COLLECTIVE REDUNDANCIES (PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS

COLLECTIVE REDUNDANCIES

(PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.80

COLLECTIVE REDUNDANCIES (PROTECTION OF

EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS

1st January, 2003

LEGAL NOTICE 428 of 2002, as amended by Legal Notices 427 and 442

of 2004 and 281 of 2017.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Collective

Redundancies (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

(2) The scope of these regulations is to give effect to the

relevant provisions of EU Council Directive 98/59/EC.

(1)

For purposes of these regulations -

"Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"collective redundancy" means the termination of the

employment by an employer on grounds of redundancy, over a

period of thirty days, of

(a) ten or more employees in establishments normally

employing more than twenty employees but less than

one hundred employees;

(b) 10% or more of the number of employees in

establishments employing one hundred or more but

less than three hundred employees; and

(c) thirty employees or more in establishments employing

three hundred employees or more

Provided that for the purposes of calculating the number of

redundancies, termination of an employment contract which occurs

on the employer ’s initiative for one or more reasons which are

beyond the control of the individual employees, shall be

assimilated to redundancies, provided that there are at least five

redundancies;

"contract of service for a fixed term" has the same meaning

assigned to it by virtue of the Contract of Service for a Fixed Term

Regulations.

"Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen" shall have the same

meaning as is assigned to it in the Merchant Shipping Act;

(2) Subject to the provisions of subregulation (1), terms and

expressions used in these regulations shall, unless the context

otherwise requires, have the meaning assigned to them in the Act.

Article 37 of the Act and these regulations shall not apply to

terminations of employment effected under contracts of employment

concluded for limited periods of time or for specific tasks, except

where such terminations take place prior to the date of expiry or the

completion of such tasks and the reason for such prior termination is

the redundancy of the employees so terminated.

COLLECTIVE REDUNDANCIES

(PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT)

In all cases of collective redundancies, the employer

proposing to declare the redundancies, shall not terminate the

employment of such employees before he has notified in writing

the employees’ representatives, of the termination of employment

contemplated by him and has provided the said representatives with

an opportunity to consult with the employer as specified in

regulations 5 and 6.

The consultations between the employer and the

employees’ representative shall begin within seven working days

from the day on which the employees’ representatives have been

notified of the intended collective redundancies and such

consultations shall cover ways and means of avoiding the collective

redundancies or reducing the number of employees affected by

such redundancies and for mitigating the consequences thereof.

Within the period of seven days mentioned in the preceding

regulation, the employer shall be bound to supply the employees’

representatives with a statement in writing giving all relevant

information and shall in any event give such employees’

representatives the reasons for the redundancies, the number of

employees he intends to make redundant, the number of employees

normally employed by him, the criteria proposed for the selection

of the employees to be made redundant, details regarding any

redundancy payments which are due and the period over which

redundancies are to be effected.

The obligations laid down in regulations 4, 5 and 6 shall

apply irrespective of whether the decision regarding collective

redundancies is taken by the employer or the undertaking

controlling the employer

Provided that in the event of the alleged breaches of the

information, consultation and notification of requirements of these

regulations, account shall not be taken of any defence on the part of

the employer that the necessary information had not been provided

to the employer by the undertaking which took the decision leading

to the collective redundancies.

(1) The employer shall also forward to the Director

responsible for Employment and Industrial Relations, a copy of the

written notification mentioned in regulation 4 and a copy of the

written statement mentioned in regulation 6 on the same day that

these are notified to the employees’ representatives.

(2) Where the projected collective redundancy concerns

members of the crew of a seagoing ship, the employer shall notify

the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen.

(1) Saving the right of employees regarding notice of

dismissal, any projected collective redundancies notified to the

Director responsible for Employment and Industrial Relations in

accordance with regulation 8 shall only take effect on the lapse of

thirty days after the said notification

Provided that the Director responsible for Employment and

Industrial Relations may, in exceptional circumstances, grant the

employer a shorter period of notification

COLLECTIVE REDUNDANCIES

(PROTECTION OF EMPLOYMENT)

Provided further that the Director responsible for

Employment and Industrial Relations may also extend the said

period by a second period of thirty days if it appears to him that

such extension may provide further opportunity for the resolution

of the reasons for the redundancies or for the identification of

solutions to the benefit of those employees who are being declared

redundant.

(2) In the event that the Director responsible for Employment

and Industrial Relations decides to extend the time limit of thirty

days as provided in the second proviso of subregulation (1), the

employer shall be informed of such extension by notice in writing

which is to reach him prior to the lapse of the initial period.

(3) Subject to subregulations (1) and (2), the notice of

termination of employment may begin to run from the date when

the consultations referred to in regulation 5 commence.

Regulation 7 and regulation 8 shall not apply in those cases

where the collective redundancy is the result of a judicial decision.

Any person contravening the provisions of these

regulations shall he guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be

liable to a fine (multa) of not less than one thousand and one

hundred and sixty-four euro and sixty-nine cents (1,164.69) for

every employee that is declared redundant.