19TH MAY 2020

EMPLOYEE PROTOCOL

THE RETURN TO WORK PROTOCOL

 Following the guidelines introduced within the Government’s Return to Work Protocol (RTWP), we have put together the attached ‘Employee Protocol’, which we hope will act as a starting point for employers when putting sufficient measures in place. This document is aimed at helping you to best prepare your workplaces and your employees for a safe return, as set down in the Protocol.

Businesses will of course need to edit this document accordingly to reflect their specific arrangements and measures in place, which should be closely linked to their risk assessments and any other steps taken.

Along with any other measures deemed necessary following your risk assessments, we would recommend that employees are carefully taken through the Handbook once adjusted to suit your business needs and existing policies. You should ensure that as much as reasonably practicable employees understand what is covered within, including those for whom English is perhaps not their first language, as per the requirement under the Safety, Health and Welfare At Work Act 2005.

Once understood, it is recommended that employees confirm by signing the confirmation sheet, that they have understood the measures outlined within and agree to adhere to them.

Should an employee have any concerns regarding the document or measures in place, it is advisable to listen to the concerns raised and to explain and reassure the employee where necessary to help alleviate any anxiety or uncertainty that may exist.

Employers are reminded that this document is merely a guide as to the steps that can be taken, and that they should seek guidance and assistance from their designated Health and Safety Advisors as appropriate.

WORKING FROM HOME

With the new protocol requiring the continuation of remote working for the coming months, policies and procedures on Working from Home should be reviewed. In line with this, we have attached a sample policy and documentation which employers can adapt accordingly to suit their own business operation.

Relevant Documentation: 

• Working from Home Policy
• Working from Home Application Form 
• Display Screen Equiptment Risk Assessment 2020 for Home working 
• Covid 19 Employment Protocol
• Covid 19 Confirmation of Receipt of Employment Protocol

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

FURTHER DETAILS ON THE UPDATE OR ABOUT OUR SERVICES MAY BE OBTAINED FROM:

JOHN BARRY/TARA DALY/ HUGH HEGARTY AT TEL: 01 8870690

13th May 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE
Return to Work Safely Protocol

As we move towards the next phase in the Roadmap for re-opening the economy, the Government has drawn up a mandatory return to work protocol to facilitate a safe return to work.
The Return to Work Safely Protocol, incorporates current advice about measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As the advice issued by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) continues to evolve, it should be noted that this Protocol is subject to change. This Protocol is a general document applicable to all industry sectors and this Employer Update is a summary of the document issued on the 8th May. Employers and workers have a shared responsibility to implement the measures contained in the protocol in their place of work.

Communication and Training

• Every workplace will need to have at least one worker representative in place to address the COVID-19 requirements, who will be clearly identifiable and will receive the relevant and necessary training.
• This representative can be an existing safety person or be chosen by the employees
• Employers will have regular meetings with the worker representative(s) and will consult on safety measures to be implemented in the workplace.
• The employer should use an appointed occupational Safety and Health Officer or an external competent person to ensure the effective implementation of infection prevention and control measures in the workplace.
• Information and guidance should be provided to workers, about COVID-19, how it spreads, cleaning routines, waste disposal, hand and respiratory hygiene,
physical distancing, use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and work equipment, where relevant.
• Employers will be required to provide COVID-19 induction training for all workers.

Identify and isolate workers who may have symptoms of COVID-19

The prompt identification and isolation of potentially infectious individuals is a crucial step in protection.

Employers must:

• keep a log of contacts/group work, to facilitate contact tracing.
• inform workers and others of the purpose of the log.
• display information on symptoms of COVID-19.
• provide up to date information on the Public Health advice issued by the HSE and Gov.ie. The worker representative(s)
should be involved in communicating this advice in the workplace.
• instruct everyone on steps to follow if they develop signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

Workers should:

• make themselves aware of the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and monitor their own wellbeing.
• self-isolate at home and contact their GP promptly for further advice if they display any signs or symptoms.
• report to managers immediately if any symptoms develop whilst at work.
Workplace Changes or Policies

Employers should:

• communicate sick leave policies and amend as appropriate in line with normal procedures.
• agree through negotiation with workers/Trade Unions any temporary restructuring of work patterns required to implement prevention measures in the workplace, taking into account sectoral agreements in place.

Prevention and Control Measures

Pre-return form: At least three days before returning to work, a pre-return to work procedure and form (attached) should be put in place and completed by both employers and workers.

Employers must:

provide induction training for all workers which, at a minimum, includes: -

• the latest up to-date guidance:
• what a worker should do if they develop symptoms of COVID-19;
• details of how the workplace has been organised;
• an outline of the COVID-19 response plan;
• identification of worker and employer contacts;
• any other sector specific advice that is relevant;
• put in place controls identified in the risk assessment to prevent a spread of COVID-19;
• implement temperature testing in line with Public Health advice.
• identify the team(s) responsible for responding to a suspected case
• appoint an appropriate manager(s) for dealing with suspected cases.
• designate an isolation area and the route to the designated area, which should be easily accessible and as far as is reasonably practicable accessible by people with disabilities.
• plan for the possibility of one or more persons displaying signs and have additional isolation areas identified or a contingency plan for dealing with same.
• ensure the designated area can isolate the person behind a closed-door or be in an area away from other workers.
• provide as is reasonably practicable:
• Ventilation, i.e. via a window,
• Tissues, hand sanitiser, disinfectant
and/or wipes,
• PPE; gloves, masks,
• Clinical waste bag
When accompanying an individual to the designated isolation area:
• maintain social distancing of at least 2 metres from the symptomatic person at all times.
• provide a mask for the person presenting with symptoms
• assess whether the unwell individual can immediately be directed to go home and call their doctor and continue self-isolation at home.
• facilitate the person presenting with symptoms remaining in isolation if
necessary until they go home and/or facilitate them calling their doctor.
• the worker shall avoid touching people, surfaces and objects, cover their mouth and nose with the disposable tissue provided when they cough or sneeze and put the tissue in a waste bag.
• arrange non-public transport home or to hospital for medical assessment if necessary.
• carry out an assessment of the incident which will form part of determining follow-up actions and recovery.
• arrange for appropriate cleaning of the isolation area and work areas involved.
• provide advice and assistance if contacted by the HSE.

Workers will:

• complete and return the Pre-Return to Work form three days before they return to work.
• inform their employer if there are any other circumstances relating to COVID-19, not included in the form, which may need to be disclosed to allow their safe return to work.
• self-isolate at home and contact their GP promptly for further advice if they have any COVID-19 symptoms.
• stay out of work until all symptoms have cleared following self-isolation.
• participate in any induction training provided by the employer.
• complete any temperature testing as implemented by the employer and in line with Public Health advice.

Hand Hygiene

Employers must:

• ensure that appropriate hygiene facilities are in place to accommodate workers adhering to hand hygiene measures.
• make available advice and training on how to perform hand hygiene effectively:
• display posters on how to wash hands in appropriate locations.

Workers must:

• ensure they are familiar with and follow hand hygiene guidance and advice.
• wash their hands with soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand rub regularly and in particular: -
- after coughing and sneezing,
- before and after eating and preparing food,
- if in contact with someone who is
- displaying any symptoms,
- before and after being on public transport,
- before and after being in a crowd,
- when arriving and leaving the
workplace/other sites,
- before having a cigarette or vaping,
- when hands are dirty,
- after toilet use.
• avoid touching eyes, mouth, or nose.
• use the facilities to support hand hygiene (for example hand sanitiser/hand wipes/hand washing facilities).
• not share objects that touch their mouth, for example, bottles or cups.
• use own pens.

Respiratory Hygiene

Good respiratory hygiene and etiquette is also necessary.

Employers must:

• provide tissues as well as bins/bags for their disposal.
• empty bins at regular intervals.
• provide advice on good respiratory practice.

Workers must:

• adopt good respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.
• ensure they are familiar with and follow respiratory hygiene guidance.

Physical Distancing

The current recommended distance to be maintained between people to minimise risk of transmission is 2 metres.

