The Labour Court has issued a recommendation under the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to a union and an employer regarding how to engage with each other on certain EWC matters. This case also highlights wider ongoing problems with the current Irish framework for resolving EWC disputes.
The European Works Council (EWC) Directive was transposed into Irish law by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Act, 1996 (TICEA) (our general guide on which is available here). TICEA provides that, upon receiving a request to set up an EWC, an Irish business has three years to negotiate an EWC agreement with a special negotiating body composed of employees’ representatives from across Europe (SNB).
If an EWC agreement cannot be reached, a set of default provisions, known as the subsidiary requirements, govern the relationship between the business and its EWC. These requirements are found in the Second Schedule to TICEA and include that the member(s) representing Irish employees must be elected in accordance with the First Schedule to TICEA. The only method provided by TICEA for redress against the business in the event of its non-compliance with these requirements is a criminal prosecution against either or both of it and the individuals responsible for its conduct.
However, instead of seeking redress under TICEA, the union engaged the industrial relations remit of the Labour Court by referring the matter pursuant to section 26 (1) of the...
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