Working Time
Organisation of Working Time
Number 20 of 1997
ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME ACT 1997
REVISED
Updated to 1 October 2015
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE 93/104/EC OF 23
NOVEMBER 1993 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES CONCERNING
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF WORKING TIME, TO MAKE PROVISION
OTHERWISE IN RELATION TO THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF EMPLOYEES AND
THE PROTECTION OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF EMPLOYEES, TO AMEND CERTAIN
ENACTMENTS RELATING TO EMPLOYEES, TO REPEAL THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
ACTS, 1936 AND 1944, THE HOLIDAYS (EMPLOYEES) ACTS, 1973 AND 1991, AND CERTAIN
OTHER ENACTMENTS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [7th May, 1997]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
Annotations
Editorial Notes:
E1 Redress and appeal procedures in respect of entitlements under Act provided (1.10.2015) by
Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), ss. 41, 44 and sch. 5 part 1 item 7, sch. 6 part 1 item 10,
sch. 6 part 2 item 10, S.I. No. 410 of 2015.
E2 Act included in definitions of “employment enactment” and “relevant enactment” (1.08.2015) by
Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 2 and sch. 1 part 1 item 5, S.I. No. 338 of 2015, with
the following effects:
• Authorised officers or inspectors under employment enactments deemed to be appointed under
Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 26(2) and subject to termination under s. 26(4).
• Powers of inspectors for purposes of relevant enactments defined in Workplace Relations Act
2015 (16/2015), s. 27.
• Workplace Relations Commission, an inspector or an adjudication officer authorised to disclose
employer’s registered number or employee’s PPSN to enable Labour Court to perform functions
under relevant enactments by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015) s. 31(5).
• Power of Workplace Relations Commission and official body to disclose information to each other
concerning the commission of offence under relevant enactment provided by Workplace Relations
Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 32.
• Power of Workplace Relations Commission and contracting authority to disclose information to
each other concerning the commission of offence under employment enactment/ relevant
enactment provided by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 33.
• Powers of Minister to prosecute under relevant enactments transferred to Workplace Relations
Commission and references construed by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 37.
• Functions of EAT to hear claims under employment enactments transferred to Workplace Relations
Commission and references to EAT construed by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015) s.
66(1), (2), not commenced as of date of revision.
PART I
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL
Short title and commencement.
1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as, by order or orders
made by the Minister, may be fixed therefor, either generally or with reference to
any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different
purposes and different provisions.
Interpretation.
2.—(1) In this Act—
F1[‘the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations’ means the European Communities
(Organisation of Working Time) (Activities of Doctors in Training) Regulations 2004
(S.I. No. 494 of 2004);]
“annual leave” shall be construed in accordance with section 19;
“collective agreement” means an agreement by or on behalf of an employer on the
one hand, and by or on behalf of a body or bodies representative of the employees
to whom the agreement relates on the other hand;
“contract of employment” means—
(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, and
(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is
carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of
the Employment Agency Act, 1971, and is acting in the course of that business,
to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether
or not the third person is a party to the contract),
whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in
writing;
“the Council Directive” means Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November1993
concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time(1)
, the text of which
(other than the second sentence of Article 5) is, for convenience of reference, set out
in the Sixth Schedule;
“employee” means a person of any age, who has entered into or works under (or,
where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of
employment and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be
construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the
purposes of F2[this Act and the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations], a person
holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a civil servant within
the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956) shall be deemed to be an
employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, and an officer
or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F3[Local Government Act 2001
(as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014),] or of a harbour authority,
health board or F4[a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be
deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, board or committee, as the
case may be;
“employer” means in relation to an employee, the person with whom the employee
has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment
has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment, subject to the
qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in
paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the wages
of the individual concerned in respect of the work or service concerned shall be
deemed to be the individual’s employer;
F5[‘employment regulation order’ means an employment regulation order within the
meaning of Part IV of the Industrial Relations Act 1946;]
(1) O.J. No. L307, 13.12.93, p.18
“lay-off” has the meaning assigned to it by the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967;
“leave year” means a year beginning on any 1st day of April;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;
“outworker” means an employee who is employed under a contract of service to do
work for his or her employer in the employee’s own home or in some other place not
under the control or management of the employer, being work that consists of the
making of a product or the provision of a service specified by the employer;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;
“public holiday” shall be construed in accordance with the Second Schedule;
“registered employment agreement” has the meaning assigned to it by section 25 of
the Industrial Relations Act, 1946;
“rest period” means any time that is not working time;
“short-time” has the meaning assigned to it by the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967;
“working time” means any time that the employee is—
(a) at his or her place of work or at his or her employer’s disposal, and
(b) carrying on or performing the activities or duties of his or her work,
and “work” shall be construed accordingly.