Employers must:

provide for physical distancing across all work activities and this may be achieved in a number of ways:
• implement a no hand shaking policy,
• where office work is essential, work must be organised in such a way that multiple occupancy of office premises is avoided and/or physical distances are maintained,
• organise workers into as small as is reasonably practicable teams who consistently work and take breaks together.
• organise breaks in such a way as to facilitate maintenance of physical distancing during breaks, stagger canteen use, extend serving times, reduce cash transactions
• reorganise and rearrange working and break areas.
• consider closing canteen facilities if public health measures including social distancing cannot be facilitated.
• allocate specific times for collections, appointments and deliverables,
• conduct meetings as much as possible using online remote means. If face to face meetings, the length and numbers attending should be kept to a minimum and maintain physical distancing at all times,
• provide one-way systems for access/egress routes in the workplace where practicable,
• adapt existing sign-in/sign-out measures and systems e.g. biometrics/turnstiles, to ensure that physical distancing can be maintained,
• ensure workers who share collective accommodation at a place of work are grouped in fixed teams that are as small as is reasonably practicable and consist of individuals who also work together.
• As far as is reasonably practicable,
each team should be provided with their own communal facilities (washrooms, kitchens and communal rooms). If this is not possible, employers should implement phased use and an enhanced cleaning regime.
• accommodation must be regularly cleaned and ventilated either manually (by opening windows and doors) or mechanically.
• sleeping accommodation should normally be occupied singly.
• additional rooms must be provided for early isolation of infected persons.
• prevent gatherings of workers in the workplace at the beginning and end of working hours.
• implement physical distancing during any outdoor work activity.
• for outdoor work activities, facilities for frequent hand hygiene should be provided and should be located close to where workers are working.
• install physical barriers, such as clear plastic sneeze guards between workers,
• maintain at least a distance of 1 metre or as much distance as is reasonably practicable,
• where 2 metre worker separation cannot be ensured by organisational means, alternative protective measures should be put in place,
• make face masks available to the worker in line with Public Health advice.

Working from Home;

Office work should continue to be carried out at home, where practicable and non-essential work.
The employer should develop and consult on any working from home policy in conjunction with workers and/or Trade Unions. Advice on working from home on a temporary basis is available
from the Health and Safety Authority.

At Risk/Vulnerable Workers

If an at risk or vulnerable worker cannot work from home and must be in the workplace, employers must make sure that they are preferentially supported to maintain a physical distance of 2 metres.

Business Travel, Contractors and Visitors

• Business trips and face-to-face interactions should be reduced to the absolute minimum.
• For necessary work-related trips, the use of the same vehicles by multiple workers is not encouraged. The number of workers who share a vehicle, simultaneously or consecutively, should be kept to a minimum as far is as reasonably practicable, for example by assigning a vehicle to a fixed team.
• Workers should be encouraged to travel alone or at a maximum be accompanied by one passenger who shall be seated in adherence with physical distancing guidance.
• Workers should be provided with hand sanitisers and cleaning equipment for their work vehicle.
• Workers, contractors or visitors visiting workplaces where there are restrictions should follow the site infection prevention and control measures
• a system for recording visits to the site(s) by workers/others as well as visits by workers to other workplaces should be put in place by employers and completed by workers as required.
• provide induction training for contractors and visitors to the workplace.

Cleaning

Cleaning of work areas must be conducted at regular intervals. Further information on cleaning in non-healthcare settings is available from the ECDC at:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Environmental-persistence-of-SARS_CoV_2-virus-Options-for-cleaning2020-03-26_0.pdf

Employers must:

• implement regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces. If disinfection is required it must be performed in addition to cleaning, never as a substitute for cleaning.
• ensure contact/touch surfaces such as tabletops, work equipment, door handles and handrails are visibly clean at all times and cleaned at least twice daily.
• implement modified cleaning intervals for rooms and work areas. Cleaning should be performed at least twice per day and whenever facilities are visibly dirty and provide workers with essential cleaning materials to keep their own workspace clean
• increase number of waste collection points and ensure these are emptied throughout and at the end of each day.
• modify use of hot desks to ensure that these are made available to identified staff and have appropriate cleaning materials in place to clean the area before using.

Personal Protective Equipment

Examples of PPE include gloves, goggles, respiratory protection. In the context of a COVID-19 risk, employers should check the HPSC website regularly for updates regarding use of recommended PPE.
• PPE must be selected based on the hazard to the worker.
• Employers must provide PPE and protective clothing to workers in accordance with identified COVID-19 exposure risks and in line with Public Health Advice.
• Workers should be trained in the proper use, cleaning, storing and disposal of PPE.
• Gloves are generally not required for infection prevention and control purposes. Where necessary, they are not a substitute for hand hygiene and hands must be cleaned whenever gloves are removed. Limitations on wearing time and workers’ individual susceptibilities (allergies, etc.) must also be considered.
• For particular PPE, such as respirators, these must be properly fitted and periodically refitted, as appropriate.
• PPE needs to be consistently and properly worn when required. In addition, it must be regularly inspected, cleaned, maintained, and replaced, as necessary.
Note: wearing of masks is not a substitute for other measures outlined above. However, if masks are worn, they should be clean, and they should not be shared or handled by other colleagues. Employers and workers should keep up to date with the latest Public Health advice issued regarding masks by Gov.ie/NPHET
Further information on PPE is available at: https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Personal_Protective_Equipment_-_PPE/.

Customer Facing Roles

Many of the measures noted above for workers can and should equally be applied for work activity that involves direct customer or visitor contacts.

Employers must:

• eliminate physical interaction between workers and customers as much as is reasonably practicable through revised working arrangements.
• provide hand sanitisers at entry/exit points.
• install physical barriers and clear markings to ensure contact between workers/ customers is kept to a minimum
• implement a cleaning regime to ensure contact points for workers / customers are kept visibly cleaned at all times.
• display the advice on the COVID-19 measures in visible locations to ensure that customers are also adhering to what is required.

Reporting Requirements:

COVID-19 is reportable under the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2020 by a medical practitioner, who becomes aware of or suspects an instance of such disease, not an employer. Such a report should be sent to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre(HPSC): https://www.hpsc.ie/notifiablediseases/

First Aid:

Workers acting as first aid responders should be provided with updated training on infection prevention and control principles when delivering first aid.
Further advice on first aid is available from the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council(PHECC):https://www.phecit.ie/PHECC/Publications_and_Resources/Newsletters/Newsletter_Items/2020/PHECC_COVID_19_Advisory_v1.aspx

Mental Health and Wellbeing:

• Employers should put in place support for workers who may be suffering from anxiety or stress. Workers, when they return to work, may have gone through traumatic events such as the serious illness or death of a relative or friend, or be experiencing financial difficulties or problems with their personal relationships.
• Workers who are returning to the workplace after a period of isolation are likely to have concerns about the risk of infection or changes to their job due to the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Employers should provide workers with information on publicly available sources of support and advice and information about the prevention and control measures taken in the workplace to reduce the risk of infection.
• Employers should ensure workers are made aware of and have access to any Employee Assistance Programmes or
Occupational Health service provided by the Company.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC):
Switching off air conditioning is not required to manage the risk of COVID-19. For organisations without air conditioning adequate ventilation is encouraged, for example, by opening windows where feasible etc.
Compliance
The Health and Safety Authority will be responsible for governing the compliance of this protocol. Inspectors may exercise their powers to conduct inspections at workplaces to assess compliance, reporting on the key findings and improvements required. Improvement Notices (legal instruction requiring improvement) can also be issued by the Inspector. Where a serious risk is identified, they may decide that it is necessary to shut down the workplace.
The full Return to Work Protocol is available at: https://dbei.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Return-to-Work-Safely-Protocol.pdf
To assist with the return to work, employers can find details of existing supports and resources in place for businesses impacted by COVID-19 at:
https://dbei.gov.ie/en/Publications/Supports-for-businesses-COVID-19.html.
Additional advice on dealing with a suspected case is available from the NSAI:
https://www.nsai.ie/images/uploads/general/NSAI-Guidelines-for-COVID-19-2020-04-09.pdf
https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/newsfeatures/covid19-updates/partner-resources/hand-hygiene-poster-english.pdf

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service
Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:
John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at: -Tel: 01 8870690 Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie

24th April 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE

Wage Subsidy Scheme

On the 21st April, Revenue issued some adjustments to the new arrangements that were announced on the 15th April, which we covered in our last Update. We have provided below a summary of these changes.

