KITT LAUNCHES NEW CODE OF PRACTICE FOR SUNDAY WORKING

Labour Affairs Minister Tom Kitt, announced today (Wednesday, 25th November, 1998) that he had signed into law a new Code of Practice on Sunday Working in the Retail Trade.

Launching the Code, Minister Kitt said "the purpose of the new code is to ensure that employees get a fair deal when working on Sunday through agreed working arrangements with their employers. I believe that the code strikes a fine balance between the legitimate expectations of workers on the one hand, and, on the other, the efficient operation of retail outlets"

The new Code sets out arrangements that may be taken into account when reaching agreement on Sunday working. These include provision that employees who have a minimum of two years' service on a Sunday working contract should have the opportunity to seek to opt out of Sunday working, for urgent family or personal reasons, giving adequate notice to the employer. Existing employees should have the option to volunteer to opt into working patterns, which include Sundays on a rota basis and form part of a regular working week (i.e. being required to work no more than 5 days out of 7). Newly recruited employees may be contracted to work Sundays as part of a regular rostered working pattern. Meal breaks on Sundays should be standardised in line with the other working days of the week.

Minister Kitt pointed out that: "the Code also provides - and significantly so, now that Christmas is so close at hand - that all employees should have the opportunity of volunteering to work on the peak Sunday trading days prior to Christmas, in addition to their normal working week. In these circumstances length of service will not be the overriding criterion for selection for Sunday working."

The code also provides for a complaint procedure for aggrieved employees. This involves presenting a complaint to a Rights Commissioner with an appeal provision to the Labour Court. The code also allows for enforcement procedures for decisions of Rights Commissioners and determinations of the Labour Court.

"The code of practice is a significant development," said the Minister, "in that it provides, for the first time, a formulation acceptable to retail workers and to their employers to guide operating workplace practices regarding Sunday working arrangements. I am heartened by the goodwill with which both sides co-operated in an effort to define a common set of principles to which they could subscribe. I have every confidence that their efforts will be rewarded with better relations in the workplace as the principles of the code begin to take effect in practice."

Minister Kitt said that he believed that not everyone would be completely satisfied with this new Code of Practice. However, the Code, drawn up under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, represents a consensus approach. In the broad spirit of social partnership, the Minister said, he hoped "both the trade union movement generally and employers would give their support to the code which, given time to come fully on stream, can work".

In this regard, the Minister noted that the LRC had consulted IBEC, ICTU, MANDATE and SIPTU in drawing up the Code and the Commission had taken full account the views expressed by these organisations in preparing the Code.