PART 5

Miscellaneous

Service of notices.

24. —(1) A notice or other document under Part 4 shall be, subject to subsection (2), addressed to the person concerned by name, and may be served on or given to the person in one of the following ways—

(a) by delivering it to the person,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address.

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the address at which the person ordinarily resides, or in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, to that address.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a company, within the meaning of the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1999, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

Winding up and bankruptcy.

25. —(1) There shall be included among the debts that, under section 285 of the Companies Act, 1963 , are in the distribution of the assets of a company being wound up, to be paid in priority to all other debts, any compensation payable under this Act by the company to an employee, and that Act shall have effect accordingly, and formal proof of the debts to which priority is given under this subsection shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by rules of court.

(2) There shall be included among the debts that, under section 81 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1988 , are in the distribution of the property of a bankrupt or arranging debtor, to be paid in priority to all other debts, any compensation payable under this Act by the bankrupt or arranging debtor, as the case may be, to an employee, and that Act shall have effect accordingly, and formal proof of the debts to which priority is given under this subsection shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by rules of court.

Amendment of Act of 1967.

26. —The Act of 1967 is amended in Schedule 3 by the substitution in paragraph 5(1) for clause (d) (inserted by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following clause:

“(d) a period during which the employee is absent from work while on protective leave, natal care absence within the meaning of Part IV of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 , parental leave, force majeure leave or carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act, 2001.”.

Amendment of Act of 1977.

27. —(1) Section 2(2) of the Act of 1977 is amended by the insertion in paragraph (d) (inserted by the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995 ) after “the adopting parent” of:

“, or

(e) dismissal where the employer at the commencement of the employment informs the employee in writing that the employment will terminate on the return to work with that employer of an employee who is absent from work while on carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act, 2001, and the dismissal of the employee duly occurs for the purpose of facilitating the return to work of the employee who has been on carer's leave.”.

(2) Section 6 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution in subsection (2) for paragraph (dd) (inserted by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following paragraph:

“(dd) the exercise or proposed exercise by the employee of the right to parental leave, force majeure leave under and in accordance with the Parental Leave Act, 1998 , or carer's leave under and in accordance with the Carer's Leave Act, 2001,”,

and

(b) by the insertion, after subsection (2B) (inserted by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ), of the following subsection:

“(2C) Sections 3 and 4 do not apply to a case falling within subsection (2)(dd) and, for the purpose of that paragraph, ‘employee’ includes a person who would otherwise be excluded from this Act by paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) or (j) of section 2(1).”.

Amendment of Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.

28. —The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 , is amended—

(a) in section 15, by the substitution in subsection (4), for paragraph (aa) (inserted by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following paragraph:

“(aa) any period during which the employee was absent from work while on parental leave, force majeure leave or carer's leave within the meaning of the Carer's Leave Act, 2001,”,

and

(b) in section 16, by the substitution in subsection (5), for paragraph (cc) (inserted by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following paragraph:

“(cc) any period during which the employee was absent from work while on parental leave, force majeure leave or carer's leave within the meaning of the Carer's Leave Act, 2001.”.

Amendment of National Minimum Wage Act, 2000.

29. —The National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 , is amended in section 8(2) by the substitution for subparagraph (ii) of the following subparagraph:

“(ii) time spent absent from work on annual leave, sick leave, protective leave, adoptive leave, parental leave, carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act, 2001, while laid-off, on strike or on ‘lock-out’, or time for which the employee is paid in lieu of notice, or”.

Extension of Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984.

30. — Section 6 of the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984 , is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)(a)(v) (as amended by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) by the substitution for clause (II) of the following clause:

“(II) a decision, determination or order under Part V of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 , Part IV of the Parental Leave Act, 1998 , or Part 4 of the Carer's Leave Act, 2001,”,

and

(b) in subsection (4)(c) by—

(i) the substitution for subparagraph (iv) (other than clauses (I) and (II) (as amended by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following subparagraph:

“(iv) a payment shall not be made under this section in respect of an amount to which a decision under Part V of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 , Part IV of the Parental Leave Act, 1998 , or Part 4 of the Carer's Leave Act, 2001, relates unless—”,

and

(ii) the substitution for subparagraph (v) (other than clauses (I) and (II) (as amended by the Parental Leave Act, 1998 ) of the following subparagraph:

“(v) a payment shall not be made under this section in respect of an amount to which a determination under Part V of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 , Part IV of the Parental Leave Act, 1998 , or Part 4 of the Carer's Leave Act, 2001, relates unless—”.

