1.—(1) In this Act—

“the Act of 1973” means the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973;

F1["Commission" means the Workplace Relations Commission;]

F2["contract of employment" means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby —

(i) an individual agrees with another person personally to execute any work or service for that person, or

(ii) an individual agrees with a person carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act 1971 to do or perform personally any work or service for another person (whether or not the other person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and, if express, whether oral or written;]

“the Council Directive” means Council Directive No. 91/533/EEC of 14 October, 1991⁽¹⁾;

“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant, within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or Government, as the case may be, and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F3[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014)], a harbour authority, a health board or F4[an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F4[or board], as the case may be;

“employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment subject to the qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the wages of the individual concerned in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the individual’s employer;

F5["employment regulation order" means an employment regulation order within the meaning of Part IV of the Industrial Relations Act 1946;]

“the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;

F5["registered employment agreement" means a registered employment agreement within the meaning of Part III of the Industrial Relations Act 1946.]

F2["seafarer" has the same meaning as it has in the Agreement concluded by the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, implemented by Council Directive 2009/13/EC of 16 February 2009²;

"sea fisherman" has the same meaning that "fisherman" has in the Agreement concerning the implementation of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 of the International Labour Organisation, concluded on 21 May 2012 between the General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives in the European Union (Cogeca), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises in the European Union (Europêche) implemented by Council Directive (EU) 2017/159 of 19 December 2016³;]

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it has in the Council Directive.

F6[(2A) A word or expression that is used in section 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 5A or 6D to 6I that is also used in Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019⁴ on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in those sections that it has in that Directive.]

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to any enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(b) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.