Goal 4:D E L IVE R P O SITIVE WO RKPL ACE R E L ATIO NS SUP P O RTS,

Goal 4:D E L IVE R P O SITIVE WO RKPL ACE R E L ATIO NS SUP P O RTS, W E L L -F UNCTIO NING D ISPUTE R E SOLUTIO N ME CH ANISMS, R O BUST E NF O R CEME NT O F E MP LOY MENT R IGH TS AND A SAF E WO RKING E NV IR O NME NT

In addition to workplace supports, including safe and healthy places of work, dispute resolution and the enforcement of rights, the Department is also responsible for economic migration policy and for managing the employment permits regime.

In October 2020, following the transfer of functions from the Department of Social Protection, responsibility for employment rights and redundancy and insolvency policy transferred to this Department along with some other responsibilities. The primary role of these two policy areas is to ensure that the State’s suite of employment rights and redundancy and insolvency legislation remains fit for purpose and is updated to reflect both national and international developments, including at European Union, Court of Justice and International Labour Organisation level and to advise the Minister and serve the political system on matters relating to these areas. The work of these units will be reflected in the Annual Report 2021.

S TA TUTO RY S IC K P A Y The Tánaiste has committed to introducing a statutory sick pay scheme to bring Ireland in line with other wealthy OECD countries. Work is well underway in this regard, with a full public consultation running between November and December 2020, which received 118 submissions from a wide range of stakeholders. The Tánaiste intends to bring forward draft legislation on the scheme in 2021 with a view to having the scheme up and running by the end of the year. RIGH T TO DIS C O NNEC T In the light of an increasing digital working environment and in the context of the commitment in the Programme of Government, the Tánaiste requested the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to consider the development of a Code of Practice for employers and employees on the Right to Disconnect. The Tánaiste made this request to the WRC in accordance with the provisions of section 20 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015. The purpose of this Code is to provide practical guidance and best practice to employers, employees and their representatives in relation to the Right to Disconnect. Codes of Practice are written guidelines, agreed in a consultative process, setting out guidance and best practice for employers and employees with respect to compliance with employment legislation. The Code complements and supports employers’ and employees’ rights and obligations under the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 and the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 – 2014. While failure to follow a Code prepared under section 20(1)(a) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 is not an offence, in itself, section 20(9) provides that in any proceedings before a Court, the Labour Court or the WRC, a Code of Practice shall be admissible in evidence and any provision of the Code which appears to the court, body or officer concerned to be relevant to any question arising in the proceedings shall be taken into account in determining that question. The Code of Practice was finalised in Q1 of 2021.

WO RK S A FELY P RO TO C O L (RETURN TO WO RK S A FELY P RO TO C OL) As a result of the Public Health restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, a Government decision to partially reopen the economy from 18 May 2020 was accompanied by the introduction of the Return to Work Safely Protocol. The Protocol set out in a clear and comprehensive way, the steps and processes that businesses needed to take to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. It was developed and agreed in consultation with the members of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, a forum for high-level dialogue between government, union and employer representatives on labour market issues. Participants in this process included Ibec, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Chambers Ireland and the Construction Industry Federation. It is the result of a collaborative effort, led by this Department and involving the Health and Safety Authority, the Department of Health and the HSE.

The Protocol was revised and relaunched as the Work Safely Protocol in November 2020 still containing information and practical advice on a range of topics such as the management and control of outbreaks, selection of hand sanitisers, wearing of masks, ventilation of workplaces and symptoms. The revision brought together knowledge developed in these areas as the pandemic continued and it was considered important that the guidance reflected the most up to date public health advice available.

The Health and Safety Authority has acted as the lead Agency in co-ordinating compliance with the Work Safely Protocol. It has been assisted in this role by 700 inspectors from a range of other Government Departments and State Bodies (Workplace Relations Commission; Environmental Health Officers; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Department of Education; Sea Fisheries Protection Authority and Tulsa).

Over 24,000 COVID-19 inspections on compliance with the Protocol were carried out between May and the end of December 2020. Returns from all inspectorate bodies have indicated compliance levels of over 90% with the protocol. This has provided an assurance to employers and workers in relation to the ability of businesses to remain open during the period of the pandemic.

EC O NO MIC MIGRA TIO N Implementation of the recommendations of the 2018 Review of Economic Migration Policy continued to ensure that the State’s employment permits system remains sufficiently flexible to react to changes in the labour market and be fully supportive of emerging labour needs. Work continued on developing new consolidated and amended Employment Permit legislation.

