IRELAND

Information and Consultation Law adopted in Ireland

—By Siobhra Rush, Matheson Ormsby Prentice Solicitors ( siobhra.rush@mop.ie)

Ireland has approved an employee information and consultation law under a 2002 EU Directive requiring members to adopt such laws. The Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006 (the “Act”), implementing Council Directive 2002/14/EC, was brought into operation 24 July 2006, and is available at http://www.oireachtas.ie/. The Act is being introduced in phases, depending on the size of the undertaking. It will apply to undertakings with 150 or more employees beginning September 4, 2006.

The Act gives employees the right to require their employer to implement an agreement for an information and consultation procedure, at the written request of 10 percent or (currently) 100 of the employees in the undertaking, whichever is the lesser. Alternatively, an employer can take the initiative and put in place its own arrangements on or before the date upon which the Act becomes applicable to it.

Any arrangement established before the applicable date must be agreed to by the employees and must have been in force for six months prior to the date on which it becomes applicable to an employer, to comply with the Act. For employers to whom the Act is applicable in September 2006, it is probable that an arrangement entered into less than six months before that date, but which is not challenged by employees for a six-month period, would be classified as a pre-existing arrangement. In the absence of a pre-existing agreement, the employer must enter into negotiations with employees to establish the arrangement for the information and consultation procedure and the establishment of an Information and Consultation Forum. If such an agreement cannot be reached within six months, standard rules contained in the Act will apply.

The types of information that employers will be obliged to provide and consult on with staff representatives are: business information, employment information, and information on proposed changes in work organization or contractual relations. There are specific provisions in the Act governing confidential information, and providing for the protection of such information where the employer is obligated to provide it.

Penalties for breaches of the Act include a fine of up to €30,000 and/or three years imprisonment.