In this economy, getting a job is an achievement in itself but it’s still important to make sure that you’re getting a fair deal.
In Ireland, there is a minimum wage and a set of conditions set down for employees to ensure that they are treated in a fair and equitable manner. Knowledge is power, ladies!
Minimum Wage
Since 1 July 2011 , the national minimum wage for an experienced adult employee is €8.65 per hour (was €7.65). An experienced adult employee for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act is an employee who has an employment of any kind in any two years over the age of 18. Of course, the national minimum wage (NMW) does not stop an employer from offering a higher wage.
Annual Leave
Your entitlement to annual leave or holidays from work is set out in legislation and in your contract of employment. While you are required to attend work as provided for in your contract of employment, legislation gives various entitlements to leave. These include annual leave, public holidays, maternity leave, adoptive leave, carer’s leave, parental leave and other types of leave.
The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides for a basic annual paid leave entitlement of four weeks, although an employee’s contract could give greater rights.
There are three different ways of calculating your annual leave entitlement and the first is based on the employee’s working hours during what is called the leave year, which runs from April to March. An employee who has worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year is entitled to the maximum of four working weeks of annual leave unless the employment ceases during the leave year.
Many employers use the calendar year (January-December) instead of the official leave year to calculate entitlement, by allowing 1/3 of a working week for each calendar month in which the employee has worked at least 117 hours. Alternatively, it can be calculated as eight per cent of the hours worked in the leave year, subject to a maximum of four working weeks.
An employee may use whichever of these methods gives the greater entitlement and any employee who has worked for at least eight months is entitled to an unbroken period of two weeks’ annual leave.
For part-time workers, leave is calculated using the third method of eight per cent of hours worked.
Sick Leave
In general, an employee has no right under employment law to be paid while on sick leave.
It is at the discretion of the employer to decide his/her own policy on sick pay and sick leave, subject to the employee’s contract or terms of employment. Under Section 3 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 an employer must provide an employee with a written statement of terms of employment within two months of the commencement of the employment. One of the terms referred to in this Act on which the employer must provide information is the terms or conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury.
You may apply for Illness Benefit if you have enough social insurance contributions. If you do not have enough social insurance contributions, you should contact the Department of Social Protection’s representative (formerly the Community Welfare Officer) at your local health centre who will assess your situation. If you are entitled to sick pay, your employer will probably require you to sign over any Illness Benefit payment from the Department of Social Protection to your employer for as long as the sick pay continues.
For further information, see www.citizensinformation.ie.