(2) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council
Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it
has in the Council Directive.
(3) In this Act—
(a) a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is a reference to a Part or section
of, or a Schedule to, this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some
other enactment is intended,
(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the
subsection, paragraph orsubparagraph of the provision in which the reference
occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is
intended,
(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment
as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment
(including this Act).
Compensatory rest periods.
6.—(1) Any regulations, collective agreement, registered employment agreement
or employment regulation order referred to in section 4 that exempt any activity from
the application of section 11, 12 or 13 or provide that any of these sections shall not
apply in relation to an employee shall include a provision requiring the employer
concerned to ensure that the employee concerned has available to himself or herself
such rest period or break as the provision specifies to be equivalent to the rest period
or break, as the case may be, provided for by section 11, 12 or 13.
(2) Where by reason of the operation of subsection (1) or (2) of section 4, or section
5, an employee is not entitled to the rest period or break referred to in section 11,
12, or 13 the employer concerned shall—
(a) ensure that the employee has available to himself or herself a rest period or
break, as the case may be, that, in all the circumstances, can reasonably be
regarded as equivalent to the first-mentioned rest period or break, or
(b) if for reasons that can be objectively justified, it is not possible for the
employer to ensure that the employee has available to himself or herself
such an equivalent rest period or break, otherwise make such arrangements
as respects the employee’s conditions of employment as will compensate
the employee in consequence of the operation of subsection (1) or (2) of
section 4, or section 5.
(3) The reference in subsection (2) (b) to the making of arrangements as respects
an employee’s conditions of employment does not include a reference to—
(a) the granting of monetary compensation to the employee, or
(b) the provision of any other material benefit to the employee, other than the
provision of such a benefit as will improve the physical conditions under
which the employee works or the amenities or services available to the
employee while he or she is at work.
Code for purposes of section
7.—(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which
is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or for the purpose of
enabling any provision of this Act to have full effect.
(2) Regulations under this Act may make different provisions in relation to different
classes of employees or employers, different areas or otherwise by reference to the
different circumstances of the matter.
(3) A regulation or order under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary
and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient.
(4) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this Act (other than
an order under section 1 (2) but including an order under this subsection).
(5) A regulation or order under this Act (other than an order under section 1 (2))
shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made
and, if a resolution annulling that regulation or order is passed by either such House
within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation or order is
laid before it, the regulation or order shall be annulled accordingly, but without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Daily rest periods
11.—An employee shall be entitled to a rest period of not less than 11 consecutive
hours in each period of 24 hours during which he or she works for his or her
employer.
Rests and intervals at work.
12.—(1) An employer shall not require an employee to work for a period of more
than 4 hours and 30 minutes without allowing him or her a break of at least 15 minutes.
(2) An employer shall not require an employee to work for a period of more than 6
hours without allowing him or her a break of at least 30 minutes; such a break may
include the break referred to in subsection (1).
(3) The Minister may by regulations provide, as respects a specified class or classes
of employee, that the minimum duration of the break to be allowed to such an
employee under subsection (2) shall be more than 30 minutes (but not more than 1
hour).