Excluded Salary

The wage subsidy for those whose pay was in excess of €960 p.w but are now reduced, is now effective from the 16th April 2020 not the 4th May as originally announced. This payment is subject to the tiered arrangements and tapering, as follows;

Where the current gross pay, as reported in the payroll submission, represents a reduction from the ARNWP by:

• less than 20%, no subsidy is payable
• between 20% and 39%, a subsidy of up to €205 is payable
• 40% or more, a subsidy of up to €350 is payable.

The maximum additional payment an employer can make, in order to receive the full subsidy, is the difference between the employees Average Revenue Net Weekly Pay and their maximum weekly wage subsidy.

Eligible Employees 

An employee is not eligible if their gross pay as stated in the payroll submission to revenue exceeds €960 per week. Previously Revenue had referred to this as a Net Pay figure.

Transferred Employees

An employer who has accepted an employee under the TUPE regulations from another employer must notify Revenue of their transfer if they wish to add them to the WSS scheme. a significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19

Laid off Employees

When an employee is laid off and is in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), they do not have to be terminated by the company.

If an employee who has been placed on lay-off is being returned to work and placed on the Subsidy Scheme, the DEASP will cease the PUP.

Childcare Subsidy Scheme

Details of this new scheme are now available: For more information see

https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-children-and-youth-affairs/

Useful links: https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie

23rd April 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE 

Annual Leave

We can be sure that, at this time, no one is probably planning their holiday arrangements, due to the current uncertainties and lockdown. However, it is possible that when we are allowed to return to work, we will be heading into the holiday season and employees may at that stage, have accrued a lot of time off if they have not yet taken any leave. At the same time, we hope our employees will be needed to address the uplift in work and getting back on the road again. Hence, the importance of planning how to avoid a holiday crisis.

Statutory Leave Year 

Firstly, the statutory holiday year is April to March, though most companies use January to December as their leave year. This is important, because if a claim is made under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, this is the only leave year that a claim can be based on if the claim concerns annual leave, regardless of what the holiday year in the contract states.

Do Employees Accrue Annual Leave during Lay-Off?

Annual leave accrues under the Organisation of Working Time Act based on the number of hours worked by employees, subject to a maximum of four working weeks. Where employees have been placed on lay-off, these employees do not accrue annual leave during the specific weeks that they have been laid off, however it is important to note that if they have worked 1,365 hours in the leave year, then they will still be entitled to their full four weeks annual leave. The question of whether annual leave accrues whilst employees are on the Wage Subsidy Scheme, which is basically de facto Lay-Off, has not been clearly defined by the Government legislation or adjudication as of yet. If an employer takes the position that it does not accrue, they should be mindful that it is possible that this could be deemed unlawful. Accrual of contractual leave in excess of statutory leave whilst in receipt of the WSS payment will accrue unless the contract states otherwise.

Employer Responsibilities

Under this Act the employer is responsible for ensuring employees take their leave. In exercising that responsibility, the employer must take into account the need for the employee to reconcile work needs, family responsibilities and the opportunities for rest and relaxation, even if the employer wishes to nominate when holidays will be taken, which can be done where at least a months’ notice has been given.

At the moment some employers have already organised employees to take leave during this COVID 19 period, to use up entitlements, but the overall number is probably quite small. Yet, if we consider that the normal leave entitlement for full time employees is 4 working weeks plus Public Holidays, and the fact that we only have 8 months left to take them in, (if January to December is your leave year), if and when things pick up we may need all hands to the wheel and holidays could be a nightmare.

So, what can an employer do?

Employers are entitled to nominate when holidays can be taken. To do this the employer is expected to consult the employee or their trade union (if any) at least a month before the date nominated for leave to be taken. This means that the employer can nominate holidays to commence in a months’ time which will allow the employer to organise the workforce, especially if there is going to be a phased return to work. If it is the case that an employer wishes to start using the leave earlier then employees could be asked to come forward, request employees to indicate holiday dates for the rest of the year and advise that if they do not do this the company may have to nominate when they take them or they could be organised by agreement..

What if all annual leave cannot be used up?

If it is the case an employee is unable to use up all the annual leave within the January to December leave year, then it should be remembered that there are still three months left in the Statutory leave year before you are in breach of the Act. In addition to this leave can be carried over to the next leave year provided there is agreement and the leave is taken within the first six months of the new leave year. This gives an employer up to the end of September 2021 to use up any carried over leave and hopefully to also use up current leave as well at that stage.

Why not just pay the outstanding leave?

Employers cannot pay employees for outstanding leave unless the employee is ending their employment with the company, so this is not an option for current employees.

So, what do you do?

• Identify how much leave is currently due to all your employees.
• Identify how much leave the company will need for periods where the company shuts down e.g. Summer shut down, Christmas
• Work out how to spread the balance over the remainder of the leave year
• Request employees to submit their leave requests for 2020 by a specified date so that the company can organise them in a manner fair to all or reflect any established booking practice that may apply in the workplace, around the needs of the business.
• If necessary, nominate when holidays may be taken by giving the appropriate one months’ notice
• If all leave cannot be used up, agree to carry over leave into the next leave year.

Can employees take leave if on the Subsidy Scheme?

Yes. The employee is still at work so this can be done and as the scheme runs to the 25th June, it is likely that employees will be taking leave during this time.

Can employees take leave whilst on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment?

No. An employee cannot receive payment from their employer during this time.

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service.

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:
John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie          Website: www.mssirl.ie

20th April 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE

Planning Ahead 

For businesses and HR Practitioners, with the possibility of light at the end of the lockdown tunnel, now is the time to start forward planning to ensure that, whenever restrictions are lifted and businesses are permitted to reopen, both the business and its employees are ready to resume work. The following are some key areas to focus on to make sure that your business is sufficiently prepared;

Returning Employees to Work

Depending on the Government’s direction, a phased return to work may be necessary for some or all employers to allow the business to get up and running, which means the business may not need everyone back at the same time. In those circumstances, employers will need to decide how to select who will return to work first ensuring they use a fair and objective criterion when doing so.

Employers who have laid staff off, should also keep a watch on the changes that were made to Section 12. Redundancy Payments Act 1967 from 26 March 2020 which prevents claims of redundancy from employees who have been laid-off or kept on short-time due to Covid-19.

This exemption is due to end on the 31^st May 2020, and unless this is extended employers may face redundancy claims from employees who remain on lay-off/short time beyond this date. This may impact decisions for employers on who is to return to work first.

Once selections have been made, employees will need to be contacted to advise them when the period of lay-off or short-time working will cease and of their return to work date, remembering to give as much notice as possible, as employees on lay-off may have been employed elsewhere during the “emergency period”.

Action: Begin to prepare letters for when you need to notify employees, to ensure selection is fair and avoid unnecessary delays.

Health and Safety

Employers must consider the safety, health and welfare of employees returning, in line with their Duty of Care under the Safety, Health and Welfare Act. Guidance from the government should be strictly adhered to. Employers should update risk assessments prior to employees returning to work/returning to normal duties, to ensure that any control measures that are necessary to prevent any possible spread of COVID-19 are in place i.e. rearranging offices, online meetings etc. and that employees are fully briefed and confirm their understanding of them before returning to work. Absence and return to work processes should also be reviewed and confirmation should be sought from employees in advance of their return to protect against any risk of COVID-19.

Action: Update H&S documentation and training material/PPE to incorporate COVID 19 measures.

