13.— (1) An employer shall not penalise the employees’ representative for performing his or her functions in accordance with this Act.

(2) For the purposes of this section, an employees’ representative is penalised if he or she—

(a) is dismissed or suffers any unfavourable change to his or her conditions of employment or any unfair treatment (including selection for redundancy), or

(b) is the subject of any other action prejudicial to his or her employment.

(3) Subject to subsection (5), the employees’ representative shall be afforded any reasonable facilities, including time off, that will enable him or her to perform his or her functions as employees’ representative promptly and efficiently.

(4) An employees’ representative shall be paid his or her wages (within the meaning of the Payment of Wages Act 1991) for any period of absence afforded to him or her in accordance with subsection (3).

(5) The granting of facilities under subsection (3) shall have regard to the needs, size and capabilities of the undertaking concerned and shall not impair the efficient operation of the undertaking.

(6) Schedule 3 has effect in relation to an alleged contravention of subsection (1).

(7) If a penalisation of an employees’ representative, in contravention of subsection (1), constitutes a dismissal of the representative within the meaning of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2005, relief may not be granted to the representative in respect of that penalisation both under Schedule 3 and under those Acts.