Registered employments agreements question?

Stheno

Hi I've a quick question in relation to the above, I was reading this agreement earlier and it states:

Drapery, Footwear & Allied Trades (Dublin & Dun Laoghaire)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Irish Supreme Court on 9th May 2013 declared that "the provisions of Part III of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 are invalid having regard to the provisions of Article 15.2.1 of the Constitution of Ireland". The judgment has the effect of striking down Registered Employment Agreements put in place under the 1946 Industrial Relations Act.

It should be noted, however, that existing contractual rights of workers in sectors covered by Registered Employment Agreement are unaffected by this ruling. Contractual rights can be altered only by agreement between the parties involved.

Have I understood the above correctly in that the agreement no longer applies to employees since the Court struck it down but employees who were in place prior to that date still have the entitlements?

TIA

Victor

I understand there was new primary legislation that deals with the matter. I don't know how the affects legislation pre-existing agreements.

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Based on what you quote, if an employee had an employment contract with terms lower than the agreement, then the agreement might not apply to them at all.

GM228

REAs became invalid from May 2013 (two years after the making of Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) were also declared unconstitutional by the High Court) meaning that any new employee joining after that date did not have to be offered the terms and conditions of the REA, however despite them becoming invalid existing workers still had to enjoy the benefits of REAs as a mattet of contract.

For anyone interested the SC case was McGowan & Ors vs Labour Court Ireland & Anor [2013] IESC 2 dealing with the REAs:-

http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/09859e7a3f34669680256ef3004a27de/9e87bb45cbae603380257b660046de2e?OpenDocument

And the HC case was John Grace Fried Chicken Limited and Others v Catering JLC and Others [2011] IEHC 277 dealing with the EROs:-

http://www.bailii.org/ie/cases/IEHC/2011/H277.html


The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 was enacted to deal with the issues of EROs (as a result of the HC case) and also REAs but as it was before the SC case was decided so the amendments of the 1946 Act would still be null and void in relation to REAs. And so the Industrial Relations (Amendmeng) Act 2015 finally dealth with REAs and the SC case.