Collective Redundancies

With a significant downturn in the economy predicted, some employers may unfortunately be faced with the need to implement redundancies or may have identified more efficient ways of working, resulting in fewer employees needed, within their organisations. Employers should be careful to seek advice in advance of any such action, however. Fair procedures must be applied at all stages where redundancies are being considered. Depending on the number of roles being declared redundant and the size of the workforce, Collective Redundancy legislation may apply, entailing more specific notice and consultation periods. Failure to adhere to fair procedures, may result in claims under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1978.

Action: Review staffing levels and work practices to identify potential efficiencies.

Annual Leave

Many employees will be returning to work with an accumulation of annual leave, which employers may struggle to allow them to take within the leave year. In this regard, employers may want to consider relaxing their annual leave policies and allowing for a carryover of leave into the next leave year. It should be noted that the annual leave year for the purpose of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 is from the 1st April to the 31st March. Under this legislation, annual leave can be carried forward into the first six months of the following leave year (1st April -30th September) with the agreement of the employee or if contractually provided for.

Where agreement is reached this should be recorded. Employers should ensure they have a strategy in place for managing the excess annual leave which employees will have accrued.

Employers should ensure that management are fully briefed on the details of their employee’s remaining annual leave for this year so that everyone is clear on where they stand and can plan accordingly.

Should an employer wish to specify when employees may take their leave, then there should be consultation on this at least one month before the leave date and should take into account proper rest and recreation for the employee and their family.

Action: Review outstanding leave entitlements and plan how they are to be used up without affecting the business.

Compassionate/ Bereavement Leave

As a result of social distancing measures, funeral masses are presently limited to family members only during the emergency period. Memorial services may take place when it is over. Employers should expect to receive requests for time off for attendance at these and so should consider their position. Although not legally required, many employers operate policies on bereavement/compassionate leave.

Action: Review these policies and decide whether to adjust them temporarily to facilitate leave for these unique circumstances or require annual leave/unpaid leave should be taken. Employers that do not have expressed Bereavement/compassionate leave policies should also prepare for what their position on such ceremonies will be.

Working From Home

This pandemic has forced employers to implement flexible working arrangements which would not normally apply and have trusted their employees to carry out the work which they were employed to do, from their home. Employers should be prepared for requests from some of their employees to continue with such arrangements. Whatever the preference of your business, you should start to decide now what your company’s position is. What would be the cost or operational implications of continuing? If it is something you wish to permit, decide fairly on what basis, and ensure that you document any agreement and the conditions applicable.

Action: Create a Home Working policy to cover H&S aspects and applicable circumstances.

Part Time Work Request

Employees who have been working reduced hours or not working at all may seek to avail of part time hours on a permanent basis. Employers should consider what their position is for such requests. Although not obliged to facilitate such an arrangement, the ‘Code of Practice on Access of Part Time Working’ provides that employers should consider requests for Part-Time Work and take account of all factors both relevant to the organisation and personal to the applicant before making a decision. Written replies to the employees detailing these reasons should be given. These requests should be considered on a case by case basis, but employers can start planning now for potential requests and the operational feasibility of them for roles within their business. Where part time work arrangements are agreed, the conditions for same should be clearly laid out and detailed in a signed appendix to the employees Terms and Conditions.

Actions: Prepare a Part Time workers policy

Probation 

Some employees may have been employed on an initial probation period prior to being placed on lay-off/short time. Employers should check whether their contracts provide for the extension of the probation period to take into account any periods of absence, in which case they should write to employees to confirm this extension so that there is no uncertainty. However, in any case they should be careful not to extend the probation beyond a period of 11 months, as employees will benefit from full coverage under the Unfair Dismissal Act once they have accrued 12 months service.

Action: Review all new employee dates and issue update letters to all probationers.

Communication

The pandemic has had a big impact on the way in which we all communicate including employers resorting to online platforms for meetings and this has meant that businesses have honed their IT communications skills. Employers may want to consider whether these new approaches would be beneficial and could be incorporated into the workplace in the future. As social distancing measures are likely to be still in place on return, if these measures were necessary to ensure that appropriate distances are maintained, then employers may be required to continue with them initially. In doing so employers will need to review any GDPR implications to this.

Action: Update/introduce IT policies and review GDPR implications.

Contract Review

Some employers may have identified gaps in their employment contracts, in particular in relation to lay-off and short-time working clauses. Therefore, it may be a good time to review employment contracts/Employee Handbooks now to include these provisions.

Action: Review Terms and conditions

Wage Subsidy Scheme/ Welfare Scheme

Revenue may need to be contacted and payroll processes may need to be adjusted as the Wage Subsidy schemes come to an end. (Currently scheduled for the 25th June) Employers should consider now what steps will be involved, liaising closely with payroll companies and the information available on www.gov.ie and ensure that they can do so as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary delays. Laid off employees in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Benefit should be reminded to contact the revenue to advise that they are now returning to work. Those operating outside of the Wage Subsidy Scheme with employees on lay-off may take longer to get back up and running.

Action: Update Payroll and prepare letters to employees advising them of any changes in pay format and potential income tax liabilities.

Employment Permits

If an employer has any employees who are employed on a Work Permit, they will need to contact the department to confirm when the employee will be returning to work.

Whilst permits due to expire have been temporarily extended, Employers should also check to ensure that any non-EU national visas are up to date and that reminders are sent to employees who have visas which are due to expire.

Action: Review all work permits currently in place and write to relevant employees on their status.

Before you make any changes to what you have done in the past, we would recommend that you seek advice to ensure that you are not exposing your business to claims from your employees.

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie 

17th April 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE

Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme

Effective from 4th May 2020 

The Wage Subsidy Scheme came into operation on the 26th March 2020 and provided financial support to Irish Companies affected by the Covid-19 crisis who, otherwise, may be unable to pay employees their wages arising from the COVID 19 crisis, and allows employers to continue to pay employees and to re-employ employees who may have been laid off. This scheme has again been updated on the 15th April and these updates come into effect on the 4th May 2020 and run to the 26th June 2020. For April pay runs please refer top our Update of the 6th April 2020.

Employers must keep employees on the payroll throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so that employers retain their links with employees for when business picks up after the crisis and are encouraged to top up the subsidy, if they can, for the period of the scheme. A revised summary of the operation of the scheme is as follows: -

New Scheme Details 

• Post 4th May 2020 the subsidy will refund employers the amount as follows: -

o 85% of net pay to a maximum of €350 per qualifying employee, where the employee’s normal net pay was €412 p.w. or less

o 70% of net pay to a maximum of €350 per employee where the normal net pay was between €412p.w. and €500 p.w

o 70% of net pay to a maximum of €410 per employees where the normal net pay was between €501p.w. and €586 p.w

o 70% of net pay for employees with previous net pay between €586 - €960 per week subject to a maximum that is based on a tiered approach which varies the maximum depending on the amount paid by the employer and the level of any reduction in pay that has been imposed on that employee as follows:

Gross amount paid by the Employer                         Subsidy Max

Up to 60% of normal net                                                €350

Between 60%-80% of net                                              €205

• A tapering of the subsidy will apply to all cases where the gross pay paid by the employer and the subsidy exceed the previous normal net weekly pay. This will be calculated by subtracting the amount paid by the employer from the previous average net weekly pay. This is to ensure that no employee would be better off under the scheme.
• The subsidy will also now support employees where the average net pre-COVID-19 salary was greater than €76,000, (gross) and their gross post-Covid salary has since fallen below €76,000. The tiered arrangement for gross incomes in excess of €38,000 (€586) will apply in such circumstances.
• Employers are requested to top up, if possible, to no more than the normal take home (net) pay, but must pay a top up of at least € .01
• Income tax, PRSI, LPT and USC will not be applied to the subsidy at the time of payment. This will be balanced at year end.
• Employee PRSI will not apply to the subsidy or top up payments.
• Employers PRSI will not apply to the subsidy and will be reduced from 11.5% to 0.5% on the top up payment. (Class J9)
• All other conditions of the scheme continue to apply as set out below.

Who does the scheme apply to?

The Scheme is open to businesses, excluding the public service and non-commercial semi-state sector, who are being adversely impacted by the pandemic and they: -

• retain staff on payroll or re-employ laid off staff, whether they are on reduced hours and/or reduced pay.

