Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997
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Interpretation. |
2.—(1) In this Act— | |
“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 November 1993 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 this Act, 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 Local Government Act, 1941 , or of a harbour authority, health board or vocational education committee 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; | ||
“employment regulation order” means an order under section 48 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 ; | ||
“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 or subparagraph 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). | ||