Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009
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Protection of persons reporting certain matters. |
7.— The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following sections: | |
“Protection from civil liability of persons who report certain misconduct. | ||
13A.— (1) Where a person communicates his opinion, whether in writing or otherwise, to a member of the Garda Síochána or a member of An Foras that— | ||
(a) an offence under this Act or any other enactment has been or is being committed, | ||
(b) any provision of this Act or any other enactment or rule of law has been or is being contravened, or | ||
(c) there has been other serious wrongdoing in relation to An Foras, | ||
then, unless the person acts in bad faith, he shall not be regarded as having committed any breach of duty towards any other person, and no person shall have a cause of action against the first-mentioned person in respect of that communication. | ||
(2) Where a person communicates his opinion, whether in writing or otherwise, to the Minister that a direction given by the Minister under this Act has been or is being contravened then, unless the person acts in bad faith, he shall not be regarded as having committed any breach of duty towards any other person, and no person shall have a cause of action against the first-mentioned person in respect of that communication. | ||
(3) This section applies to a communication— | ||
(a) that would, but for this section, constitute a breach of duty by the person who made it, or | ||
(b) in respect of which, another person would, but for this section, have a cause of action against the person who made it. | ||
Prohibition on penalisation. | ||
13B.— (1) An employer shall not penalise or threaten penalisation against an employee for— | ||
(a) making a complaint to a member of the Garda Síochána or a member of An Foras that a provision of this Act, or any enactment or other rule of law, has been or is being contravened, | ||
(b) making a complaint to the Minister that a direction given by him under this Act has been or is being contravened, | ||
(c) making a complaint to a member of An Foras that there has been serious wrongdoing in relation to An Foras, | ||
(d) giving evidence in any proceedings under this Act or any other enactment, or | ||
(e) giving notice of his intention to do any of the things referred to in the preceding paragraphs. | ||
(2) Schedule 2 (inserted by section 11 of the Labour Services (Amendment) Act 2009) shall have effect for the purposes of subsection (1). | ||
(3) If the penalisation of an employee, in contravention of subsection (1), constitutes a dismissal of the employee within the meaning of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007, relief may not be granted to the employee in respect of that penalisation both under Schedule 2 and under those Acts. | ||
(4) In this section— | ||
‘employee’ means— | ||
(a) in relation to An Foras, a member of the staff of An Foras, or | ||
(b) in relation to the subsidiary, a member of the staff of the subsidiary; | ||
‘employer’ means An Foras or the subsidiary; | ||
‘penalisation’ means any act or omission by an employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer that affects an employee to his detriment with respect to any term or condition of his employment, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes— | ||
(a) suspension, lay-off or dismissal (including a dismissal within the meaning of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007), or the threat of suspension, lay-off or dismissal, | ||
(b) demotion or loss of opportunity for promotion, | ||
(c) transfer of duties, change of location of place of work, reduction in wages or change in working hours, | ||
(d) imposition or administration of any discipline, reprimand or other penalty (including a financial penalty), and | ||
(e) coercion or intimidation. | ||
False statements. | ||
13C.— (1) A person who states to a member of the Garda Síochána or a member of An Foras that— | ||
(a) an offence under this Act or any other enactment has been or is being committed, | ||
(b) a provision of this Act, a provision of any other enactment or any rule of law has been or is being contravened, or | ||
(c) there has been serious wrongdoing by any person in relation to An Foras, | ||
knowing the statement to be false shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.”. |