The first review of the twice yearly review of the employment permit critical skills and ineligible occupations lists was finalised in October 2020, taking account of the current economic environment and the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. No changes were made to the Employment Permits Occupations Lists apart from two small technical amendments simplifying the occupation description of nurses and adding the Japan/EU ‘Vulcanus’ in Europe Programme (Ireland)’ to the list of Exchange Agreements that are eligible for the Exchange Agreement Employment Permit. The second review commenced in October 2020.

The Employer Consultative User Forum which is jointly chaired by this Department and the Department of Justice and Equality met in September.

EMP LO Y MENT P ERMITS Over the course of 2020, Trusted Partner applications, which account for 74% of all permit applications and are regular users of the service, were consistently being processed in 1-2 weeks. Similarly, standard applications, which account for 26% of all applications, were consistently being processed in a 3-4 week timeframe. Both of these figures are within the very ambitious customer service targets.

In 2020 there were a total of 16,290 applications for employment permits, a 13% decrease from 2019. At the same time there was a 12 year high in the amount of permits which were granted, 16,419, a 1% increase over 2019.

In March 2020, the Department implemented a COVID-19 contingency plan to ensure that the employment permit regime could continue to operate throughout the crisis. Since 30 March, the employment permit system has been operating fully remotely and online. Agreement was reached with the Immigration Service Delivery in the Department of Justice on arrangements to introduce, on a temporary basis, a type of ‘e-employment permit’ and a similar soft copy process to transition to permanent residence permission.

Processing of employment permit applications for medical personnel were prioritised and, from mid-March until the end of 2020 some 4,490 employment permits issued to medical personnel.

The second phase of a Business Process Review which will result in the development of a new IT processing system which will take advantage of all the new technologies available, including full digitisation, is ongoing but progress during 2020 has been slow as a result of the pandemic. Development of the new system is expected to commence during 2021.

In 2020, 50% of all employment permits issued were in respect of Critical Skills Employment Permits, the employment permit designed to target shortages in highly skilled occupations in high demand; and the following sectors received the most employment permits:

Health & Social Work Activities (31%)

Information & Communication Activities (28%)

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (11%)

S EC TO RA L EMP LO Y MENT O RDERS The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 provides the legal basis for Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs). An SEO can set the pay, pension or sick pay scheme for workers in an economic sector.

In June 2020, the High Court declared the Electrical Contracting Sector SEO (S.I. 251 of 2019) to be invalid and of having no legal effect. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the provisions for the making of SEOs under Chapter 3 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 was unconstitutional as it unlawfully delegation law making powers to bodies outside the Oireachtas. The decision of the High Court has been appealed to the Supreme

Court and a ruling is expected in 2021. The judge of the High Court placed a Stay o n the declaration of unconstitutionality pending the determination of the Supreme Court appeal.

Two SEOs remain, and minimum rates of renumeration for the Construction sector increased on 1 October 2020.

JO INT LA BO UR C O MMITTEES A ND EMP LO Y MENT REGULA TIO N O RDERS There are three active Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) in the Contract Cleaning, Hairdressing and Security sectors.

A JLC is composed of equal numbers of representatives of employers and workers in an employment sector. The Committee meets under an independent chairman, an Industrial Relations Officer of the WRC, appointed by the Minister to discuss and agree proposals for terms and conditions to apply to specified grades or categories of workers in the sector concerned.

An Employment Regulation Order (ERO) is an instrument drawn up by a JLC, adopted by the Labour Court and given statutory effect by the Minister for Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment. The ERO fixes minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment for workers in specified business sectors: employers in those sectors are then obliged to pay wage rates and provide conditions of employment not less favourable than those prescribed.

An ERO was drawn up by the JLC and adopted by the Labour Court for the Contract Cleaning Industry in 2020. This Order, S.I. No. 608 of 2020, was given statutory effect by Minister English on 10 December 2020.

An ERO is in place for the Security Industry since 2017. That ERO is under challenge in the High Court. The Security Industry JLC met in 2020 regarding the proposal for a new ERO. The Court will consider this proposal in 2021.

INDUS TRIA L RELA TIO NS (A MENDMENT) BILL 2019 The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2019 was signed by President Michael D. Higgins on 7 July 2019. This Act has amended the Industrial Relations legislation to allow access to the services of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Labour Court for the Garda representative associations. The Act came into effect on 1 February 2020.

INDUS TRIA L RELA TIO NS ENVIRO NMENT There were approximately 21,704 days lost to strike action in 2020.

