen years of age between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the following day on processes in which reverberatory or regenerative furnaces are used for the manufacture of iron and steel and the galvanising of sheet metal or wire (except the pickling process), gold mining reduction work, or on the manufacture of glass, paper or raw sugar.

PIECE WORK.

11. Workers or outworkers paid on a piece work basis must be supplied, before the commencement of the work, with a piece work particulars docket, sufficiently detailed to enable them to compute their wages. The employer must keep exhibited a piece work particulars placard, in both the Irish and English languages; or, in cases in which the particulars are complicated, keep a piece work particulars book, readily available for inspection by workers.

The disclosure, for the purpose of divulging a trade secret, of any information derived from such docket, placard or book is an offence.

CONTINUOUS EMPLOYMENT.

12. Where the employment of a worker with a particular employer is interrupted by the worker's illness, the temporary cessation of the work on which he is employed, the temporary reduction of the weekly quantity of such work, or any other temporary cause not due to the act or default of such worker, such worker shall, for the purpose of reckoning any period of continuous employment with such employer within the meaning of any section of the Act, be deemed to have been in the employment of such employer during such interruption if the following conditions are complied with : —

(i) the worker returns at the end of such interruption to the employment of such employer, and

(ii) the worker is not employed on any form of industrial work during such interruption, and

(iii) the duration of such interruption does not exceed one month.

ANNUAL LEAVE.

13. The expression " employment year " means a period of one year beginning on the day on which the particular worker last entered the employment, or any anniversary of that day.

14. A worker is entitled to six consecutive days leave, with pay, in every complete employment year, if he has been continuously employed by and has worked for his employer not less than 1,800 hours in that year. (1,500 hours in the case of a young person).

15. A worker whose employment ceases before the end of his employment year is entitled to either six days annual leave, with pay, or to one day's pay for every complete period of two months during which he has worked not less than 300 hours (250 hours in the case of a young person), and one day's pay for any period less than two months but not less than one month during which he has worked not less than 150 hours (120 hours in the case of a young person).

16. The Minister may by regulations vary the periods of hours mentioned in paragraphs 14 and 15.

17. No Sunday or public holiday shall be reckoned as a day of annual leave, but the days of annual leave shall be deemed consecutive notwithstanding the intervention of a Sunday or public holiday.

18. It is an offence for a worker to do any industrial work for reward during his annual leave.

19. The employer shall select the time for allowing annual leave, but shall give the worker not less than two weeks' notice in writing of the first day thereof.

20. A worker who is entitled to annual leave and has not been allowed it may, without breach of contract of service, absent himself from work during the last six days of his employment year and he must be paid therefor.

21. In the event of a worker who has been allowed annual leave before the last six days of the employment year leaving the employment before the end of such year, the employer shall not be entitled by reason of such allowance of leave to reduce the period of notice for termination of the employment nor any pay or emoluments of the worker.

22. Continuous employment is not interrupted by the transfer of the ownership of an industrial undertaking if the worker is employed therein immediately before and after such transfer, nor by absence of the worker on service with the Reserve Force of the Defence Forces of Saorstát Eireann at training or test mobilisation.

EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS.

23. The Minister may, after such consultation with representatives of employers and workers as the Act requires, make regulations (referred to as exclusion regulations) declaring any specified form of industrial work to be excluded industrial work for the purpose of all or any of the sections in Part III of the Act. On making such regulations in respect of any section which relates to hours of work the Minister is further empowered to fix the hours of work for the form of industrial work so excluded, and to make provision for securing that the average weekly earnings shall not be reduced merely on account of a reduction in the hours of work.

24. Where the amount of any form of industrial work is at any time abnormally increased the Minister may grant a permit excluding for a period of not longer than two weeks such form of industrial work from any section of Part III of the Act specified in such permit.

25. Where the amount of any form of industrial work done in any undertaking is so small that in the opinion of the Minister the provisions of the Act cannot be conveniently applied, the Minister may grant to the person carrying on such undertaking a licence to employ workers to do such form of industrial work while remaining exempt from the provisions of the Act.

THE SHORT DAY.

26. Saturday shall be the short day but an employer may, by sending to the Minister a notice in the prescribed form and manner, substitute another day (not being Sunday) as the short day. Any further notice sent before the expiration of three months from the date of sending of a previous notice shall be void and of no effect.

SHIFT WORK.

27. Shift work (save as regard the printing or publishing of newspapers) is unlawful unless it is (a) in respect of work which normally requires to be carried on without intermission or for periods of not less than 15 hours without intermission (termed " continuous process shift work "), or (b) authorised by licence from the Minister (termed " licensed shift work ").

