Working in Ireland
Nasc Irish Immigrant Support Centre offers employment rights advice to anyone experiencing exploitation or discrimination. If you know anyone in this position, please let them know that they do have rights...despite what any employer might tell them - listen to the incredible recording the MRCI have posted on You Tube by way of a sample of what vulnerable workers are being told......And congratulations to Anele Jackiel, an exploited domestic worker who successfully asserted her rights via the Labour Relations Commission recently (as reported recently in the Irish Times).
Nasc’s publication “Employment, Enterprise and Education: A Guide for Migrants in Cork” is available in Polish, French, Arabic, Mandarin and Russian here, or you can pick up a hard copy at Nasc. If you or your organisation would like some copies please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The guide includes information on
- Entitlements to Employment
- What you need to work in Ireland
- Free Support for Job Seekers
- Finding a Job, and
- Employment Rights,
The guide also contains similar information about Enterprise and Employment.
What follows is a list of additional web resources. If you would like to speak to someone about any of these issues, please contact Nasc to make an appointment with one of our legal information officers.
Can I Work in Ireland?:
Crosscare Migrant Project (www.migrantproject.ie) has produced a guide to the Rights of Migrants and Residents in Ireland, which is a very useful quick reference guide to who can work/ study/ claim social welfare etc. in Ireland.
The government department dealing with this issue is the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (www.entemp.ie). Its website provides some basic information about work permits and green cards etc, and you can find the application forms and information about fees here too.
For more detailed information, The Migrant Rights Centre (www.mrci.ie) has a very useful website with information on various issues of interest to immigrants, with a section on Work Permits and Green Cards.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (www.immigrantcouncil.ie) has produced a series of leaflets on various matters of interest to immigrants, including a detailed guide on work permits/ green cards etc called Working in Ireland.
Know your Rights:
Migrant workers are entitled to the same rights in the workplace as any other worker.
The ICCL Know Your Rights public information project is designed to inform people in clear and accessible language about their rights under various key areas of the law in Ireland.
Topics covered in the opening three Know Your Rights booklets are Criminal Justice and Garda Powers, Privacy and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The leaflets can be downloaded here...
The website of The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) (www.employmentrights.ie) provides information about basic employment rights like pay and holiday entitlements (What are my Rights?) and specific information about certain industries (for example catering, contract cleaning etc) in respect of which additional rights apply (Industry Specific Information). NERA also provides an information service: Lo-Call 1890 808090; e-mail: info@employmentrights.ie.
For those employed in the restaurant, agricultural or domestic work sectors, the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland has specific working groups that you can join, and its website has further information about employment rights generally (www.mrci.ie).
The trade union websites are another excellent source of user-friendly information about your general employment rights:
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (www.ictu.ie) is the single umbrella organisation for trade unions in Ireland, representing a range of interests of employees, both in Ireland and in Northern Ireland. It provides a list of the different unions here.
The Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (www.siptu.ie) represents over 200,000 Irish workers from virtually every category of employment across almost every sector of the Irish economy.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (www.ictu.ie) is the largest civil society organisation on the island of Ireland, representing and campaigning on behalf of some 832,000 working people.
If you want to go to the primary source, all of the legislation about employment law is available online from www.irishstatutebook.ie, although this site can be difficult to search if you don’t know what you’re looking for. A good way to search for employment law legislation is to go to the list of links to the various employment acts that is provided by the Citizen’s Information Board on www.citizensinformation.ie.
If you feel that you are being treated unfairly in the workplace, it may be the case that you are being bullied (in which case you are protected under employment law), or are experiencing discrimination, in which case there are further protections. Equality legislation in Ireland prohibits discrimination in both employment and access to goods and services, on nine grounds: gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race (including colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin), and membership of the Irish Traveller Community. Employment Equality Legislation covers all aspects of work including recruitment and promotion, the right to equal pay, conditions of employment, training or experience. The Equal Status Acts cover access to a place, facilities for banking, entertainment, cultural activities or transport, professional or trade services, health services, access to education and accommodation. Complaints about discrimination – whether in the workplace or otherwise – can be made (usually through your trade union or other representative) to The Equality Tribunal, which provides quite a lot of information about equality legislation on its website (www.equalitytribunal.ie).
So now I understand my rights – What next?
The MRCI offers useful advice about how to proceed. This includes the crucial advice to Keep a Record:
It is very important for a worker to maintain a detailed, written record of employment history. This will be very important if a problem arises and there is a need to produce evidence. Important things to record include daily hours of work, breaks, pay, and keeping all pay slips or other documents given at work. Writing down any incidents that happen in the workplace immediately after they happen, and recording the names of those who witness them, is also recommended. (http://www.mrci.ie/know_rights/workplace_rights.html)
The National Employment Rights Authority’s website provides a guide called How do I get my Rights?, which gives details about the various fora (tribunals, courts etc) to which one can bring a complaint.
If you are considering taking a complaint against your employer, we would very strongly advise that you seek independent advice before deciding how to proceed. You will need to meet with a professional who can advise you about which of the many tribunals and so on you should apply to, which will depend on your circumstances. You might begin with your trade union, the MRCI (in Dublin), or with Nasc, in Cork.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Nasc if you require assistance with employment issues.
