S.I. No. 21/1998:

ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME (GENERAL EXEMPTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1998.

ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME (GENERAL EXEMPTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1998.

I, TOM KITT, Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by subsection (3) of section 4 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 (No. 20 of 1997), as adapted by the Enterprise and Employment (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 305 of 1997 ), and the Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 330 of 1997 ), and having complied with subsection (4) of the said section 4, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Organisation of Working Time (General Exemptions) Regulations, 1998, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of March, 1998.

2. In these Regulations--

"the Act" means the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 (No. 20 of 1997);

"the exemption" means the exemption provided for by Regulation 3(1) of these Regulations.

3. (1) Without prejudice to Regulations 4 and 5 of these Regulations and subject to the subsequent provisions of this Regulation, each of the activities specified in the Schedule to these Regulations is hereby exempted from the application of sections 11, 12, 13 and 16 of the Act.

(2) The exemption shall not, as respects a particular employee, apply in relation to

(a) section 11, 12, 13 or 16 of the Act if the employee--

(i) is not engaged wholly or mainly in carrying on or performing the duties of the activity concerned,

(ii) is exempted from the application of that section by virtue of regulations under section 3(3) of the Act,

or

(iii) falls within a class of employee in relation to which a joint labour committee (within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 1990) may perform functions under those Acts,

or

(b) section 16 of the Act if the employee is a special category night worker within the meaning of subsection (3) of the said section 16.

(3) The exemption shall not apply, as respects a particular employee, if and for so long as the employer does not comply with Regulation 5 of these Regulations in relation to him or her.

4. If an employee is not entitled, by reason of the exemption, to the rest period and break referred to in sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Act, the employer shall ensure that the employee has available to himself or herself a rest period and break that, in all the circumstances, can reasonably be regarded as equivalent to the first-mentioned rest period and break.

5. (1) An employer shall not require an employee to whom the exemption applies to work during a shift or other period of work (being a shift or other such period that is of more than 6 hours duration) without allowing him or her a break of such duration as the employer determines.

(2) In determining the duration of a break referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation, the employer shall have due regard to the need to protect and secure the health, safety and comfort of the employee and to the general principle concerning the prevention and avoidance of risk in the workplace.

6. Nothing in Regulation 4 or 5 of these Regulations shall prejudice a provision or provisions of a more beneficial kind to the employee concerned which is or are contained in--

(a) a collective agreement referred to in section 4(5) of the Act,

(b) a registered employment agreement,

or

(c) an employment regulation order.

SCHEDULE

1. An activity in which the employee is regularly required by the employer to travel distances of significant length, either from his or her home to the workplace or from one workplace to another workplace.

2. An activity of a security or surveillance nature the purpose of which is to protect persons or property and which requires the continuous presence of the employee at a particular place or places, and, in particular, the activities of a security guard, caretaker or security firm.

3. An activity falling within a sector of the economy or in the public service--

(a) in which it is foreseeable that the rate at which production or the provision of services, as the case may be, takes place will vary significantly from time to time,

or

(b) the nature of which is such that employees are directly involved in ensuring the continuity of production or the provision of services, as the case may be,

and, in particular, any of the following activites--

(i) the provision of services relating to the reception, treatment or care of persons in a residential institution, hospital or similar establishment,

(ii) the provision of services at a harbour or airport,

(iii) production in the press, radio, television, cinematographic, postal or telecommunications industries,

(iv) the provision of ambulance, fire and civil protection services,

(v) the production, transmission or distribution of gas, water or electricity,

(vi) the collection of household refuse or the operation of an incineration plant,

(vii) any industrial activity in which work cannot, by reason of considerations of a technical nature, be interrupted,

(viii) research and development,

(ix) agriculture,

(x) tourism.

GIVEN under my hand, this 30th day of January, 1998.

TOM KITT, T.D.,

Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations prescribe that persons employed in the activities specified in the Schedule to these Regulations shall be exempt from the application of sections 11 , 12 and 13 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 which deal respectively with daily rest, rests and intervals at work and weekly rest, subject to being granted equivalent compensatory rest. Such persons shall also be exempt from the application of section 16 of that Act which deals with nightly working hours.