The Changing Role Of The Labour Courth

Introduction

In the following essay the author will set out to show the reader the changing role of the Labour Court since 1990. It will start by explaining to the reader how the Labour Court is structured and then outline briefly its functions. From there, the author will talk about the history and reasoning for the establishment of the Labour Court, and how various acts were passed by governments of the time that changed the role of the Labour Court up to 1990.

The author will then explain concisely the Industrial Relations Act of 1990 and show how this changed the Labour Court dramatically. The reader will be introduced to other Acts that shaped the Labour Court since then. From there, the author will put forward examples of cases that are changing the role of the Labour Court and express opinions of them. The final section outlines a summary of the main points made in text and the feelings of the author on the subject.

The structure of the Labour Court

The Labour Court is made up of nine full time members, consisting of a chairman, two deputy chairmen, (which are appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment) and six ordinary members, three of the ordinary members are appointed by Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), who represent employers. The other three are selected by Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). The court also consists of a legal secretary called “The Registrar”; this position is appointed by the Minister for Enterprise ( labourcourt.ie 2007).

To ensure that all cases are dealt with as quickly as possible, the Labour Court operates in three separate divisions, although some instances may require a meeting of a full Court. A division comprises of the chairman, who at present is Kevin Duffy, or a deputy chairman, an employer’s member and a trade union member. The hearings of the Labour Court are held n Dublin and at other places around the country ( labourcourt.ie2007).

The functions of the labour court

The mission statement of the labour court is as follows (labourcourt.ie 2007);

"To find a basis for real and substantial agreement through the provision of fast, fair, informal and inexpensive arrangements for the adjudication and resolution of trade disputes"

The Labour Court provides a free and wide-ranging service for the resolution of industrial relations disputes ( labourcourt.ie 2007). For instance, the Labour Court deals with issues that occur under the Acts of employment equality, organisation of working time, national minimum wage, part-time work and fixed-term work. The Labour Court is not a court of law. It functions as an industrial relations tribunal, listening to both sides of the parties arguments in trade disputes and then makes recommendations based on the Court`s consideration regarding the dispute and the terms on which it should be resolved. These recommendations are not legally binding on the parties involved, however, the parties are expected to give serious consideration to the Court's recommendation. Although responsibility for the outcome of a dispute lies firmly with the parties involved.

When the Court is looking at cases concerning breaches of registered employment agreements (REAs), the Labour Court can issue legally binding orders. In addition, the Court's determinations under the Employment Equality, Pensions and Organisation of Working Time, National Minimum Wage, Industrial Relations (Amendment), Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) and Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) legislation are legally binding. (labourcourt.ie2007)

Labour Court pre 1990 Acts

The labour court was established in 1946, under the terms of the Industrial Relations (IR) Act of 1946. The Labour Court was formed as one part of the state`s dispute resolution machinery. It was devised to adjudicate and offer a conciliation service to the parties involved in a trade dispute and provide non legally binding recommendations that have a high moral authority. The IR Act of 1946 also gave the Labour Court other roles, such as the creation of joint labour committees (JLCs), Joint Industrial Councils (JICs) and (REAs). (labourcourt.ie2007)

In the IR Act of 1969, the function of Rights Commissioners was brought in to reduce the work load of the labour court and more importantly to give a swift “conflict resolution” service to parties involved in trade disputes in what are deemed less important IR issues (Gunnigle et al 2006). The 1969 act also amended some parts of the 1946 IR Act in relation to the function of the Labour Court, for instance, under section 20.1 of the Act, where workers concerned with a trade dispute or their trade union requests the Court, to investigate the dispute and the Labour Court makes a recommendation. It can be legally binding on that party because they referred it The court was shaped further under other Acts such as the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act of 1974; where recommendations of an equal pay officer could be appealed to the labour court, the IR Act of 1976; which added additional divisions to the Labour Court, the Employment Equality act of 1977, which was designed to protect against discrimination on basis of gender and marital status (Wallace et al 2004), a recommendation on a case could be made by an Industrial Relations Officer (IRO) or Equality officer.

IR Act, 1990 and its effect on the Labour Court

On 18th July 1990 the Government of the time, Fianna Fail, introduced the IR act of 1990 which changed the role of the Labour Court significantly. The Act's main purposes were twofold, firstly to amend and update the law on industrial conflict and secondly to re-organise the State's dispute resolution machinery. (eurofound.europa.eu 2007).

The 1990 Act changed the law in relation to trade unions, whereby they lost some of their immunities of the law they had gained in the Trade Disputes Act of 1906( Wallace et al 2004). For instance, they have no immunity from inter-union (worker versus worker) disputes, workers can only picket their own employer and not utilise the full strength of their union and they lost their previously held, total immunity from being sued. Trade unions were also required to summit provisions of a secret ballot in to their rule book. This meant every time they wanted to take industrial action against an employer, they had to seek approval from their members to do so, through this provision.

From the IR Act 1990 the Labour Court lost a number of its functions, chiefly its conciliation service and its Rights commissioner’s service