Who lobbied whom about what between September and December 2015?
Well.
The Irish Hotels Federation lobbied Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton, Tourism Minister Paschal Donohoe and assistant secretary at the Department of Communications Kenneth Spratt – asking them not to implement the recommendations in a Government-commissioned report into zero hour and low hour contracts in Ireland.
The study, carried out by the University of Limerick and published in November, recommended:
– Employees should receive a written contract on the first day of their new job. Currently an employer has two months to issue a contract.
– That contract should provide a statement of working hours which are a true reflection of those required.
– There should be a minimum of 3 continuous working hours where an employee is required to report for work; if there is not, the worker should be paid for the 3 hours.
– An employer should give at least 72 hours’ notice of any request to undertake work, unless there are exceptional and unforeseen circumstances. If a worker undertakes extra hours without the minimum notice, they should be compensated at 150% of the rate they would be paid.
– Employers should give a minimum of 72 hours’ notice of cancellation of hours. If workers do not get the minimum notice, they should be paid at their normal rate for the hours which were scheduled.
– Legislation should be enacted to provide for employees with no guaranteed hours of work or those on hybrid low hours and if and when contracts to take an average of the number of hours worked in the previous six months as the minimum to be stipulated in their contract.
– Periodic reviews of these hours should be put in place so a contract reflects the reality of working hours.
– Employer organisations and trade unions which conclude a sectoral collective agreement can opt out of some of the suggested legislative provisions above.
– The CSO include a section in the Quarterly National Household Survey which deals specifically with non-guaranteed working hours.
In particular, the Irish Hotels Federation recommended:
“That Government should do nothing in relation to any recommendation in this report as: The recommendations introduce additional unnecessary regulatory burden and will undoubtedly interfere with the ability of businesses to service their customers, earn income and increase levels of employment and wages;
The proposed changes have potential to introduce unintended, negative consequences for employees in terms of mutual flexibility with employers.”
Further to this, Bonkers writes:
“Wealthy people lobby other wealthy people to keep poor people poor. As we know there has been nothing done about zero-hour contracts, which is just the way the hoteliers wanted it to stay, as we can see from the lobbying above.
Is it just me or does anybody else find it a bit disconcerting that a bunch of ministers getting paid more than €3,000-a-week make a decision behind closed doors that effects hundreds of thousands of people on zero-hour and low-wage contracts where the minimum wage for 40 hours a week (if they can get it) will get them €386 per week, before PAYE and indirect taxation.”
“We’re constantly told by Enda Kenny that the best way out of poverty is to get a job. But having no guarantee of hours per week is hardly conducive to someone feeling secure. Without some sort of contracted hours you can’t even plan an annual holiday because you simply don’t know if you’ll be working enough hours to be able to pay for it.”
“The Irish economy is chock-a-block with low-wage zero-hour contract jobs like those found in hotels. In the last two years most of us have noticed the prices of hotels creeping back to Celtic Tiger levels. But one thing that’s staying the same is the low wages and zero job security, thanks in part to Enda Kenny, Paschal Donohue and Richard Bruton.”
Previously: The ‘If And When’ Contracts
Classic, business over people 4eva.
that’s the blushirt way – “fook the workers, keep them on their knees”
AAA shrill / apologist
The rich are the important ones and need to be looked after. The fact that they are our friends/ consultants/ acquaintances/ funders/ relatives/ blackmailers doesn’t come into it.
Let’s not tax them too much, when there are multiple ways we can generate much needed revenue by burdening the less well off .
We can then use gazillions of tax payers money to send much needed MORE MONEY to the accounts of our rich friends/ consultants/ acquaintances/ funders/ relatives/ blackmailers by creating something like Eircodes, & Irish Water etc.
FG politics.
far more worthy than a blushirt sympathiser
The 72-hour window sounds a bit unworkable for places like restaurants or hotels where you might need extra cover at short notice
Hotels have weddings, Christmas and corporate events booked months in advance but staff only know, at best a week before, but frequently on the day.
Keeping people in fear of losing their spot on the call list is part of the strategy to keep them in line.
There’s no prohibition to offering financial incentives to get your employees to cancel their plans and come in to help in an emergency.
There’s demanding they drop whatever’s happening in their lives and come to work because you’ve a manpower shortage and basically can claim their free time any time you want and then there’s asking them to help you out and making it worth their while.
No.
They need to better manage their staff hours. Hotels and restaurants managed for years without zero hour contracts. They can just learn to do so again, and give up haphazard approach to staffing and stop exploiting people.
People are a resource, but you can’t exploit resources without consequence. The consequence being that it is damaging to all of society.
All good points. I was thinking more along the lines of being asked to cover someone who’s called in sick, or if you were expecting a quiet night and got a tour bus looking to come in the next day. More like swapping shifts or extra shifts rather than hanging around waiting to see if you’re working or not. But now I’m thinking that flexibility should be rewarded.
