The Employment Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2018 was signed in to law on Christmas Day 2018 and is due to come into effect on 1 March 2019. The Act is designed to improve the security and predictability of working hours for employees on precarious contracts. The Act does not deal solely with issues pertaining to zero hours contracts. There are a number of main provisions in the act and we have detailed these below:

1. Terms and Conditions of Employment

You must give an employee their basic terms of employment within five days of commencing work.

This must include:

1. the full registered name and address of the employer – not just the trading name
2. the full name and address of the employee
3. if a temporary contract of employment: the start and finish date
4. the rate of method of calculation of the employee’s wages
5. the pay reference period
6. The number of hours you reasonably expect the employee to work per normal working day and per normal working week.

2. Zero Hour Contracts

The Act will prohibit the use of zero hour contracts except in situations of genuine casual employment. Casual contracts will be permitted in industries where employers need to provide cover in emergency situations or to cover short-term absence.

3. Continuity of employment

Casual employees employed on a regular and systematic basis will be entitled to periods of deemed continuous service between periods of employment. Employees employed on fixed-term contracts will, if re-engaged by the employer, be deemed to have been on lay-off and will accumulate continuous service entitling them to greater protections under employment legislation.

4. Sent Home From Work Payment

There is a new minimum payment for employees called in to work but sent home again without work.

In the case that the employee was required to work less than their contracted hours or the hours they are required to be available to work, as and when the employer requires them to do so and those hours are less than 15 hours the employee is entitled to have their pay for that week calculated on the basis that they were required to work those hours. The minimum payment is to be calculated at 3 times the national minimum wage or 3 times the minimum hourly rate of remuneration established by an employment regulation order, for the time being in force, on each occasion that this occurs.

5. Banded Hours

The Act is to bring in a band of hours to be used in contract of employment. These are as follows:

6. Request for a Review of the Current Banded Hours

The Act will give this new right to employees. If an employee’s contract of employment does not reflect the reality of the hours they regularly work employees will now be entitled to be placed in a band of hours that better reflects the hours they have worked over the previous 12 month reference period.

7. Minimum Wage – Less Experienced Employees

The Act will give an amendment to The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 for inexperienced employees as follows:

• Younger than 18 – 70% of minimum wage – €6.86
• Age 18 – 80% of minimum wage –  €7.84
• Age 19 – 90% of minimum wage –  €8.82