The employer meets the conditions set out below and subject to the levels of pay given to the employees.

Scheme Qualification 

Employers must: 

• be experiencing a significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
• Applications will be self-assessed – employers must presume this will be checked at some date with potential serious consequences for any unsustainable claim
• be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, an expected minimum of a 25% decline in turnover in Q2
• be unable to meet normal wages and normal outputs fully.

Employees must:

• have been on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020, and
• for whom a payroll submission has already been made to Revenue in the period from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020.
• be employees who were laid off after 29th February and are taken back onto the payroll.
• If an employee has more than one job the employer applies 70% of what they are paying the employee.

Publication: 

The names of employers operating this scheme will be published on Revenue’s website in due course, after the scheme has expired.

Employer Registration: 

Any employer, already registered with Revenue for the Employer COVID-19 Refund Scheme, is not required to take any further action. The employer may make payroll submissions from 26 March 2020 under the subsidy scheme arrangements on the same basis as they were doing for the Employer Refund Scheme.

Employers wishing to register for the scheme can apply to Revenue by logging on to ROS myEnquiries and select the category ‘Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy’.

• Read the “Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy Self-Declaration” and press the ‘Submit’ button.
• Ensure bank account details on Revenue record are correct. These can be checked in ROS and in ‘Manage bank accounts’, ‘Manage EFT’. Enter the refund bank account that the refund is to be made to.

Operating the scheme from Thursday 26th March 2020 

Transitional Phase - The employer runs the payroll as normal, entering the following details for each relevant employee under the Scheme:

• PRSI Class set to J9.
• A non-taxable amount equal to 70% of the employee’s net take home pay subject to the €410/ €350 maximum.
• If an employer is not making any payment to the employee, they should include a pay amount of €0.01 in Gross Pay.
• If an employer is making additional wage payments they should include this amount in the Gross Pay.
• It is important that employers do not include the Temporary Wage Subsidy payment in Gross Pay.
• The additional payment, which cannot be re-grossed, are liable to income tax and USC
• Net pay must not exceed average weekly net pay

The payroll submission must include pay frequency and period number and will not be processed for refund until 4 days before the pay date.

Normal Weekly Net Pay

This is the Average Net weekly pay for January and February 2020 based on revenue returns by 15th March 2020.

• Take the employee’s “Gross pay” and from it subtract the “Income Tax Paid”, the “USC Paid” and the “Employee PRSI Paid”.
• Total this figure for each pay date in Jan and Feb 2020 and divide this by the number of insurable weeks (capped at 9) for the period.
• This gives the employee’s average pay that is to be used for the subsidy amount
• Pension and other voluntary deductions can only be made from the “top-up” payment provided funds are sufficient.

The payment of the Temporary Wage Subsidy and any additional income paid by the employer may result in the refund of Income Tax or USC already paid by the employee. Any Income Tax and USC refunds that arise as a result of the application of tax credits and rate bands can be repaid by the employer and Revenue will also refund this amount to the employer.

Employers must not operate this scheme for any employee who is making a claim for duplicate support (e.g. Pandemic Unemployment Payment) from the DEASP.

Where an employee is not covered by this scheme they may still be able to avail of the Covid 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Short-time Work Support/Job Seekers benefit.

Please note Penalties will apply to any abuse of the Subsidy Scheme by self-declaring incorrectly, not providing funds to employees or non-adherence to Revenue, and any other relevant, guidelines.

This update is for guidance only and is

provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie

Useful links for more information:-

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/guidance-on-employer-eligibility-and-supporting-proofs.pdf

6th April 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE

Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme

The Emergency Measures In The Public Interest (COVID 19) Act 2020 came into operation on the 26th March 2020. These measures provide financial support to Irish Companies and their workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis who, otherwise, may be unable to pay employees their wages due to the lack of funds arising from the COVID 19 crisis and allows employers to continue to pay employees and to re-employ employees who may have been laid off. The scheme runs for 12 weeks from 26 March 2020.

Employers must keep employees on the payroll throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so that employers retain their links with employees for when business picks up after the crisis.

Employers are encouraged to maintain a significant, or 100%, net income, for the period of the scheme. A summary of the operation of the scheme is as follows: -

Scheme Details

• Employers will not apply the €350 payment under the COVID-19 Unemployment Payment Refund Scheme anymore.
• The subsidy will refund employers up to a maximum of:- o €410 per qualifying employee, where the employees normal net pay is €586 p.w. or less
• €350 per employee where the normal net pay is between €587p.w. and €960 p.w
• The scheme will not apply if net pay is in excess of €960 p.w.
• The reimbursement will, in general, be made within two working days after receipt of the payroll submission.

• Employers are requested to top up, if possible, to no more than the normal take home (net) pay, but must pay a top up of at least € .01.
• From no later than the 20th April, the subsidy payment will be based on 70% of the weekly average take home pay for each employee up to the relevant maximum.
• Income tax, PRSI, LPT and USC will not be applied to the subsidy at the time of payment. This will be balanced at year end.
• Employee PRSI will not apply to the subsidy or top up payments.
• Employers PRSI will not apply to the subsidy and will be reduced from 11.5% to 0.5% on the top up payment. (Class J9)

Who does the scheme apply to?

The Scheme is open to businesses, excluding the public service and non-commercial semi-state sector, who are being adversely impacted by the pandemic and they:-

• retain staff on payroll or re-employ laid off staff, whether they are on reduced hours and/or reduced pay.
• The employer meets the conditions set out below and subject to the levels of pay given to the employees.

Scheme Qualification

Employers must:

• be experiencing a significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
• Applications will be self-assessed – employers must presume this will be checked at some date with potential serious consequences for any unsustainable claim
• be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, an expected minimum of a 25% decline in turnover in Q2
• be unable to meet normal wages and normal outputs fully.

Employees must:

• have been on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020, and
• for whom a payroll submission has already been made to Revenue in the period from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020.
• be employees who were laid off after 29th February and are taken back onto the payroll.
• If an employee has more than one job the employer applies 70% of what they are paying the employee.

Publication: 

The names of employers operating this scheme will be published on Revenue’s website in due course, after the scheme has expired.

Employer Registration: 

Any employer, already registered with Revenue for the Employer COVID-19 Refund Scheme, is not required to take any further action. The employer may make payroll submissions from 26 March 2020 under the subsidy scheme arrangements on the same basis as they were doing for the Employer Refund Scheme.

Employers, or their agents, wishing to register for the scheme can apply to Revenue by carrying out the following steps:

• Log on to ROS myEnquiries and select the category ‘Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy’.
• Read the “Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy Self-Declaration” and press the ‘Submit’ button.
• Ensure bank account details on Revenue record are correct. These can be checked in ROS and in ‘Manage bank accounts’, ‘Manage EFT’. Enter the refund bank account that the refund is to be made to.

Operating the scheme from Thursday 26th March 2020

Transitional Phase - The employer runs the payroll as normal, entering the following details for each relevant employee under the Scheme:

• PRSI Class set to J9.
• A non-taxable amount equal to 70% of the employee’s net take home pay subject to the €410/ €350 maximum.
• If an employer is not making any payment to the employee, they should include a pay amount of €0.01 in Gross Pay.
• If an employer is making additional wage payments they should include this amount in the Gross Pay.

• It is important that employers do not include the Temporary Wage Subsidy payment in Gross Pay.
• The additional payment, which cannot be re-grossed, are liable to income tax and USC
• Net pay must not exceed previous normal net pay
• The payroll submission must include pay frequency and period number.

Normal Weekly Net Pay

This is the Average Net weekly pay for January and February 2020 based on revenue returns by 15th March 2020.

• Take the employee’s “Gross pay” and from it subtract the “Income Tax Paid”, the “USC Paid” and the “Employee PRSI Paid”.
• Total this figure for each pay date in Jan and Feb 2020 and divide this by the number of insurable weeks (capped at 9) for the period.
• This gives the employee’s average pay that is to be used for the subsidy amount
• Pension and other voluntary deductions can only be made from the “top-up” payment provided funds are sufficient.