Also worth a note that this is the same federation (among others) that
lobbied to retain their special 9% VAT rate on the basis of all the jobs they are creating…. And part of the same sector that have huge numbers of employees who need social welfare support to subsidise their low wages…
So actually, rich people are asking other rich people to keep poor people poor at the expense of the taxpayer…
Nice FG policies in action there.
*If* they can get SW supports in the first place. The way the “casual dockets” system operates, working even 1 hour in a day qualifies as a full working day and no allowance is paid. Work on more than 3 days in the week (regardless of your hours) and they throw you out of the scheme altogether.
…..jaysus, thanks for reminding me….
This sort of stuff just makes me so angry. I cannot stand the amount of blatantly greedy gobpoos there are out there and the huge capacity of our successive governments to give into their bloated needs.
“As we know there has been nothing done about zero-hour contracts”
Em, it was Labour Minister Ged Nash who commissioned University of Limerick to conduct the study in the first place:
https://www.djei.ie/en/News-And-Events/Department-News/2015/November/03112015a.html
Zero hour is less of a problem here than “if and when” contracts.
A study, a report, a tribunal…… but nothing is done about them. I think that is the point.
The final date for submission was 4-Jan-2016 so its still being worked on.
I think the point flew over your head DubLooney -Government can issue (and then shelve) all the reports it wants. But that matters not a jot if the Irish Hotels Federation can stroll into Government Buildings and have a high level meeting with the Taoiseach and two senior government ministers and so easily get their way on zero hour contracts.
It’s got to the point where if you hear that a report has been commissioned about something, it’s like a death knell for that issue. It was a favourite tactic with FF, too. Reports and sub-committees and quangos, oh my..
These recommendations might make the rostering a bit more difficult but it’s a small price to pay for having contracts that treat people more like humans than cattle… They just have to get used to it and once they do then it won’t be such a big deal. If you plan badly then it will cost you money because you have to pay this late notice surcharge on the hourly rate but then that’s your job as a manager… to manage. If you plan properly this should rarely come about and would only really be an issue where you have sick leave and other unplanned absences.
Turnover of staff would be hugely reduced.
Better morale, better service, better hotel experience.
+1
If the only way your business can function is having a divine right to cancel your employee’s free time and plans at will, you’re doing something wrong.
+1 many times!
…I doubt that shining a light into the murky recesses and exposing the stark reality of lobbying was the intended objective of the ‘lobbyist register’…fairplay Bonkers.
I think it was, it was intended to help with transparency.
…call me a cynic but the minute I heard of this I thought of Terry and her mates trying to set up a closed shop…the way they have a register of ‘consultant’ lobbyists in the UK.
@bisted Do go take a look at the website http://www.lobbying.ie there is some interesting entries over there. Yesterday I came across the Sister of Mercy Nuns who seem to be on a mission to stop climate change and have lobbied public officials about it a good few times.
Also some organisations are conspicuous by their lack of lobbying. For example (according to the register) the GAA have yet to lobby the government yet the FAI have done so 27 times. The Construction Industry Federation also have no lobbying registered yet I read in at least two national papers that they were lobbying Alan Kelly like mad to get the standard sizes of apartments reduced. Could it be that the GAA and CIF have a direct line to God himself and don’t feel the need to fill out the forms? It would appear so.
That is interesting.
Registering as a ‘lobby’ or ‘interest group’ is voluntary currently…. which is why IONA, YD, etc. haven’t done so.
Can’t wait for it to become compulsory, which is the end goal.
+1
Shut up slaves – or the beatings will continue until morale improves!
lol, useless f*ckin’ slaves :)
Everything is FG/labour’s fault. Worth noting that the last FG/labour gov brought in the 1997 working time act to limit to spread of zero hour contracts. The hotel industry was on it’s knees for the last 7 years…but it an extremely labour intensive industry. The 9% VAT was welcomed by all including SF and AAA…but now it’s being abused to screw low paid workers. Again it must be the direct fault of FG/labour.
And seriously broadsheet , I know the bias crap Etc etc but when post articles with horses&@t like “wealthy people lobby other wealthy people to keep poop people poor”…. Jaysis I’m scarlet for ye. Is it only bodger at the steering wheel these days??
Your typos are confusing me.
You’re so “edgy” Clampers. Can I be more like you??
He’s right though. Your post is somewhat difficult to decipher. Punctuation and proper syntax cost nothing.
Thanks… it’s not just me then.
@Steve… I’m not edgy by the way, I’m soft and malleable for the most part.
Get on to your boss to sort out the homeless & the hospitals Steve.
Grand will do, I’ll be seeing them tonight in the castle. We are thinking putting forward a water cooler to run against a few AAA / SF plebs in dublin central. We think the water cooler would offer more to the electorate than those dopes.
A fine Mahok to you all!!!
Ah, I see now, you’re of the lizard genus.
So what was the final outcome? Has the government said they won’t be implementing the report or is Bonkers just inferring?