S.I. No. 338/1971:

EMPLOYMENT REGULATION ORDER (PACKING JOINT LABOUR COMMITTEE), 1971.

EMPLOYMENT REGULATION ORDER (PACKING JOINT LABOUR COMMITTEE), 1971.

WHEREAS the Labour Court (hereinafter called "the Court") pursuant to the provisions of Section 43 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 , (hereinafter called "the Act") made Employment Regulation Order (Packing Joint Labour Committee), 1970 dated the 23rd April, 1970 ( S.I. No. 88 of 1970 ) (hereinafter called "the said Order") fixing the statutory minimum remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Packing Joint Labour Committee (hereinafter called "the Committee") operates;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has submitted to the Court a proposal for revoking the said Order;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has also submitted to the Court the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto for fixing the statutory minimum rates of remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Committee operates;

AND WHERAS the provisions of Section 45 of the Act have been complied with;

NOW THEREFORE, the Court, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 43 of the Act hereby orders as follows:--

(1) This Order may be cited as the Employment Regulation Order (Packing Joint Labour Committee), 1971.

(2) Effect is hereby given to the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto.

(3) The provisions set out in the Schedule hereto shall have effect as from the 1st January, 1972, and as from that date the said Order shall be revoked.

SCHEDULE.

PART I.

GENERAL MINIMUM TIME-RATES AND PIECE-WORK BASIS TIME-RATE FOR MALE WORKERS.

SECTION I.--General Minimum Time Rates.

SECTION II:--Piece-Work Basis Time Rate for all Male Workers 45

Male workers while employed on Piece-Work shall be entitled to receive Piece-Rates each of which would yield, in the circumstance of the case, to an ordinary worker not less than 45p per hour. In determining whether any piece-rate is sufficient to satisfy this condition, regard must be had only to the earnings of ordinary workers, that is to say, workers of ordinary skill and experience, in the class of work in question, and not to the earnings of workers of less than ordinary skill and experience, e.g. learners and infirm workers.

PART II.

GENERAL MINIMUM TIME-RATES AND PIECE-WORK BASIS TIME-RATE FOR FEMALE WORKERS.

SECTION I.--General Minimum Time-Rates.

General Minimum Time-Rates for Female Learners:

PHASE II.

The above rates will be increased by 4% from 1st January, 1973, and for each 1% increase in the Consumer Price Index over 4%in the year covered by the first phase a 15p per week supplement shall be added.

Female Workers (including Female learners) while employed on Piece-Work shall be entitled to receive Piece-Rates each of which would yield, in the circumstances of the case, to an ordinary worker not less than 33p per hour. In determining whether any piece-rate is sufficient to satisfy this condition regard must be had only to the earnings of ordinary workers, that is to say, workers of ordinary skill and experience in the class of work in question, and not to the earnings of workers of less than ordinary skill and experience e.g. learners and infirm workers.

PART III.

SECTION I.--Normal Working Hours and Overtime Rates

The normal number of hours to be worked by workers in relation to whom the Committee operates shall be as follows:--

PROVIDED THAT--

(i) All hours worked on Sunday and Customary Public or Statutory holidays by a worker of either of the classes (a) or (b), above, and all hours worked on the weekly holiday by a worker of class (b) shall be regarded as Overtime to which the Overtime Rates shall apply.

(ii) The Overtime Rates specified in Section II of this Part shall be payable in respect of all hours of Overtime worked on any day notwithstanding that the number of hours worked in that week does not exceed the declared normal number of hours of work for the week.

SECTION II.--The minimum rates for Overtime to apply in respect of hours worked by a worker, whether employed on Time-Work or on Piece-Work, in excess of the declared normal number of hours indicated in Section I of this Part, shall be as follows:

(a) That class of workers who customarily attend on Six days a Week:--

(1) On any day other than the short day, Sunday and Customary Public or Statutory Holidays:--

(i) For the first two hours of Overtime, One-and-a-half times the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(ii) For the second two hours of Overtime, One-and-a-half times the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(iii) For Overtime after the first four hours of Overtime, twice the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Double Time.

(2) On the short day:--

(i) For the first two hours of Overtime One-and-a-half times the appropriate Minimum rate otherwise applicable i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(ii) For Overtime after the first two hours of Overtime, twice the appropriate Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Double Time.

(b) That Class of Workers who customarily attend on Five Days a week:--

(1) On any day other than the weekly holiday, Sunday and Customary Public or Statutory Holidays:--

(i) For the first two hours of Overtime, One-and-a-half times the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(ii) For the second two hours of Overtime, One-and-a-half times the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(iii) For Overtime after the first four hours of Overtime, Twice the Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Double Time.

2. On the weekly holiday:--

(i) For the first four hours of Overtime (that is to say for the first four hours of Work) One-and-a-half times the appropriate Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Time-and-a-half.

(ii) For Overtime after the first four hours of Overtime twice the appropriate Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Double Time.

(c) Workers of either of the above-mentioned Classes:--

(i) On Sunday, and Customary Public or Statutory Holidays:--

For all hours worked, twice the appropriate Minimum Rate otherwise applicable i.e. Double Time.