The payment of the Temporary Wage Subsidy and any additional income paid by the employer may result in the refund of Income Tax or USC already paid by the employee. Any Income Tax and USC refunds that arise as a result of the application of tax credits and rate bands can be repaid by the employer and Revenue will also refund this amount to the employer.

Employers must not operate this scheme for any employee who is making a claim for duplicate support (e.g. Pandemic Unemployment Payment) from the DEASP.

Where an employee is not covered by this scheme they may still be able to avail of the Covid 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Short-time Work Support/Job Seekers benefit.

Please note Penalties will apply to any abuse of the Subsidy Scheme by self-declaring incorrectly, not providing funds to employees or non-adherence to Revenue, and any other relevant, guidelines.

This update is for guidance only and is

provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie

Useful links for more information:-

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/guidance-on-employer-eligibility-and-supporting-proofs.pdf

27th March 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE

 Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme

The Dail approved the Emergency Measures In The Public Interest (COVID 19) Bill 2020 on the 26th March, which is the effective date of the new Wage Subsidy Scheme. These measures are to provide financial support to Irish Companies and workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis to businesses who otherwise are unable to pay employees their wages due to the lack of funds arising from the COVID 19 crisis.

The scheme will support employers who are affected by the pandemic by providing financial support to allow employees to continue to be paid as employees and to re-employ employees who may have been laid off. The scheme will run for 12 weeks from 26 March 2020.

Employers must keep employees on the payroll throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so that employers retain their links with employees for when business picks up after the crisis.

Employers are encouraged to make their best efforts to maintain a significant, or 100%, net income, for the period of the scheme. A summary of the operation of the scheme is as follows: -

Scheme Details

· Employers will not apply the €350 payment under the COVID-19 Unemployment Payment Refund Scheme anymore.

· The subsidy will refund employers up to a maximum of :-

o €410 per qualifying employee, where the employees normal net pay is €586 p.w. or less

o €350 per employee where the normal net pay is between €586 p.w. and €960 p.w

· The scheme will not apply if net pay is in excess of €960 p.w.

· The reimbursement will, in general, be made within two working days after receipt of the payroll submission.

· Employers are requested to top up, if possible, to no more than the normal take home (net) pay, but must pay a top up of at least € .01

· From no later than the 20th April, the subsidy payment will be based on 70% of the weekly average take home pay for each employee up to the relevant maximum.

· Income tax, PRSI, LPT and USC will not be applied to the subsidy payment. (This will be balanced at year end.)

· Employee PRSI will not apply to the subsidy or top up payments.

· Employers PRSI will not apply to the subsidy and will be reduced from 11.5% to 0.5% on the top up payment. (Class J9)

Who does the scheme apply to?

The Scheme is open to businesses, excluding the public service and non-commercial semi-state sector, who are being adversely impacted by the pandemic and they:-

· retain staff on payroll or re-employ laid off staff, whether they are on reduced hours and/or reduced pay.

· The employer meets the conditions set out below and subject to the levels of pay given to the employees.

Scheme Qualification

Employers must:

· be experiencing a significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19

· Applications will be self-assessed – employers must presume this will be checked at some date with potential serious consequences for any unsustainable claim

· be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, an expected minimum of a 25% decline in turnover in Q2

· be unable to meet normal wages and normal outputs fully.

Employees must:

· have been on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020, and

· for whom a payroll submission has already been made to Revenue in the period from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020.

· be employees who were laid off after 29th February and are taken back onto the payroll.

Publication 

The names of employers operating this scheme will be published on Revenue’s website in due course, after the scheme has expired.

Employer Registration

Any employer, already registered with Revenue for the Employer COVID-19 Refund Scheme, is not required to take any further action. The employer may make payroll submissions from 26 March 2020 under the subsidy scheme arrangements on the same basis as they were doing for the Employer Refund Scheme.

Employers, or their agents, wishing to register for the scheme can apply to Revenue by carrying out the following steps:

· Log on to ROS myEnquiries and select the category ‘Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy’.

· Read the “Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy Self-Declaration” and press the ‘Submit’ button.

· Ensure bank account details on Revenue record are correct. These can be checked in ROS and in ‘Manage bank accounts’, ‘Manage EFT’. Enter the refund bank account that the refund is to be made to.

Operating the scheme from Thursday 26th March 2020

Transitional Phase - The employer runs the payroll as normal, entering the following details for each relevant employee under the Scheme:

· PRSI Class set to J9.

· A non-taxable amount equal to 70% of the employee’s net take home pay subject to the €410/ €350 maximum.

· If an employer is not making any payment to the employee, they should include a pay amount of €0.01 in Gross Pay.

· If an employer is making additional wage payments they should include this amount in the Gross Pay.

· It is important that employers do not include the Temporary Wage Subsidy payment in Gross Pay.

· Net pay must not exceed previous normal pay

· The payroll submission must include pay frequency and period number.

Normal Weekly Net Pay

This is the Average Net weekly pay for January and February 2020 based on revenue returns by 15th March 2020.

· Take the employee’s “Gross pay” and from it subtract the “Income Tax Paid”, the “USC Paid” and the “Employee PRSI Paid”.

· Total this figure for each pay date in Jan and Feb 2020 and divide this by the number of insurable weeks (capped at 9) for the period.

· This gives the employee’s average pay that is to be used for the subsidy amount

Income tax, USC, LPT, if applicable, and PRSI are not deducted from the Temporary Wage Subsidy.

The payment of the Temporary Wage Subsidy and any additional income paid by the employer may result in the refund of Income Tax or USC already paid by the employee. Any Income Tax and USC refunds that arise as a result of the application of tax credits and rate bands can be repaid by the employer and Revenue will also refund this amount to the employer.

Employers must not operate this scheme for any employee who is making a claim for duplicate support (e.g. Pandemic Unemployment Payment) from the DEASP.

Where an employee is not covered by this scheme, they may still be able to avail of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Short-time Work Support/Job Seekers Benefit.

Please note Penalties will apply to any abuse of the Subsidy Scheme by self-declaring incorrectly, not providing funds to employees or non-adherence to Revenue, and any other relevant, guidelines.

This update is for guidance only and is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie 

Useful links for more information:-

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/documents/guidance-on-employer-eligibility-and-supporting-proofs.pdf

27th March 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE 

Emergency Measures in The Public Interest (COVID 19) Bill 2020

Compulsory Redundancy arising from Lay-Off/ Short Time Working 

The Dail approved the Emergency Measures in The Public Interest (COVID 19) Bill 2020 on the 26th March, which introduced, amongst other emergency pieces of legislation, the new Wage Subsidy Scheme. These measures were to provide support to Irish Companies and workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Redundancy 

This Act also temporarily removes a persons’ right to request to be declared redundant where they have been laid-off/ put on short-time for four or more consecutive weeks or, within a period of thirteen weeks, for a series of six or more weeks of which not more than three were consecutive.

The changes mean this right, which is contained in Section 12. Redundancy Payments Act 1967, will not have effect during the emergency period (3 months from 26 March 2020) in respect of an employee who has been laid-off or kept on short-time due to the effects of measures required to be taken by his or her employer in order to comply with, or as a consequence of, Government policy to prevent, limit, minimise or slow the spread of infection of Covid-19.

It should be noted that the rules concerning fair selection for lay-off, redundancy or short time working remain unchanged and an employer should ensure it is exercised correctly to avoid any claims.

This update is for guidance only and is provided by the MSS HR Support Service.

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie          Website: www.mssirl.ie

Penalties will apply to any abuse of the Subsidy Scheme by self-declaring incorrectly, not providing funds to employees or non-adherence to Revenue, and any other relevant, guidelines.

We will endeavour to provide you with any additional, updated information, as it becomes available.

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie Website: www.mssirl.ie

March 2020

EMPLOYER UPDATE: COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

With the international pandemic spread of the coronavirus, Covid-19, and the recent unprecedented restrictions imposed by the Government of Ireland, businesses are experiencing a high degree of economic uncertainty.

