Organisation of Working Time Act 1997

Interpretation.

2

2.(1) In this Act—

F1["the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations" means the European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Activities of Doctors in Training) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 494 of 2004);]

F2["adjudication officer" means an adjudication officer appointed under section 40 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015;]

annual leave” shall be construed in accordance with section 19;

collective agreement” means an agreement by or on behalf of an employer on the one hand, and by or on behalf of a body or bodies representative of the employees to whom the agreement relates on the other hand;

F2["collective bargaining" shall be construed in accordance with the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2015.]

contract of employment” means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, and

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971, and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

the Council Directive” means Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time(1), the text of which (other than the second sentence of Article 5) is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Sixth Schedule;

employee” means a person of any age, 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 F3[this Act and the Activities of Doctors in Training Regulations], a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including 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 F4[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014),] or of a harbour authority, health board or F5[a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, board or committee, as the case may be;

employer” means in relation to an employee, 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;

F6["employment regulation order" means an employment regulation order within the meaning of Part IV of the Industrial Relations Act 1946;]

lay-off” has the meaning assigned to it by the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967;

leave year” means a year beginning on any 1st day of April;

the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise and Employment;

outworker” means an employee who is employed under a contract of service to do work for his or her employer in the employee’s own home or in some other place not under the control or management of the employer, being work that consists of the making of a product or the provision of a service specified by the employer;

prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

public holiday” shall be construed in accordance with the Second Schedule;

registered employment agreement” has the meaning assigned to it by section 25 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946;

rest period” means any time that is not working time;

short-time” has the meaning assigned to it by the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967;

working time” means any time that the employee is—

(a) at his or her place of work or at his or her employer’s disposal, and

(b) carrying on or performing the activities or duties of his or her work,

and “work” shall be construed accordingly.

(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.

(3) In this Act—

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

(b) 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,

(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment (including this Act).

Annotations

Amendments:

F1

Inserted (1.08.2004) by European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Activities of Doctors in Training) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 494 of 2004), reg. 12(a)(i).

F2

Inserted (4.03.2019) by Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 (38/2018), s. 13, S.I. No. 69 of 2019.

F3

Substituted (1.08.2004) by European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Activities of Doctors in Training) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 494 of 2004), reg. 12(a)(ii).

F4

Substituted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(8) and sch. 2 part 6, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.

F5

Substituted (1.07.2013) by Education and Training Boards Act 2013 (11/2013) s. 72 and sch. 6 item 22, S.I. 211 of 2013.

F6

Substituted (1.08.2012) by Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 (32/2012), s. 16(2), S.I. No. 302 of 2012.

Modifications (not altering text):

C2

Functions transferred and references construed (14.10.2020) by Employment Affairs and Employment Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 438 of 2020), arts. 2, 3(1)(a), (2) and sch., in effect as per art. 1(2), subject to transitional provisions in arts. 4-8.

2. (1) The administration and business in connection with the exercise, performance or execution of any functions transferred by Article 3 are transferred to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

(2) References to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection contained in any Act or any instrument made under such Act and relating to any administration and business transferred by paragraph (1) shall, on and after the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

3. (1) The functions vested in the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection -

(a) by or under the Acts specified in Part 1 of the Schedule and the provisions of the Acts specified in Part 2 of the Schedule, and

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are transferred to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

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(2) References to the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection contained in any Act or instrument made under such Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Article shall, on and after the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

SCHEDULE 1

PART 1

ACTS OF THE OIREACHTAS

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Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (No. 20 of 1997)

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Editorial Notes:

E5

Declared unconstitutional: Industrial Relations Act 1946 (26/1946), ss. 42, 43 and 45 and Industrial Relations Act 1990 (19/1990), s. 48 purported to allow the making of employment regulation orders. These provisions and employment regulation orders made under them were declared unconstitutional in John Grace Fried Chicken Ltd and Others v Catering Joint Labour Committee and Others [2011] IEHC 277.

E6

Power pursuant to section and sch. 2 para. 1(g) exercised (14.09.2011) by Organisation of Working Time (National Day of Mourning) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 419 of 2001).

E7

Power pursuant to section and sch. 2 para. 1(g) exercised (31.12.1999) by Organisation of Working Time (Public Holiday) Regulations 1999 (S.I. No. 10 of 1999).

E8

Previous affecting provisions: functions transferred and “Minister for” and “Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation” construed (1.09.2017) by Labour Affairs and Labour Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017 (S.I. No. 361 of 2017), arts. 2, 3, 6-8, in effect as per art. 1(2), subject to transitional provisions in arts. 4, 5; superseded as per C-note above.