28. The following conditions apply to employment on shift work :—

(i) no shift shall be longer than nine hours in duration,

(ii) no worker shall work on two consecutive shifts,

(iii) no worker shall work on any shift unless at least eight hours have elapsed since he worked on a previous shift,

(iv) no worker employed on " continuous process shift work " shall work for more than 56 hours in any week,

(v) no worker employed on " licensed shift work " shall work for so many hours in any week that the average number of hours per week worked by him in any three consecutive weeks would exceed forty-eight,

(vi) every worker shall be allowed at least fifteen minutes rest in each shift not less than three nor more than four hours after the commencement of such shift, but shall not be entitled to leave the premises of the employer during such period of rest without the permission of the employer.

WORKING HOURS—DAY WORK.

29. The following are the working hours for workers employed on day work in industrial undertakings :

The working hours for adult workers shown above do not apply to industrial work done in or about—

(a) the printing and publishing of newspapers, or

(b) the construction, maintenance, alteration, or repair of any telegraphic or telephonic installation, or

(c) the maintenance or working of a broadcasting station maintained and worked under Part II of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 .

OVERTIME.

30. The Minister may make regulations prohibiting or restricting the working of overtime on any form of industrial work. Subject to such regulations and to the restrictions on the employment of women and young persons at night, uncontrolled overtime may be worked without permission subject to the following limitations :—

(i) in respect of any adult worker, two hours on any day, or twelve hours in any week, or two hundred and forty hours in any year, or thirty-six hours in any period of four consecutive weeks, or

(ii) in respect of any young person, two hours on any ordinary day, or one hour on any short day, or ten hours in any week, or two hundred hours in any year, or thirty hours in any period of four consecutive weeks.

31. The Minister may, on application by the employer, grant a permit to employ workers for a longer period on each day. Such overtime shall not commence until after seven days from the date of the application.

OVERTIME PAY.

32. The overtime rate of pay is the ordinary rate of pay increased by not less than 25 per cent.

33. A worker is entitled to be paid at the overtime rate for any overtime worked on any day.

34. Where a worker works weekly overtime (i.e., the amount of time exceeding in any week, in the case of an adult, 48 hours, and in the case of a young person 40 hours), and such weekly overtime exceeds his total daily overtime in that week, the worker is entitled to be paid at the overtime rate in respect of such excess in addition to any other remuneration to which he is entitled in respect of daily overtime.

DOUBLE EMPLOYMENT.

35. A worker may not be employed by two or more employers to work on any day a greater number of hours than he may work for one employer on that day.

INTERVALS IN WORK.

36. No worker employed on day work shall be permitted to work for more than five hours without an interval of at least half an hour.

37. All workers in an industrial undertaking must get this interval at the same time and no industrial work shall be carried on during such interval. The Minister may grant a permit to an employer exempting him from this provision.

38. A worker must get an interval of at least half an hour immediately before he commences to work overtime which will last more than one and a half hours.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.

39. The following are public holidays :—Christmas Day (or when it falls on a Sunday, the 27th December) ; St. Stephen's Day (or when it falls on a Sunday, the next Monday) ; St. Patrick's Day (or when it falls on a Sunday, the next Monday) ; Easter Monday ; Whit Monday; the first Monday in August.

40. Certain days may be substituted as public holidays for the days mentioned in paragraph 39, viz :—

(i) whenever in any year a day is appointed under the Public Holidays Act, 1924 , to be a bank holiday instead of a day mentioned in paragraph 39, the day so appointed shall in that year be deemed to be so substituted for the day so mentioned ;

(ii) an employer may on giving not less than one month's notice in writing to all persons in his employment substitute for St. Stephen's Day (or when it falls on a Sunday, for the next Monday), any of the following days (not being a Sunday) :—1st January, 6th January, Ascension Thursday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, 29th June, 15th August, 1st November, or 8th December ;

(iii) an employer may on giving not less than one month's notice in writing to all persons in his employment substitute in any year for Easter Monday, Whit Monday, or the first Monday in August, any of the following days (not being a Sunday) :—Ascension Thursday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, 29th June, or 15th August.

PROHIBITION OF WORK ON SUNDAY AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.

41. An employer is prohibited from permitting any worker in his employment to do industrial work, other than that specified in paragraph 42, on any day which is a Sunday or a public holiday. Notwithstanding this prohibition an adult male worker may be employed on any Sunday for a period of three hours or for periods not exceeding three hours in the aggregate.

42. An employer is permitted to employ workers on any Sunday or public holiday on industrial work which is—

(i) continuous process shift work,

(ii) licensed shift work,

(iii) done in or about the printing or publishing of newspapers,

(iv) the work of a creamery,

(v) industrial work excepted from section 49 (1) of the Act by regulations made by the Minister after consultation with representatives of employers interested in such industrial work and with representatives of workers so interested,

(vi) done in or about the construction, maintenance, alteration, or repair of any telegraphic or telephonic installation,

(vii) done in or about the maintenance or working of a broadcasting station maintained and worked under Part II of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 .