(4) A break allowed to an employee at the end of the working day shall not be
regarded as satisfying the requirement contained in subsection (1) or (2).
Weekly rest periods.
13.—(1) In this section “daily rest period” means a rest period referred to in section
11.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), an employee shall, in each period of 7 days, be granted
a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours; subject to subsections (4) and (6), the
time at which that rest period commences shall be such that that period is immediately
preceded by a daily rest period.
(3) An employer may, in lieu of granting to an employee in any period of 7 days the
first-mentioned rest period in subsection (2), grant to him or her, in the next following
period of 7 days, 2 rest periods each of which shall be a period of at least 24 consecutive
hours and, subject to subsections (4) and (6)—
(a) if the rest periods so granted are consecutive, the time at which the first of
those periods commences shall be such that that period is immediately
preceded by a daily rest period, and
(b) if the rest periods so granted are not consecutive, the time at which each of
those periods commences shall be such that each of them is immediately
preceded by a daily rest period.
(4) If considerations of a technical nature or related to the conditions under which
the work concerned is organised or otherwise of an objective nature would justify
the making of such a decision, an employer may decide that the time at which a rest
period granted by him or her under subsection (2) or (3) shall commence shall be such
that the rest period is not immediately preceded by a daily rest period.
(5) Save as may be otherwise provided in the employee’s contract of employment—
(a) the rest period granted to an employee under subsection (2), or
(b) one of the rest periods granted to an employee under subsection (3),
shall be a Sunday or, if the rest period is of more than 24 hours duration, shall include
a Sunday.
(6) The requirement in subsection (2) or paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3) as to
the time at which a rest period under this section shall commence shall not apply in
any case where, by reason of a provision of this Act or an instrument or agreement
under, or referred to in, this Act, the employee concerned is not entitled to a daily
rest period in the circumstances concerned.
Sunday work: supplemental provisions.
14.—(1) An employee who is required to work on a Sunday (and the fact of his or
her having to work on that day has not otherwise been taken account of in the
determination of his or her pay) shall be compensated by his or her employer for
being required so to work by the following means, namely—
(a) by the payment to the employee of an allowance of such an amount as is
reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or
(b) by otherwise increasing the employee’s rate of pay by such an amount as is
reasonable having regard to all the circumstances, or
(c) by granting the employee such paid time off from work as is reasonable having
regard to all the circumstances, or
(d) by a combination of two or more of the means referred to in the preceding
paragraphs.
(2) Subsection (3) applies to an employee where the value or the minimum value
of the compensation to be provided to him or her in respect of his or her being
required to work on a Sunday is not specified by a collective agreement.
(3) For the purposes of proceedings under Part IV before a rights commissioner or
the Labour Court in relation to a complaint that this section has not been complied
with in relation to an employee to whom this subsection applies (“the first-mentioned
employee”), the value or the minimum value of the compensation that a collective
agreement for the time being specifies shall be provided to a comparable employee
in respect of his or her being required to work on a Sunday shall be regarded as the
value of compensation to be provided under this section to the first-mentioned
employee that is reasonable having regard to all the circumstances:
Provided that if each of 2 or more collective agreements for the time being
specifies the value or the minimum value of the compensation to be provided
to a comparable employee to whom the agreement relates in respect of his or
her being required to work on a Sunday and the said values or minimum values
are not the same whichever of the said values or minimum values is the less
shall be regarded, for the purposes aforesaid, as the value of compensation to
be provided under this section to the first-mentioned employee that is reasonable
having regard to all the circumstances.
(4) Unless the fact of such a value being so specified has come to the notice of the
rights commissioner or the Labour Court, as the case may be, it shall be for the person
who alleges in proceedings referred to in subsection (3) that a value of compensation
of the kind referred to in that subsection is specified by a collective agreement
mentioned in that subsection to show that, in fact, such a value is so specified.
