S.I. No. 255/1972:

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY REGULATIONS, 1972.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY REGULATIONS, 1972.

I, JOSEPH BRENNAN, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 1 and 8 of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 (No. 27 of 1971), hereby make the following regulations:

GENERAL.

1. These regulations may be cited as the Employment Agency Regulations, 1972.

2. In these regulations--

"the Act" means the Employment Agency Act, 1971 (No. 27 of 1971);

"licence" means a licence under the Act;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Labour;

"authorised officer" means a person appointed under section 9 of the Act to be an authorised officer for the purposes of the Act.

3. These regulations shall come into force on the 1st day of November, 1972.

4. Every notice of intention to apply for a licence under the Act shall be in the form contained in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

5. Every application for a licence under section 3 of the Act shall--

(a) be in the form contained in Schedule 2 of these Regulations;

(b) be accompanied by a fee of £5, and

(c) contain the particulars indicated in the form contained in that Schedule.

6. A licence shall be in the form contained in Schedule 3 of these Regulations.

7. The premises in which the business of an employment agency is carried on shall conform to the following standards of accommodation:--

(a) the means of access and egress shall be adequate having regard to the anticipated volume of business;

(b) the premises shall be kept in a clean and tidy condition, equipped with adequate heating, lighting and ventilation and shall not constitute a danger to persons using them;

(c) the premises shall contain accommodation to enable persons to be interviewed in privacy;

(d) the premises shall be equipped with adequate seating for the number of persons likely to attend at the premises.

8. A holder of a licence shall conform to the following standards of suitability and fitness:--

(a) he shall be either the owner or a tenant of the premises in respect of which he has applied for the licence;

(b) he shall not be an undischarged bankrupt;

(c) he shall not have been, during the five years immediately preceding the date of his application for a licence, convicted of an offence under the Act;

(d) he shall not have been the holder of a licence which was revoked or be a person who was refused confirmation of a licence on appeal to the High Court, otherwise than on grounds of unsuitability of premises;

(e) he shall not at any time have been convicted of an indictable offence.

9. (1) A holder of a licence shall keep records showing--

(a) the number of persons who apply to him for employment and the type of employment sought;

(b) the number of persons placed in employment and the type of employment in which they are so placed;

(c) the number of persons placed in employment outside the State, the countries in which they are so placed and the occupations of persons so placed;

(d) the fees charged in respect of each person placed in employment in the course of the business;

(e) any charges in respect of expenses for services rendered.

(2) A holder of a licence shall furnish to the Minister not less than twice in every year a return of the business carried on by him in the form contained in Schedule 4 to these regulations.

10. Every holder of a licence shall--

(a) display prominently the licence for the time being in force under the Act in the premises at all times during which the premises are open for business.

(b) make available on demand to any person proposing to use the services of the agency the scale of fees and expenses chargeable to such persons by the employment agency and for the time being approved by the Minister under section 7 of the Act.

11. A holder of a licence shall keep for a period of one year and, if so required, produce to an authorised officer, before seeking persons for employment outside the State, evidence of the authority of such holder to act on behalf of the persons offering such employment and information relating to the terms of such employment, including rates of wages and hours of work.

12. (1) A holder of a licence shall, in any case where the employment agency concerned seeks persons under the age of 18 years for employment outside the State or offers to obtain employment outside the State for citizens of the State under the age of 18 years and residing in the State, furnish in writing in advance of an offer of employment to such persons the following information--

(i) the name and address of the prospective employer;

(ii) the business of the prospective employer;

(iii) the rates of wages and hours of work;

(iv) the cost of travel from such persons' home to the place of employment to take up the employment offered and whether such cost will be met by the prospective employer and, if so, any condition about re-payment of such cost;

(v) the amount of any deductions from wages, whether statutory deductions or otherwise;

(vi) information about living conditions and facilities for the practice of religion.

(2) The holder of a licence shall, before offering employment outside the State to any person under the age of 18 years, ensure that the consent in writing of a parent or guardian of such person to his taking up employment outside the State has been obtained and the signature of the parent or guardian shall be witnessed by one of the following, namely, a Minister of religion, a member of the Garda Síochána, a teacher, a member of the medical or legal profession, a bank manager or a peace commissioner.