For this reason, we have put together a list of the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ which are at the forefront of employers minds in the present climate. This will hopefully help employers when considering the best approach for their businesses and employees.

We have also put together the below protocol/letters, which will hopefully help guide you through this period of uncertainty;

• COVID- 19 Protocol for Employees
• SAMPLE Protective Notice Letter
• SAMPLE Notice of Lay-Off/Short-Time Working Letter

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at tel: 01 8870690

Email: info@mssirl.ie 

Website: www.mssirl.ie

Who is an Experienced Adult Worker?

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service.

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:
John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at tel: 01 8870690 

Email: info@mssirl.ie 
Website: www.mssirl.ie

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:
John Barry/Tara Daly/ Hugh Hegarty at tel: 01 8870690 

Email: info@mssirl.ie 
Website: www.mssirl.ie

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service.

Further details on the update or about our services may be obtained from:

John Barry/Tara Daly/Hugh Hegarty at Tel: 01 8870690 

Email: info@mssirl.ie 

Website: www.mssirl.ie

- Heather Humphreys

The spouses and partners of highly-skilled workers coming to Ireland from outside the EEA will now have immediate and full access to the Irish labour market without the need for an employment permit.

The new "streamlined" process was jointly announced today by Business Minister Heather Humphreys and Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.

It affects the partners and spouses of those holding Critical Skills Employment Permits, which are designed to attract highly-skilled workers to fill high-demand vacancies where skills are not readily available in the Irish/EEA labour market, particularly in the IT sector.

One of the primary benefits of the Critical Skills Employment Permit is the option for the permit holder to apply for immediate family reunification, as well as the option for the dependent, spouse or partner to apply for a specific employment permit should they choose to work and if they find a job.

However, Ms Humphreys said the existing process was "administratively cumbersome and, in many cases, has acted as a barrier to these people securing work here", prompting inter-Departmental work to simplify it.

Mr Flanagan added: "While this scheme is primarily driven by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, it is also a prime example of proactive and positive engagement between two departments.

"Because of this work, the non-EEA spouses and partners of critical skills employment permit holders will no longer need an employment permit from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to work in Ireland.

"On arrival in the State, eligible spouses and de facto partners will be granted an immigration permission with automatic right to work. This will enable critical skills permit holders and their families to quickly become established and assist in their integration in society."

For further details on this Update or about all our services please contact 

 Tel: 01 8870690  -  Email:  info@mssirl.ie

A full list of our Employer Updates can be downloaded from our website.

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act comes into force on the 1^st March 2019. The Acts main provisions make significant amendments to both the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 by introducing minimum working hours, introducing employees having regularly worked hours incorporated into minimum working hours and requiring Employers to issue a mini-statement of terms within 5 days of someone commencing work. 

Mini-statement of Terms:

An employer must, within 5 days of starting employment, give a new employee a statement of “core terms” in writing setting out the following:

1.  the names of the employer and employee
2. the address of the employer
3. in the case of a temporary contract, the expected duration of the contract and in the case of Fixed Terms work the date the contract expires
4. the rate or method of calculation of the employee pay and the pay reference period
5. the number of hours the employer reasonably expects the employee to work

This statement does not replace the need to issue a full statement of terms of employment within the first 2 months of employment. However, if the full statement is issued within the 5 day period there is no need to issue the mini-statement.

It will be an offence carrying a potential fine of up to €5,000/12 months imprisonment for an employer who fails to provide the core terms within one month or who deliberately misrepresents the required information given to the employee. The employer is allowed the defence that they exercised due diligence and took reasonable precautions to ensure compliance with the Act.

Zero Hour Contracts:

The Act amends the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act in relation to requiring that there must be a minimum number of hours on any contract unless it is work of a casual nature, an emergency or short-term relief.

Working Hours:

The Act creates Banded hours, with 8 bands ranging as follows:-

A    3 – 6 hrs           E   21 - 26 hrs

B    6  - 11 hrs         F  26  - 31 hrs

C    11- 16 hrs         G  31  - 36 hrs

D    16 - 21 hrs        H  36 hrs and over

Employees will have recourse to request the band which reflects the average number of hours worked per week over a 12-month period, with recourse to the Workplace Relations if not applied on request.

The employer has 4 weeks in which to comply with a valid request. Any employee placed on a new band is entitled to work that for at least the following 12 months.

Am employer may refuse to comply with such a request where there is no evidence to support the claim, there were exceptional circumstances applying, there is a significant change in business circumstances or the hours worked were due to a temporary situation only and that has ceased.

The legislation will still allow employees/ers to operate on an “mutually available” basis whereby if an employee is not required to be available and they may refuse the work, then the provisions relating to minimum payments if work is not provided will not apply.

Reduction of Hours:

There is no statutory provision included to reduce the hours so an employer can only avail of their existing rights to reduce hours, such as short-time working /lay off, if provided for in the T&Cs and these usually apply to short term arrangements only.

Penalisation:

An Employer who is found to have penalised an employee because they invoked a right under the Act will face a potential award of up to 2 years remuneration. Examples of penalisation would be changing their duties, suspension, lay off or dismissal demotion.

Disputes:

An employee may refer a dispute to adjudication in the Workplace Relations Commission, which may be appealed to the Labour Court.

We would recommend that you review your current terms and conditions documents and update them to reflect the changes in the law.

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service 

For further details on this Update or about all our services please contact 

 Tel: 01 8870690  -  Email:  info@mssirl.ie

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service 

For further details on this Update or about all our services please contact 

 Tel: 01 8870690  -  Email:  info@mssirl.ie

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service

For further details on this Update or about all our services please contact

Tel: 01 8870690-Email:info@mssirl.ie

Force Majeure Leave: Employees may take limited leave, WITH PAY, in the case of an injury to or an illness of a family member or a person in a relationship of domestic dependency, including same sex partners, and the presence of the Employee must be required where such a person is. Maximum leave is 3 days in 12 months / 5 days in 36 consecutive months. Employees availing of this leave should be requested to complete a form stating the reasons, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the leave has been taken.

Return to Work: Employees are entitled to return to the same or suitable alternative work on terms and conditions no less favorable than before. However, the Amended Legislation now places an obligation on employers to consider employee requests for changes to their working hours and/or patterns for a set period on return from Parental Leave

Employers must consider the needs of both the business and the employee when considering such requests.

Where the request is not granted, the employer must respond in writing to the employee as soon as possible, but no later than within 4 weeks after receipt to the request, advising that the request has been refused.

Where such changes are agreed, the employer must draft an Agreement setting out the following;

• The changes to the employee’s working hours and/ or pattern.
• The commencement and duration of the agreed set period.

The agreement should then be signed by both the employee and the employer and a copy should be retained by both.

Before signing an agreement, an employee may decide in writing to revoke a request for such changes.

Disputes: Where there is a dispute in relation to Parental Leave the matter may be referred to a Rights Commissioner whose decision may be appealed to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, and on to the High Court on a point of law.

This legislation came into effect on 14th July 2003 and is intended to ensure that workers on fixed term contracts will not be treated less favourably than a comparable permanent worker.

Who is covered?

Any person on a fixed term contract (VETCH) but does not include an agency person working with a client, apprentices, trainee Guard or nursing or members of the Defense Forces.

What is a Fixed Term Contract Employee?

Any person under a contract to an employer where the end of the contract is determined by an objective condition - that is -

• Expiry of a specified period between a specified date
• Expiry of a specified purpose
• The achievement of a specific event

To what does it Apply?

Contract employees are entitled to be treated no less favourably than a comparable permanent worker in relation to all terms and conditions of employment.  Except, in the case of a contract worker working less than 20% of the time of a comparable permanent worker, in relation to pensions.

What is a comparable permanent Worker?

A permanent employee not on a fixed contract is a comparable worker if -

1. Employed by the same associated employer (subject to 1,2,3 below)
2. Is an employee specified in a collective agreement which applies to the contract employee
3. Employed in the same industry or sector (subject to 1,2,3 below)

In the case of a) and c) above one of the conditions must apply.