NEW C O DE O F P RA C TIC E FO R EMP LO Y ERS A ND EMP LO Y EES O N TH E P REVENTIO N A ND RES O LUTIO N O F BULLY ING A T WO RK UNDER TH E S A FETY , H EA LTH A ND WELFA RE A T WO RK A C T 2005 A new Code of Practice, which came into effect on 23 December 2020, replaces the previous Code of the same name issued by the Health and Safety Authority in March 2007 and the ‘Code of Practice Detailing Procedures for Addressing Bullying in the Workplace’

issued by the Labour Relations Commission in 2002, effectively combining them into a single operational Code.

This revised dual Code, which applies to all employments in Ireland irrespective of whether employees work at a fixed location, at home or are mobile, provides practical guidance on the management of workplace bullying complaints and on the prevention of workplace bullying, in line with the requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Further information is available on www.hsa.ie.

NO TIFY ING A UTH O RITY RO LE Product safety has been largely regulated through EU harmonised law which covers about 70% of products on the EU market.

The Department is a Notifying Authority under several EU Directives and has specific responsibility for Directives concerning Machinery; Personal Protective Equipment; Transportable Pressure Equipment; Pressure Equipment; Lifts and Safety Components for Lifts and, also, Equipment for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres (ATEX). The Department is also the Notifying Authority for certain Consumer Products and Weights and Measures.

During 2020, one application and one withdrawal were processed by the Department for UK notified Bodies establishing in Ireland. This will bring the number of notified bodies appointed by the Department to ten, with three Recognised Third Party Organisations under the Pressure Equipment Directive. The majority of these companies were former UK Notified Bodies which relocated or established new operations in Ireland due to Brexit. The Notified Body appointments will allow these companies to continue to operate within the EU post- Brexit.

C O NS TRUC TIO N S EC TO R During 2020, the Department and the Health and Safety Authority continued to co-operate closely with SOLAS and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on ensuring the viability and relevance of safety training schemes for the construction sector, with a focus on modernising the delivery of training supports to the construction sector by SOLAS. The SafePass and Construction Safety Certification Scheme, co-ordinated by SOLAS, have proven over many years to have improved awareness, competence and safety in the construction sector.

Minister Breen introduced an amending S.I. to the Construction Regulations, to extend the period of validity of all existing SOLAS Safe Pass cards issued from 1 March 2016 beyond their prescribed expiry date of 29 February 2020 until such a time as the COVID-19 emergency has lifted and Safe Pass training is available from SOLAS again. This derogation remains in place. It is estimated that over 30,000 SafePass card holders benefitted from the introduction of the derogation up to the end of December 2020.

WO RKP LA C E FA TA LITIES There were 53 workplace fatalities reported to the Health and Safety Authority in 2020 last year compared to 47 in 2019. With 20 of these fatalities in the agriculture sector, farms

remain the place of work with the highest rate of accidents and fatalities. Construction fatalities increased from 12 in 2019 to 14 in 2020, with 58% of all fatal injuries taking place in the first six months. Falls from heights was the leading cause of construction worker deaths in 2020. Many of the fatalities involved small companies and self -employed tradespeople. A downward trend between 2015 (56 fatalities) and 2020 (53 fatalities) still exists. However, a continuous focus is needed by employers and employees to ensure that this downward trend continues.

FA RM S A FETY A Protocol between this Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in relation to Farm Safety has been put in place to assist all Parties to work together to reduce the rate of fatal and serious incidents and improve health and wellbeing in the agriculture sector while maintaining their respective legislative responsibilities. The Protocol will assist in ensuring that a collaborative approach is taken by all parties to achieve this goal and seeks to optimise the use of the resources available to both Departments. The Protocol will also help to ensure joined-up messaging relating to health, safety and welfare matters targeting the agriculture sector. The overall objective of this Protocol is to ensure that working together, both Departments and the Health and Safety Authority can drive real improvements in farm health, safety and welfare on the ground through a cross-Government approach and sharing of information.

IRIS H NA TIO NA L A C C REDITA TIO N BO A RD /A CCREDITA TIO N A review of the structure and operation of Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB), a committee of the Health and Safety Authority, was completed in 2020. INAB has an expanding mandate via a number of EU Directives which require accreditation of bodies within a regulatory framework, examples of upcoming areas of activity would be in the area of cyber security and data protection.

C H EMIC A LS P O LIC Y At the beginning of 2020, the Health and Safety Authority published the Chemical Agents Code of Practice, which, in conjunction with S.I. No. 592 of 2019 transposed three EU Directives relating to exposure to carcinogens in the workplace, keeping Ireland fully in line with EU standards in this area.