13. In the case of any notice in a publication published in the State seeking a person for employment outside the State or offering to obtain employment outside the State for a citizen of the State residing in the State, the notice shall include the name and address of the person outside the State seeking a person for or offering employment, or alternatively the name and address of a holder of a licence under this Act acting on behalf of such person outside the State.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 17th day of October, 1972.

JOSEPH BRENNAN,

Minister for Labour.

Article 4.

SCHEDULE 1.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY ACT, 1971 .

NOTICE of intention to apply to the Minister for Labour for a licence under the above Act.

I/We............................................................ .................., residing at...............................................

............................................................ ............................................................ ................................

hereby given notice of intention to apply for a licence under the above Act to carry on the business of an employment agency at the premises specified below:

............................................................ ............................................................ .................................

Article 5.

SCHEDULE 2.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY ACT, 1971 .

Application for a licence under the above Act and for approval of fees under that Act.

1. I (Full Name) ............................................................ ............................................................ .............................

of (Full Address) ............................................................ ............................................................ .....................

having inserted a notice in the ............................................................ ...........................................(name of

newspaper) of the........................................day of............................................................ .................... 19......

(a copy of which notice is attached hereto) of my intention to make this application, hereby apply to the Minister for Labour for a licence to carry on the business of an employment agency at ............................................................ ............................................................ .....................................................

from the......................................................day of............................................................ ... 19............., to the

........................................................day of............................................................ ., 19.......

2. If applying as the nominee of a body (whether incorporated or unincorporated) please state:

(a) Name of body............................................................ ............................................................ ......

(b) Name(s) of Director(s)............................................................ ....................................................

............................................................ ........................................................

3. I declare that--

(i) the premises at which I/we* propose to carry on the business of an employment agency are suitable for that purpose, having regard to Article 7 of the Employment Agency Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 255 of 1972 );

(ii) the owner(s) or tenant(s) of the said premises;

(iii) to carry on the business of an employment agency having regard to the provisions of Article 8 of the Employment Agency Regulations, 1972.

* Strike out whichever does not apply.

4. The following persons are prepared to furnish references to support my application:

............................................................ ...................... of ............................................................ ..............................

............................................................ ...................... of ............................................................ ...............................

(Note: These should be persons resident in the State to whom the applicant is well known but not related).

5. I request the approval of the Minister to the scale of fees shown in the attached statement and I undertake that fees in excess of these shown in the statement will not be charged throughout the period mentioned at 1 above without the approval of the Minister.

Signature:............................................................ ..............

Address:............................................................ .............

Date:............................................................ ..............

SCHEDULE 3.

Licence No. ..............................................

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY ACT, 1971 .

Licence.

The Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 3 of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 , (No. 27 of 1971) hereby authorises

............................................................ ................., trading as ............................................................ ...................

............................................................ ............................................................ .........................................................

to carry on the business of an employment agency at............................................................ .......................

............................................................ ............................................................ ........................................................

during the period from the..................................day of............................................................ .......................

to the.........................................................day of...................................................., 19.............

This licence is issued subject to the following conditions:--

(a) that the licence expires on the...........................day of.................................

...................................., 19..........,  if not sooner revoked under the the above Act;

(b) that the holder shall comply with the provisions of the Employment Agency Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 255 of 1972 );

(c) (Here insert any other conditions).

Dated this........................................day of...............................................,  19.......

Secretary

Article 9 (2).

SCHEDULE 4.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY ACT, 1971 .

Half-Yearly Return of business of a licenced Employment Agency Return for

half-year ending June/December, 19  .

1. Name of Firm ............................................................ ............................................................ .....................

Business Address ............................................................ ............................................................ ............

2. Number of persons who applied to Agency for Employment during half-year:

3. Number of persons placed in Employment during half-year:

4. Details of persons placed outside the State:

Country ............................................................ ...................................

Country ............................................................ ................

Country ......................................................

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations contain provisions regarding the licensing of employment agencies. They lay down standards of accommodation of agency premises and of suitability and fitness of persons carrying on such business. The regulations also contain provisions relating to the keeping of records and the furnishing of returns to the Department of Labour. Special conditions are laid down in regard to the placing of persons, particularly those under 18 years of age, in jobs abroad and in regard to the advertising of such jobs.