Minister Calleary welcomes proposals to address Sunday Premium arrangements in the Hotels Sector

The Minister for Labour Affairs, Mr. Dara Calleary, TD, today (30th June 2009) welcomed the adoption of proposals by the Hotels Joint Labour Committee that will bring Sunday premium payments for workers in the hotel sector outside of Dublin and Cork into line with the new rates recently agreed for catering establishments throughout the country. Under the proposals, the existing entitlement to payment of double time for Sunday work will be replaced by a rate of time plus one third.

Minister Calleary said: “Coming as they do quite soon after similar moves on the Sunday premium issue by the two JLCs in the catering sector, these latest proposals demonstrate the responsiveness of both employers and the trade unions to the current difficulties being experienced by the hospitality sector. They show a real willingness to find practical solutions that will help to maintain employment on the basis of agreement among those directly involved”.

The Minister added: “I believe that the recent experience in a number of sectors has demonstrated how a constructive engagement by the employer and trade union representatives directly involved in the Joint Labour Committee mechanism can help to promote a shared response to current problems affecting the viability of services and the sustainability of employment in vulnerable sectors.”

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Note for Editors

The proposals will now be the subject of a public consultation process and anyone may make representations to the Hotels Joint Labour Committee^[1] within 21 days of their publication. Having considered any representations, the Committee will submit its proposals to the Labour Court. It is then a matter for the Court, by Order, to give effect to the proposals.

Minimum rates of pay and other conditions of employment for workers in certain sectors, including the hotels and catering sectors, are set down in Employment Regulation Orders (ERO’s) made by the Labour Court. These orders are determined on the basis of proposals negotiated and drawn up by the relevant Joint Labour Committees (JLCs). The JLCs are independent bodies and are composed of equal numbers of representatives of employers and workers in a particular sector with an independent Chairman. The JLCs covering the Catering and Hotels sectors have, over the years, agreed terms and conditions that include the payment of premia for Sunday work to the workers covered by their respective remits.

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^[1] The Hotels Joint Labour Committee covers workers employed in a hotels throughout the State except the County Borough of Cork, and the areas known, until 1st January, 1994, as the County Borough of Dublin and the Borough of Dun Laoghaire.