Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton today [Monday] announced the first steps in his plan to streamline the State’s five employment rights bodies, announced in a speech in UCD on 1st July last.
The principal measures include naming Ger Deering, Director of NERA, as the industry expert responsible for coordinating the streamlining process across the employment rights bodies; and Kieran Mulvey, Chief Executive Officer of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) assuming leadership of NERA.
The other measures include:
· the establishment of an Implementation Group within the Minister’s Department to lead the process
· a short consultation process with stakeholders on the process
· a single online form for the Employment Appeals Tribunal, replacing the five forms currently in use
· a shared services drive between the employment rights bodies and the Courts Service.
All of these measures will be complete in September. In addition, the Minister announced the creation of a single point of entry and a single website for the five bodies, which he hopes to have in place by the end of 2011.
Making the announcement, Minister Bruton said:
“This Government is serious about improving public services for users and reducing costs for taxpayers.
“Two weeks ago I announced a plan to streamline the five State employment rights bodies, and said that my preference would be for a single structure made up of one body dealing with matters of first instance and another body dealing with appeals. Today I am announcing the first steps in that process, which includes naming a leader in the field to drive and coordinate the process across the employment bodies, and immediately placing the operations of two of the key bodies under single leadership.
“Our employment rights bodies which have grown up in a haphazard manner over the years are not fit for purpose. Workers seeking to enforce their rights face waiting times of up to 80 weeks, more than 35 different forms, six different websites, and generally bewildering complexity. Abuses go undetected; yet compliant employers too often find themselves embroiled in costly and time-consuming hearings. And the whole thing costs too much for the taxpayer.
“An effective system would see more grievances resolved in the workplace. Most workers and trade unions do not want to rely on employment law to vindicate their rights, and high standards in the workplace can be a source of competitive advantage for businesses.
“Reform in this area has been talked about for many years. Today I am happy to announce the first steps of implementation.
“I would like to thank Kieran Mulvey for agreeing to provide the leadership for NERA at a hugely important time, which represents a substantial increase in responsibilities at a time when the LRC is already contributing greatly to the increased challenges arising from workplace and labour market changes. I would also like to thank Ger Deering for his willingness to drive the streamlining process as an industry expert”.