A worker employed on a Sunday to do any work specified in (i) to (vii) above shall be allowed twenty-four consecutive hours of rest before the next following Sunday or, if the Minister so permits by regulations, within seven days of the Sunday on which he worked.

PAYMENT IN RESPECT OF PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.

43. An employer who is prohibited from permitting workers to work for him on a public holiday shall pay in respect of every public holiday one day's pay to every worker who—

(i) is a worker to whom such prohibition applies, and

(ii) is in the employment of such employer on the working day next before such public holiday, and

(iii) has been continuously in such employment during the whole of the period of four weeks ending on the said working day, and

(iv) has worked in such employment not less than 150 hours (120 hours in the case of a young person) during the said period of four weeks, and

(v) has worked in such employment not less than 20 hours (16 hours in the case of a young person) during the six working days next preceding such public holiday.

44. The Minister may make regulations varying in respect of all or any particular class or classes of workers the periods of hours mentioned in (iv) and (v) of paragraph 43, by substituting therefor such other period or periods as the Minister shall think proper.

WAGES AGREEMENTS REGISTER.

45. The Minister shall maintain a register, in which may be registered signed agreements between employers and workers interested in any particular form of industrial work whereby the rates of salary, wages or other reward payable to the workers are regulated. The Minister before registering any such agreement must be satisfied—

(i) that the employers' and workers' signatories are substantially representative of the employers and workers concerned in the form of industrial work in the area to which the agreement relates,

(ii) that the agreement, if made after the 29th May, 1936, provides for the termination thereof, and that it shall be operative for at least a year from the date of such agreement,

(iii) that it is in all respects suitable for registration.

46. Whenever an agreement is registered it shall be binding on every employer concerned and on every worker employed in the form of industrial work in the area to which it relates.

47. Application may be made to the High Court for the annulment of the registration.

48. An agreement may be presented for registration—

(i) if bearing date before the 29th May, 1936, within six months after that date,

(ii) if bearing later date, within six months after the date of the agreement.

49. An agreement presented for registration must be accompanied by a copy thereof, and a copy of such copy may be obtained from the Minister on payment of the prescribed fee.

PRESERVATION OF EXISTING RATES OF WAGES.

50. Where, in order to comply with the Act, the hours of work are reduced, provision is made in Section 51 of the Act that the average weekly earnings of workers are not to be reduced merely because of such reduction of hours.

DISPLAY OF ABSTRACT AND NOTICES.

51. Every employer who employs any worker to do industrial work on any premises where an industrial undertaking is carried on shall display at the entrance to such premises and in such other places as an Inspector shall for the time being direct, in such a position that it may be easily read by persons so employed on the premises:—

(i) the prescribed Abstract of the Act,

(ii) the prescribed notice of the hours of work,

(iii) a notice stating the days in the current year which are public holidays for the undertaking,

(iv) where any industrial work is carried on by continuous process shift work or by licensed shift work, a list of all persons so carrying on such work and particulars as to shifts on which they are working,

(v) a notice of the clock by which the period of employment and times for meals are regulated,

(vi) notice of every agreement registered in the Wages Agreements Register which affects any workers doing industrial work on the premises.

52. Every such notice, list or abstract shall be displayed in both the Irish and English languages.

MIXED EMPLOYMENT.

53. If any employer employs a worker to do any industrial work for any part of any day and employs such worker to do other work which is not industrial work for any other part of that day, such worker shall, for the purpose of Part III of the Act, be deemed to be employed to do such industrial work while doing such other work.

POWERS OF INSPECTORS.

54. An Inspector shall for the purpose of the execution of the Act have like powers as an Inspector has for the purpose of the execution of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.

INDUSTRIAL WORK IN INSTITUTIONS.

55. The provisions of the Act, except in so far as they relate to the payment of workers, shall apply in relation to industrial work done in any institution, unless such industrial work is done for the purpose only of supplying the needs and requirements of such institution.

56. For the purposes of the provisions mentioned in paragraph 55, the word "institution" means an institution carried on for charitable or reformatory purposes, other than a prison, a borstal institute, a mental home, or a county home.

UNPAID WORKERS.

57. Persons who do not receive salary or wages in respect of doing industrial work in an industrial undertaking shall, for the purposes of the Act, be deemed to be workers in the employment of the person carrying on the undertaking.

EMERGENCY PROVISIONS.

58. It shall be a good defence to any proceedings taken against any person for breach of any of the provisions of Part III of the Act if such person shows to the satisfaction of the Court before which such proceedings are brought that any act occasioning such breach was rendered necessary or reasonably proper by the actual occurrence or the threat or reasonable anticipation of fire, flood, storm, violence, a breakdown of plant or machinery, or any other emergency.