Minority of Irish employers dodging employment law obligations

Some Irish employers are using “if-and-when” contracts to skirt around employment legislation, a new report commissioned by the Government suggests.

Researchers at the University of Limerick say the use of zero hour contracts is “not extensive” in Ireland, but some employers offer “if-and-when” contracts where workers have no contractual requirement to make themselves available for work and employers have no obligation to offer any.

The report said there was a “strong likelihood that individuals in this situation are not defined as employees with a contract of service”, leading to uncertainty over “the extent to which they are covered by employment legislation”.

This potentially exempts some workers from their protections under the Organisation of Working Time Act, which entitles all workers to 25 per cent pay (or up to 15 hours pay) for hours during which they have to make themselves available to an employer.

Around 10 per cent of Ireland’s community care workers are on “if-and-when” contracts, the researchers say.

The Cabinet is currently considering an outright ban on the use of zero hour contracts in Ireland.

Commissioning the report, employment minister Ged Nash said: “If this study finds such work contracts have a serious and detrimental impact on our citizens, then the Government will act.”

The proposals under consideration would prevent employers from offering less than three continuous hours of work to employees.