In June 2020, the EU published Directive (EU) 2020/739, adding the agent responsible for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, to the Biological Agents Directive, which had recently been updated by Directive (EU) 2019/1833. Given the urgency of the pandemic, Member States were given just five months to transpose Directive 2020/739 into national law (in addition the transposition date for Directive 2019/1833 was moved from November 2021 to November 2020 to be in line with Directive 2020/739). Both Directives were fully transposed on time via S.I. No. 539/2020 and the 2020 Biological Agents Code of Practice, published by the Health and Safety Authority. The Code of Practice sets out the risk levels of certain biological agents and the precautions required for each risk level in different workplaces.

In 2020, the Department continued to liaise with the Attorney General’s Office to progress the settlement of a revision to the Detergents Regulations under the Chemicals Acts 2008 & 2010.

Following on from collaboration with the Health and Safety Authority and the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) in 2019, the Department transposed two Codified EU Directives (2004/9/EC and 2004/10/EC) on Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), which require that any test facilities carrying out tests on chemical products shall comply with the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice. The new regulations were transposed on 23 January 2020 via S.I. No 18 of 2020.

DA NGERO US S UBS TA NC ES LEGIS LA TIVE REGIME In 2020, the Department continued its programme of work on the modernisation of the regulations for petroleum storage and the retail sector. This included developing proposals to put in place a new regulatory regime to assist the sector in maintaining the highest health, safety and environmental standards.

In 2019 two new sets of regulations replacing 1979 petroleum storage and retail regulations were also finalised and published:

the Dangerous Substances (Flammable Liquids and Fuels Retail Stores) Regulations, 2019 (S.I. No. 630 of 2019); and

the Dangerous Substances (Flammable Liquids and Fuels Distribution and Commercial Supply Stores) Regulations, 2019 (S.I. No. 631 of 2019).

Both sets of new regulations came into force on 1 April 2020. Following their publication, the Department received advice from stakeholders and reviewed the 2019 Regulations for clarity. Revised Regulations will be published in 2021.

In April 2020, S.I. 147/2020 was published, which declared flammable liquids as dangerous substances under the Dangerous Substances Act. This S.I. allows for diesel only stations to be licensed under the Dangerous Substances Act, as that was not required previously. The Department is also pursuing an amendment to the Dangerous Substances Act to further emphasise this change, through the Industrial Development (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

A draft S.I. updating the 1979 Licensing Fees Regulations has been prepared and sent to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for review before being sent f or signature. The Department is currently awaiting feedback.

The Department is also continuing to liaise with the Local Government Management Association and other stakeholders on developing a new organisational and operational framework to oversee the implementation of the new Regulations by the Local Authority sector. To date the Business Case for this new licensing regime has passed the Public Sector Reform Oversight Group and a peer review group. Lead Local Authorities have been selected through competition for each region, and the Department will be working with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to bring a Memo to Government.

WO RKP LA C E RELA TIO NS C O MMIS S ION The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body which was established on 1 October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015 (No. 16 of 2015).

The Adjudication service received some 18,969 specific complaints in 2020: pay, redundancy, unfair dismissal and hours of work accounting for three quarters of cases received. While the number of complaints and specific complaints received showed a decline from 2019, it represented the highest total received in any other year since establishment.

The Adjudication Service held a mix of 2,000 virtual and in-person hearings in 2020 and issued some 1,629 decisions.

Similarly, conciliation and mediation were provided, primarily remotely over a variety of platforms but also in-person as circumstances allowed. In this regard, the Conciliation service chaired some 735 conciliation conferences and 242 facilitations in relation to collective disputes during 2020.

The Inspection service undertook a total of 7,687 workplace inspections resulting in €1.7m in unpaid wages recovered during 2020. As part of the National Return to Work Safely Protocol, WRC Inspectors carried out 5,202 inspections involving checks for compliance with the Protocol and employment law, with 87% of the employers inspected found to be in compliance.

In 2020, WRC dealt with 52,726 calls and 6,895 emails seeking information on employment rights, equality, industrial relations and employment permits to both employees and employers. In addition, the WRC website (www.workplacerelations.ie) had over 2.6m web views.

LA BO UR C O URT During 2020, the Labour Court received 940 appeals and referrals, representing a 20% decrease on the number of referrals (1,182) received in 2019. The Labour Court issued 337 recommendations/determinations/decisions, in addition, it investigated 61 cases that were settled prior to or at a hearing. The number of cases withdrawn by the parties prior to hearing was 396.