(ii) For all hours worked in any week in excess of the declared normal number of hours of work for the week, One-and-a-half times the appropriate Minimum Rate otherwise applicable, i.e. Time-and-a-half except in so far as higher Overtime Rates are payable under the provisions of any of the preceding paragraphs of this Section.

PART IV.

CONDITIONS GOVERNING LEARNERSHIP.

SECTION I.--A Female Learner is a Worker who:--

(a) Is employed during the whole or a substantial part of the hours of work in learning any branch or process of the Trade by an Employer who provides the Learner with reasonable facilities for learning such branch or process, and

(b) Has received a Learner's Certificate or has been registered as a Learner in the Trade, or has made an application for such certificate of registration which has been duly acknowledged and is still under consideration.

PROVIDED THAT:--

(i) The Learner's Certificate of registration shall become invalid if the other conditions of learnership are not complied with.

(ii) An Employer may employ a Learner on first employment in the Trade, as defined in this Schedule, without a Learner's Certificate of registration for a probationary period not exceeding four weeks, but in the event of such Learner being mentioned thereafter in such employment, the probationary period shall be included in the period of Learnership.

(iii) A Learner shall cease to be a Learner and shall become entitled to the Minimum Rate payable to Workers other than Learners, on the completion of two years' employment in the Trade.

(iv) Any worker who has previously been employed in any branch of the Trade, as defined in this Schedule, and has not been registered as a Learner, nor has held a Learner's Certificate and who is subsequently employed as a Learner shall count the whole period of such previous employment for the purpose of claiming the time-rate at which such worker is to be paid.

(v) An application for a Learner's Certificate must be made to the Joint Labour Committee in respect of every worker engaged in Learning the trade, whom it is desired to employ at the Minimum Rates fixed for Learners. Unless a Learner's Certificate has been obtained, or an application therefor has been made which has been acknowledged and is still under consideration, and the other conditions of Learnership laid down in the Schedule are complied with, the Minimum Rate payable shall be that fixed for workers other than learners.

(vi) Notwithstanding compliance with the conditions contained in this part of the Schedule, a person shall not be deemed to be a Learner if such person works in a room used for dwelling purposes, and is not in the employment of such worker's parent or guardian.

SECTION II.--The issue of Certificates to Female Learners shall be governed by the following conditions relative to the provision of reasonable facilities for learning the trade.

(1) The proportion of Learners in the Trade to other workers employed therein, shall not, as a general rule, exceed one Female Learner to two other Female Workers, in the case of any particular employer, and the issue of Learner's Certificates shall be restricted accordingly.

(2) Where, however, the Joint Labour Committee is satisfied in any particular case that special facts or circumstances so require, the Committee may authorise the issue of Learner's Certificates in excess of the proportion above specified.

SECTION III.--The Joint Labour Committee may, if it thinks fit, refer to a sub-committee appointed under the provisions of paragraph 8 of the Second Schedule to the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 , applications made to it under this Part of the Schedule and may also, if it thinks fit, delegate to the sub-committee so appointed any or all of its powers and duties thereunder and the expression Joint Labor Committee used in Section I and II of this Part shall include the sub-committee so appointed.

PART V.

DEFINITION OF WORKERS.

The above statutory Minimum Remuneration shall be payable subject to the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 , and of this Order to all workers specified in this Schedule in respect of any time during which they are employed in any Branch of the Trade specified in the Trade Boards (Packing) Order, 1934, that is to say:--

The processes of wrapping, filling, labeling, bottling, placing in boxes, tins, cartons, envelopes, cardboard or other containers of any kind whatsoever and, all similar operations incidental to the sale, retail or wholesale, of the following commodities:--

(a) seeds of fruits, vegetables and flowers;

(b) foods, drinks and condiments (whether for the consumption of human beings, animals or birds);

(c) cosmetics, perfumes, medicinal preparations, druggists sundries;

(d) polishes, blacklead, starch, blue, soda, soap powders, candles, chandlery and matches;

(e) ink, glue and paste.

BUT EXCLUDING:--

(i) Any such process or operation which is included in a trade to which the Trade Boards Acts, 1909 and 1918, apply for the time being;

(ii) Any such process or operation which is carried on in premises in which the commodity the object of such process or operation is manufactured;

(iii) Any such process or operation which is carried on in premises in which the commodity the object of such process or operation is sold retail or offered for sale retail;

(iv) Any such process or operation in respect of alcoholic drinks;

(v) Any such process or operation in respect of "eggs in shell".

PART VI.

ANNUAL HOLIDAYS.

Workers in relation to whom the Committee operates shall be granted holidays in accordance with the provisions of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1961 .

(a) A worker in relation to whom the committee operates and who qualified for annual leave under the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1961 shall be granted 5 additional days annual leave.

(b) The expression "employment year" where used in this Part shall have the meaning ascribed to it in the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1961 .

(c) Additional Annual leave may be granted at such time as may be agreed between the worker and the employer.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Labour Court this 14th day

of December, 1971.

(Signed) D. MAC DIARMADA,

A person authorised under Section 18 of

the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 , to

authenticate the Seal of the Court.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Instrument fixes new statutory minimum rates of pay and regulates statutory conditions of employment as from the 1st January, 1972, for workers employed in the Packing Trade. It is made by the Labour Court on the recommendation of the Packing Joint Labor Committee.