1. Both employees perform the same work under similar conditions or are interchangeable.
2. Work is of the same or similar nature with any differences being insignificant
3. Work is equal to or greater to a comparable permanent employee.

When can a Contract Employee be treated less favourably?

Employers may treat contract employees less favourably where they can prove objective grounds for such.  An objective ground would be where the different treatment can be justified in that the difference in treatment does not relate to the status of the employee and is for the purpose of achieving a legitimate objective and is necessary to achieve that objective.

Pension - Please note as stated above where the contract employee worked 20% of the comparable employees time, this would be an objective reason for not applying pensions.

Entitlements based on hours worked

Where benefit is base don hours worked then a contract employee would be entitled to these benefits on a pro rata basis where they work lesser hours.

Can we renew Fixed Term Contracts?

Employers may renew fixed term contracts subject to below.
The employer must do so in writing no later than the date of renewal and must state the objective grounds for renewing the contract and the reason why no indefinite duration contract was offered.

FTC's commencing after 14th July 2003
Where a contract employee has been employed on two or more continuous fixed term contracts then the average duration may not exceed four years except where an objective ground is presented.

FTC's commencing before 14th July 2003
Where fixed term contract has been in existence for up to three years occurring before or after the date, the contract may be renewed for maximum of one year with the average duration not exceeding four years.

Employer Obligations

Employers must notify contract employees of permanent vacancies arising and also of training opportunities insofar as it is practical for contract employees to participate in them.

Employers should, insofar as is practicable, advise employee representatives as to fixed  term contract workers in the undertaking.

Disputes

When an employee has a dispute with an employer regarding their entitlement on this legislation they may refer the matter to the Rights Commissioner.  The Rights Commissioner may;

1. Declare the complaint was or was not well founded
2. Require the employer to comply with the act
3. Require the employer to reinstate or reengage the employee, (including on a contract of indefinite duration)
4. Order compensation not exceeding two years remuneration.

Appeals of a Rights Commissioner must be made within six weeks of communication to the Labour Court.  Where the decision has not been implemented the employee may refer it to the Labour Court within six weeks of communication.  In such cases the employer is precluded from attending the hearing or producing any new evidence to the Labour Court.

Appeals of the Labour Court are to the High Court whose decision shall be final and conclusive.

From the 1st August the Workplace Relations Act 2015 introduced an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and has amended Sections; 19, 20, 23; which set down the annual leave entitlements for employees. This amendment has the potential to impact both employers and employees significantly.

Accrual of Annual Leave during Sick Leave

The amendments to Section 19, 20, 23 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 have introduced a legal requirement for the accrual of annual leave entitlements for employees during periods of certified sick leave.

Employees are now entitled to accrue annual leave whilst out sick and to carry over the leave accrued beyond the 6 months of the subsequent leave year, (as was previously prescribed in the Act) up to 15 months.

This means that the annual leave may be taken by an employee, absent due to certified sickness, up to 15 months after the expiry of the leave year in which the annual leave was accrued.

It is notable that this entitlement to accrue annual leave during periods of certified illness applies only to statutory annual leave and not to any leave governed by contractual arrangements.

Employers will now need to take the following steps:-

• incorporate this change into their normal practice,
• ensure that any contracts, practices and policies reflect these additional entitlements.
• ensure that medical certificates are received for all relevant leave periods according to Company T&Cs
• accrue the cost of the leave earned in accounts going forward
• Include holiday pay where a long term sick person’s employment ends with the company

Employees are not entitled to pay when they are on sick leave, thus an employer should not agree to do so if requested.

Once the 15 month period has expired an employee is no longer entitled to be paid holiday pay due for that period.

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are coming into force on the 25^th May 2018. As a regulation, the GDPR will have a direct effect on the Irish law system, including the Data Protection Acts 1988 & 2003 and the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.

Purpose

The GDPR focus is on standardising the European citizen’s right to data privacy, as well as emphasising transparency, security and accountability by data controllers.

Key Changes

Fines: The GDPR is providing data protection authorities with administrative fines which can turn out to be devastating for organisations. It allows fining for non-compliance of up to €20mln or 4% of total annual global turnover (whichever is greater) for the most serious breaches.

Data Request:

The new regulation will make it easier for individuals to request copies of data relating to them.

At the moment employees are liable to pay a fee of €6.35 and wait for up to 40 days, for the copies of the data to be supplied to them.

However under the GDPR, this request is now free of charge and an employer now has only 30 days to process the request.

An employer is now also required to provide an employee with additional information such as information on how long data is being stored and the right to have inaccurate data concerning them corrected.

Data Breaches:

Mandatory reporting of data breaches has also been introduced.

At the moment only some organisations are obliged to do this.  Once the GDPR comes into force, all organisations will be obliged to report any data breaches to the Data Protection Commissioner within 72 hours.

Breaches that are required to be reported are those that are likely to bring harm to an individual. In addition any concerned individual needs to be informed about the breach also.

A failure to report it could result in a fine, as well as a fine for the breach itself.

Data Protection Officers:

Some companies will be required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Such organisations include:

• Public authorities
• Organisations whose activities involve regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale
• Organisations who process what is known as a sensitive personal data on a large scale.

Recommendations

If your organisation is compliant under the existing law, your approach will be valid under GDPR.

The following are the main principles of Data Protection.We recommend that you make sure that your organisation is compliant with these, as this will vastly help you in the case of any inspection under GDPR:

• Advise all employees that you are collecting data about them, why you do this, who  your Data Controller is and who may have access to it.
• Obtain and process information fairly
• Keep it only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes
• Use and disclose it only in ways compatible with these purposes
• Keep it safe and secure
• Keep it accurate, complete and up-to-date
• Ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Retain it for no longer than is necessary for the purpose or purpose
• Give a copy of his/her personal data to that individual on request

The GDPR introduces a number of significant changes that every employer must be aware of and be sure to comply with, in order to avoid significant penalties.. We recommend that Employers;

• Review their existing Data Protection policies to ensure that they reflect the new changes.
• Ensure to report any breach that is likely to bring harm to an individual, as well as informing the concerned individuals.
• Consider whether their company are obliged to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

Finally, here are a few questions to bring you one step closer to being compliant:

• What data do you hold?
• Why are you holding it?
• How long will you retain it?
• Is it safe?

This update is provided by the MSS HR Support Service. For further details on the General Data Protection Regulations or on other HR services please email hr@mssirl.ie.

In a recent case, a book-keeper was awarded €12,000 from her former employer, a small retail company, for age discrimination, having forced her to retire at 66, despite there being no issues with her competence. Having worked for the Company for 12 years, the employee was forced by the company to retire at 66.

The Employee expressed a desire to remain in employment with the company and in response to this she was offered a fixed-term contract immediately following her retirement, an offer which she refused.

There was never a contract of employment/statement of terms issued to or signed by the employee, therefore it could not be argued that she had consented to the mandatory retirement age. Apparently the Company had previously tried to introduce them but the employer failed to do so when met with resistance from the employees.

The company’s contention was that the retirement age was necessary for the management of its business and also argued that there was an implied term and an oral contract with the employee that she would retire at 65 and that the setup of the Pension scheme in 2004 “clearly foresaw” a retirement age at 65.

On hearing the case, the Adjudication officer was satisfied that the claimant had established a Prima Facie case of Age Discrimination and the employer had failed to provide any objective justification for enforcing a retirement age.

The Adjudicator found that the employer’s explanation for justifying a retirement age was a “somewhat vague, anachronistic and unlawful view that it had the right to terminate employment at sixty five because it was traditional to do so. It (the company) seems have held this view honestly, in that it held the complainant in high regard as an employee and there was no element of any reflection on her conduct or competence.”

This case serves as an important reminder that employer’s must be able to demonstrate that they can objectively justify that the use of a retirement age achieves a legitimate aim for the Company or they face the threat of being found guilty of Age Discrimination. It also highlights that whilst having a retirement age in a contract or a Pension scheme does not automatically serve as a defence for Employers. 

For further details on the Retirement Age or on other HR services please email hr@mssirl.ie.