24.— (1) A hirer shall not penalise or threaten penalisation of an agency worker for—

(a) invoking any right conferred on him or her by this Act,

(b) having in good faith opposed by lawful means an act that is unlawful under this Act,

(c) making a complaint to a member of the Garda Síochána or the Minister that a provision of this Act has been contravened,

(d) giving evidence in any proceedings under this Act, or

(e) giving notice of his or her intention to do any of the things referred to in the preceding paragraphs.

F5[(1A) Subsection (1) does not apply to the making of a complaint that is a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.]

(2) If a penalisation of an agency worker, in contravention of subsection (1), constitutes a dismissal within the meaning of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007, relief may not be granted to the agency worker in respect of that penalisation both under Schedule 2 and under those Acts.

(3) In this section “penalisation” means any act or omission by a hirer or a person acting on behalf of a hirer that affects an agency worker to his or her detriment with respect to any term or condition of his or her employment, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes—

(a) suspension or dismissal (within the meaning of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007), or the threat of suspension or such dismissal,

(b) loss of opportunity to apply for a position of employment with the hirer,

(c) transfer of duties, change of location of place of work or change in working hours,

(d) imposition or the administering of any discipline, reprimand or other penalty (including a financial penalty), and

(e) coercion or intimidation.