(5) In subsection (3) “comparable employee” means an employee who is employed
to do, under similar circumstances, identical or similar work in the industry or sector
of employment concerned to that which the first-mentioned employee in subsection
(3) is employed to do.
(6) References in this section to a value or minimum value of compensation that is
specified by a collective agreement shall be construed as including references to a
value or minimum value of compensation that may be determined in accordance with
a formula or procedures specified by the agreement (being a formula or procedures
which, in the case of proceedings referred to in subsection (3) before a rights
commissioner or the Labour Court, can be readily applied or followed by the rights
commissioner or the Labour Court for the purpose of the proceedings).
Weekly working hours.
15.—(1) An employer shall not permit an employee to work, in each period of 7
days, more than an average of 48 hours, that is to say an average of 48 hours calculated
over a period (hereafter in this section referred to as a “reference period ”)
that does not exceed—
(a) 4 months, or
(b) 6 months—
(i) in the case of an employee employed in an activity referred to in paragraph
2, point 2.1. of Article 17 of the Council Directive, or
(ii) where due to any matter referred to in section 5, it would not be practicable
(if a reference period not exceeding 4 months were to apply in relation
to the employee) for the employer to comply with this subsection,
or
(c) such length of time as, in the case of an employee employed in an activity
mentioned in subsection (5), is specified in a collective agreement referred
to in that subsection.
(2) Subsection (1) shall have effect subject to the Fifth Schedule (which contains
transitional provisions in respect of the period of 24 months beginning on the
commencement of that Schedule).
(3) The days or months comprising a reference period shall, subject to subsection
(4), be consecutive days or months.
(4) A reference period shall not include—
(a) any period of annual leave granted to the employee concerned in accordance
with this Act (save so much of it as exceeds the minimum period of annual
leave required by this Act to be granted to the employee),
F8[(aa) any period during which the employee was absent from work while on
parental leave, force majeure leave or carer’s leave within the meaning of
the Carer’s Leave Act, 2001,]
(b) any absences from work by the employee concerned authorised under the
Maternity Protection Act, 1994, or the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995, or
(c) any sick leave taken by the employee concerned.
(5) Where an employee is employed in an activity (including an activity referred to
in subsection (1) (b) (i))—
(a) the weekly working hours of which vary on a seasonal basis, or
(b) as respects which it would not be practicable for the employer concerned to
comply with subsection (1) (if a reference period not exceeding 4 or 6 months,
as the case may be, were to apply in relation to the employee) because of
considerations of a technical nature or related to the conditions under which
the work concerned is organised or otherwise of an objective nature,
then a collective agreement that for the time being has effect in relation to the
employee and which stands approved of by the Labour Court under section 24 may
specify, for the purposes of subsection (1) (c), a length of time in relation to the
employee of more than 4 or 6 months, as the case may be (but not more than 12
months).
Nightly working hours.
16.—(1) In this section—
“night time” means the period between midnight and 7 a.m. on the following day;
“night work” means work carried out during night time;
“night worker” means an employee—
(a) who normally works at least 3 hours of his or her daily working time during
night time,
and
(b) the number of hours worked by whom during night time, in each year, equals
or exceeds 50 per cent. of the total number of hours worked by him or her
during that year.
(2) Without prejudice to section 15, an employer shall not permit a night worker,
in each period of 24 hours, to work—
(a) in a case where the work done by the worker in that period includes night
work and the worker is a special category night worker, more than 8 hours,
(b) in any other case, more than an average of 8 hours, that is to say an average
of 8 hours calculated over a period (hereafter in this section referred to as
a “reference period ”) that does not exceed—
(i) 2 months, or
(ii) such greater length of time as is specified in a collective agreement that
for the time being has effect in relation to that night worker and which
stands approved of by the Labour Court under section 24.