Maintenance of records.

31. —(1) An employer shall make a record of the carer's leave taken by his or her employees indicating the period of employment for each employee and the dates and times in respect of which each employee was on carer's leave.

(2) A record made under this section shall be retained by the employer concerned for a period of 8 years and, if the Minister prescribes the form of such records, the records shall be kept in the prescribed form.

(3) Notices, or copies of notices, required to be retained under this Act by a person shall be retained by that person for a period of 3 years.

(4) An employer who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 (£2,362.69).

Inspectors.

32. —(1) In this section “inspector” means a person appointed under subsection (2).

(2) The Minister may appoint in writing such and so many persons as the Minister sees fit to be inspectors for the purposes of this Act.

(3) An inspector may for the purposes of this Act do all or any of the following things—

(a) subject to the provisions of this section, enter at all reasonable times any premises or place where he or she has reasonable grounds for supposing that any employee is employed in work or from which he or she has reasonable grounds for supposing the activities that an employee is employed to carry on are directed or controlled (whether generally or as respect particular matters),

(b) make such examination or enquiry as may be necessary for ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act are complied with in respect of any employee employed in any such premises or place or any employee the activities aforesaid of whom are directed or controlled from any such premises or place,

(c) require the employer of any employee or the representative of such employer to produce to him or her any records which such employer is required to keep under section 31 and inspect and take copies of entries in such records (including in the case of information in a non-legible form a copy of or an extract from such information in a permanent legible form),

(d) require any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been an employee or the employer of any employee to furnish such information as the inspector may reasonably request,

(e) examine, with regard to any matters under this Act, any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been an employer or employee and require him or her to answer such questions (other than questions tending to incriminate him or her) as the inspector may put relative to those matters and to sign a declaration of the truth of the answers.

(4) An inspector shall not, other than with the consent of the occupier, enter a private dwelling (other than a part of the dwelling used as a place of work) unless he or she has obtained a warrant from the District Court under subsection (7) authorising such entry.

(5) Where an inspector in the exercise of his or her powers under this section is prevented from entering any premises an application may be made under subsection (7) authorising such entry.

(6) An inspector, where he or she considers it necessary to be so accompanied, may be accompanied by a member of the Garda Siochána when exercising any powers conferred on an inspector by this section.

(7) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied on the sworn information of an inspector that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that information required by an inspector under this section is held on any premises or any part of any premises, the judge may issue a warrant authorising an inspector accompanied by other inspectors or a member of the Garda Síochána, at any time or times within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, on production, if so requested, of the warrant, to enter the premises (if need be by reasonable force) and exercise all or any of the powers conferred on an inspector under subsection (3).

(8) A person who—

(a) obstructs or impedes an inspector in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on an inspector under this section,

(b) refuses to produce any record which an inspector lawfully requires him or her to produce,

(c) produces or causes to be produced or knowingly allows to be produced, to an inspector, any record which is false or misleading in any material respect knowing it to be so false or misleading,

(d) gives to an inspector any information which is false or misleading in any material respect knowing it to be so false or misleading,

(e) fails or refuses to comply with any lawful requirement of an inspector under subsection (3),

shall be guilty of an offence.

(9) Every inspector shall be furnished by the Minister with a certificate of his or her appointment and, on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this Act, shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the certificate or a copy of it to that person.

Penalties, proceedings, etc.

33. —(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 (£2,362.69).

(2) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a person being a director, manager, secretory or other officer of that body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in that capacity, that person shall also be guilty of an offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(3) Proceedings for an offence under sections 31 and 32 may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.

(4) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

Review of Act.

34. —The Minister shall, not earlier than 2 years and not later than 3 years after the commencement of this Act, after consultation with persons whom he or she considers to be representative of employers generally and persons whom he or she considers to be representative of employees generally, conduct a review of the operation of this Act and shall prepare a report in writing of the findings of the review and shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.