National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015

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Amendment of Unfair Dismissals Act 1977

14. (1) Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1) :

“(1) (a) A claim by an employee against an employer for redress under this Act for unfair dismissal may be referred by the employee to the Director General and, where such a claim is so referred, the Director General shall, subject to section 39 of the Act of 2015, refer the claim to an adjudication officer for adjudication by that officer.

(b) Section 39 of the Act of 2015 shall apply to a claim for redress referred to the Director General under paragraph (a) as it applies to a complaint presented or dispute referred to the Director General under section 41 of that Act, subject to the modification that references, in the said section 39, to a complaint or dispute shall be construed as references to a claim for redress so referred.

(c) An adjudication officer to whom a claim for redress is referred under this section shall—

(i) inquire into the claim,

(ii) give the parties to the claim an opportunity to be heard by the adjudication officer and to present to the adjudication officer any evidence relevant to the claim,

(iii) make a decision in relation to the claim consisting of an award of redress in accordance with section 7 or the dismissal of the claim, and

(iv) give the parties to the claim a copy of that decision in writing.”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1A) (inserted by section 7 of the Unfair Dismissals (Amendment) Act 1993 ):

“(1A) A decision of an adjudication officer under subsection (1) consisting of an award of redress in accordance with section 7 shall include a statement of the reasons for the award of such redress and the reasons for the adjudication officer’s deciding not to award other redress under that section.”,

(c) by the insertion of the following subsection:

“(1B) Subsection (14) of section 41 of the Act of 2015 applies to a decision of an adjudication officer under subsection (1) as it applies to a decision of an adjudication officer under that section subject to the modification that the words ‘subsection (1) of section 8 of the Act of 1977’ shall be substituted for the words ‘this section’.”,

(d) in subsection (2), by the substitution of—

(i) the words “regulations under subsection (17) of section 41 of the Act of 2015” for the words “regulations under section 17 of this Act made for the purposes of subsection (8) of this section”, and

(ii) the following paragraph for paragraph (b) :

“(b) within such period not exceeding 12 months from the date of the relevant dismissal as the adjudication officer considers appropriate, in circumstances where the adjudication officer is satisfied that the giving of the notice within the period referred to in paragraph (a) was prevented due to reasonable cause,”,

(e) by the deletion of subsections (3), (4), (5), (8) and (9), and

(f) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (10):

“(10) (a) A dispute relating to a dismissal shall not be referred to an adjudication officer under the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2012 if, in relation to the dismissal—

(i) a recommendation has been made by a rights commissioner under this Act, or a hearing by the Tribunal under this Act has commenced,

(ii) a decision (other than a decision consisting of a dismissal of the claim concerned) has been made by an adjudication officer under this Act,

(iii) a decision has been made by the Labour Court in accordance with subsection (2) of section 8A affirming a decision (consisting of a dismissal of the claim concerned) of an adjudication officer under this Act, or

(iv) a decision has been made by the Labour Court in accordance with the said subsection (2) —

(I) setting aside a decision to which subparagraph (ii) applies, and

(II) not awarding any redress under section 7.

(b) An employee shall not be entitled to redress under this Act in respect of a dismissal if, in relation to the dismissal—

(i) a recommendation has been made by a rights commissioner or an adjudication officer under the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2012, or

(ii) a hearing by the Labour Court under those Acts has commenced.”.

(2) Section 8A (inserted by paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 80 of the Act of 2015) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2) :

“(2) Section 44 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 shall apply to a decision of an adjudication officer given in respect of a claim for redress under this Act by an employee as it applies to a decision of an adjudication officer given in proceedings under section 41 of that Act, subject to the following modifications:

(a) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1) :

‘(1) (a) A party to a claim for redress under the Act of 1977 may appeal a decision of an adjudication officer given in relation to that claim to the Labour Court and, where the party does so, the Labour Court shall—

(i) give the parties to the appeal an opportunity to be heard by it and to present to it any evidence relevant to the appeal,

(ii) make a decision in relation to the appeal affirming, varying or setting aside the decision of the adjudication officer to which the appeal relates, and

(iii) give the parties to the appeal a copy of that decision in writing.

(b) A decision of the Labour Court under paragraph (a), may include an award of redress under section 7 of the Act of 1977.’;

and

(b) any other necessary modifications.”.

(3) Section 11 (inserted by paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 80 of the Act of 2015) is amended, in subsection (2), by the insertion of “or the Companies Act 2014 ” after “the Companies Acts”.

(4) This section shall come into operation on the commencement of section 80 of the Act of 2015.