(3) In subsection (2) “special category night worker” means a night worker as
respects whom an assessment carried out by his or her employer, pursuant to a
requirement of regulations under section 28 (1) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at
Work Act, 1989, in relation to the risks attaching to the work that the night worker
is employed to do indicates that that work involves special hazards or a heavy physical
or mental strain.
(4) The days or months comprising a reference period shall, subject to subsection
(5), be consecutive days or months.
(5) A reference period shall not include—
(a) any rest period granted to the employee concerned under section 13 (2) (save
so much of it as exceeds 24 hours),
(b) any rest periods granted to the employee concerned under section 13 (3) (save
so much of each of those periods as exceeds 24 hours),
(c) any period of annual leave granted to the employee concerned in accordance
with this Act (save so much of it as exceeds the minimum period of annual
leave required by this Act to be granted to the employee),
F9[(cc) any period during which the employee was absent from work while on
parental leave, force majeure leave or carer’s leave within the meaning of
the Carer’s Leave Act, 2001.]
(d) any absences from work by the employee concerned authorised under the
Maternity Protection Act, 1994, or the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995, or
(e) any sick leave taken by the employee concerned.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS
Approval of collective agreements by Labour Court.
24.—(1) In this section “collective agreement” means a collective agreement referred
to in section 4, 15 or 16 or paragraph 4 (a) of the First Schedule F13[or in regulation
9(4) or 10(2) of the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations].
(2) On an application being made in that behalf by any of the parties thereto, the
Labour Court may, subject to the provisions of this section, approve of a collective
agreement.
(3) On receipt of an application under this section, the Labour Court shall consult
such representatives of employees and employers as it considers to have an interest
in the matters to which the collective agreement, the subject of the application,
relates.
(4) The Labour Court shall not approve of a collective agreement unless the
following conditions are fulfilled as respects that agreement, namely—
(a) in the case of a collective agreement referred to in section 4, 15 or 16 F13[or
regulation 9(4) or 10(2) of the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations],
the Labour Court is satisfied that it is appropriate to approve of the agreement
having regard to the provisions of the Council Directive permitting the entry
into collective agreements for the purposes concerned,
(b) the agreement has been concluded in a manner usually employed in determining
the pay or other conditions of employment of employees in the employment
concerned,
(c) the body which negotiated the agreement on behalf of the employees concerned
is the holder of a negotiation licence under the Trade Union Act, 1941, or is
an excepted body within the meaning of that Act which is sufficiently representative
of the employees concerned,
(d) the agreement is in such form as appears to the Labour Court to be suitable
for the purposes of the agreement being approved of under this section.
(5) Where the Labour Court is not satisfied that the condition referred to in paragraph
(a) or (d) of subsection (4) is fulfilled in relation to a collective agreement, the
subject of an application under subsection (2) (but is satisfied that the other conditions
referred to in that subsection are fulfilled in relation to the agreement), it may request
the parties to the agreement to vary the agreement in such manner as will result in
the said condition being fulfilled and if those parties agree so to vary the agreement
and vary it, accordingly, the Labour Court shall approve of the agreement as so varied.
(6) Where a collective agreement which has been approved of under this section is
subsequently varied by the parties thereto, any of the said parties may apply to the
Labour Court to have the agreement, as so varied, approved of by the Labour Court
under this section and the provisions of this section shall apply to such an application
as they apply to an application under subsection (2).
(7) The Labour Court may withdraw its approval of a collective agreement under
this section where it is satisfied that there are substantial grounds for so doing.
(8) The Labour Court shall determine the procedures to be followed by a person in
making an application under subsection (2) or (6), by the Labour Court in considering
any such application or otherwise performing any of its functions under this section
and by persons generally in relation to matters falling to be dealt with under this
section.
(9) The Labour Court shall publish, in such manner as it thinks fit, particulars of the
procedures referred to in subsection (8).
(10) The Labour Court shall establish and maintain a register of collective agreements
standing approved of by it under this section and such a register shall be made
available for inspection by members of the public at all reasonable times.