Safety, Health and Welfare At Work Act, 1989

Provisions applicable to officers, etc., transferred to the Authority.

20.—(1) Every officer of the Minister who has been designated by the Minister at any time before such day as may be appointed by the Minister by order shall, on the day of such designation, be transferred to, and become a member of the staff of, the Authority.

(2) The Minister shall not make an order under subsection (1) without having notified in writing any recognised trade unions or staff associations concerned and the Authority of his intention to do so and considering any representations made by them or any of them in relation to the matter within such time as may be specified in the notification.

(3) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned, an officer of the Minister designated by the Minister under subsection (1), who is transferred by that subsection to the staff of the Authority shall not, while in the service of the Authority, receive a lesser scale of pay or be made subject to less beneficial terms and conditions of service (other than those relating to tenure of office) than the scale of pay to which he was entitled and the terms and conditions of service (other than those relating to tenure of office) to which he was subject immediately before the day on which he was so transferred.

(4) Until such time as the scales of pay and the terms and conditions of service (other than those relating to tenure of office) of staff so transferred are varied by the Authority, following consultation with any recognised trade unions and staff associations concerned, the scales of pay to which they were entitled and the terms and conditions of service (other than those relating to tenure of office), restrictions, requirements and obligations to which they were subject immediately before their transfer shall continue to apply to them and may be applied or imposed by the Authority or the Director General, as the case may be, while they are in the service of the Authority. No such variation shall operate to worsen the scales of pay or the terms or conditions of service applicable to a member of such staff immediately before the day on which he was transferred by subsection (1) to the staff of the Authority save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union or staff association concerned.

(5) The terms and conditions relating to tenure of office which are granted by the Authority to a member of the staff of the Authority who was designated by the Minister and under subsection (1) transferred by that subsection to its staff shall not, while he is in the service of the Authority, be less favourable to him than those prevailing for the time being in the civil service; any alteration in the conditions in regard to tenure of office of any such member shall not be such as to render those conditions less favourable to him than those prevailing in the civil service at the time of such alteration save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade unions or staff associations concerned. If a dispute arises between the Authority and any such member as to conditions prevailing in the civil service, the matter shall be determined by the Minister for Finance after consultation with the Minister.

(6) In relation to staff transferred by subsection (1) to the staff of the Authority, previous service in the civil service shall be reckonable for the purposes of, but subject to any other exceptions or exclusions in, the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1984, the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973, the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, 1973 and 1984, and the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 .