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33 1961

HOLIDAYS (EMPLOYEES) ACT, 1961

PART III

Annual leave

Annual leave of non-domestic workers,

10. —(1) Every person who employs a non-domestic worker shall in every employment year of the worker during which he has been in the employment of such person, either continuously or on a day to day basis, and has worked in that employment for—

(a) a period of not less than sixteen hundred hours, or

(b) in the case of an industrial worker under eighteen years of age, or a worker under eighteen years of age who is employed in mining, a period of not less than fifteen hundred hours,

allow at such time as such person thinks fit to the worker fourteen consecutive whole holidays including two Sundays (in this Act referred to as annual leave).

(2) Where a non-domestic worker is allowed annual leave, the employer of the worker shall pay to the worker in respect of the annual leave a sum equivalent to twice the worker's normal weekly wage.

(3) Where—

(a) a non-domestic worker employed by a person ceases, at any time other than the end of an employment year of the worker, to be in the employment of such person,

(b) such person has not allowed the worker before the cesser annual leave in respect of the portion of the employment year during which he was so employed,

such person shall pay to the worker at the cesser a sum equivalent to one-sixth of his normal weekly wages in respect of each month in the said portion of the employment year during which he has worked

(c) in the case of an industrial worker under eighteen years of age, or a worker under eighteen years of age who is employed in mining, for not less than one hundred and twenty hours in that month, and

(d) in the case of any other worker, for not less than one hundred and thirty-five hours in that month.

(4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3) of this section the normal weekly wage of a worker shall be—

(a) in case the ordinary remuneration of the worker is wholly calculated by reference to time, a sum equivalent to the amount (exclusive of pay for overtime) which the worker received from the employer as salary or wagesin respect of the week next preceding the annual leave or cesser during which the worker worked the normal number of hours on the normal maximum number of days under his contract of service, and

(b) in any other case, a sum equivalent to the amount of his average weekly earnings (exclusive of pay for overtime) for the six months immediately preceding the annual leave or cesser if he has been so long employed by the employer but if not, then for any less period during which he has been employed by the employer.

(5) Each hour of intermittent unemployment of a worker in respect of which supplementary benefit is payable under section 28 of the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act, 1942 , shall be deemed to be an hour worked for the purposes of this section up to a maximum of two hundred and fifty hours in any employment year of the worker.

(6) The Minister may by order whenever and so often as he so thinks proper, make regulations varying in respect of all or any particular class or classes (defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Minister thinks proper) of non-domestic workers all or any of the periods of sixteen hundred hours, fifteen hundred hours, one hundred and twenty hours, or one hundred and thirty-five hours mentioned in subsections (1) and (3) of this section by substituting therefor either such other number of hours or such number of days as the Minister thinks proper, and whenever any such regulations are in force, those subsections shall have effect in respect of the non-domestic workers or the class or classes of non-domestic workers to which the regulations apply, as if those periods or such of them as are affected by the regulations were varied in the manner stated in the regulations.

(7) Where any non-working day or any two or more consecutive non-working days falls or fall immediately before or immediately after a day on which an employer has allowed a non-domestic worker a whole holiday, the non-working day or each of the consecutive non-working days (as the case may be) shall, if the worker does not work thereon for the employer, be deemed for the purposes of this section to be a day on which the employer has allowed the worker a whole holiday.

(8) No day which is a public holiday or a day on which a non-domestic worker is deemed, in pursuance of the immediately precedingsection of this Act, to have been allowed a whole holiday shall be reckoned as a day of annual leave, but if any such day intervenes between days of annual leave, those days shall be deemed to be consecutive notwithstanding the intervention.

(9) This section shall apply to the employment year current At the commencement of this Act of every person who is a non-domestic worker at such commencement, and this section shall have effect in respect of that employment year and that person as if this section had been in force at the beginning of that employment year, but subject to the modifications that—

(a) if that employment year expires within one month after the commencement of this Act, the employer of such person shall be deemed to have complied with this section if he allows to such person not later than three months after the expiration of that employment year, such annual leave as he may be entitled to under this section in respect of that employment year, and

(b) if such employer has before such commencement allowed to such person in that employment year one or more whole holidays which would be annual leave for the purposes of this section but for the fact that they were less than fourteen, or were not consecutive, or were both less than fourteen and not consecutive, the said whole holidays so allowed shall be deemed to be annual leave for the purposes of this section and such person shall only be entitled in respect of that employment year to such number (if any) of consecutive whole holidays after such commencement as is equal to the number (if any) of days by which the number of the said holidays so allowed is less than fourteen.

(10) Where a person who employs a non-domestic worker proposes to allow the worker annual leave in pursuance of this section—

(a) he shall, not later than fourteen days before the day on which the annual leave is to commence, give notice of his intention to allow the leave and of the day on which it will begin;

(b) if he fails to comply with paragraph (a) of this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(11) If the employer of a[html] non-domestic worker allows to the worker- in any employment year a period of annual leave earlier than the last fourteen days (being days which are reckonable as days of annual leave for the purposes of this section) of the employment year and the worker leaves the employment of the employer before the termination of the employment year, the employer shall not be entitled in respect of the allowance of annual leave to reduce the period of notice required for terminating the employment, nor the pay nor other emoluments to which the worker may be entitled at the time of leaving such employment.

Failure to allow annual leave to a non-domestic worker.

11. —If the employer of a non-domestic worker fails to allow annual leave to the worker in respect of an employment year of the worker in accordance with this Act, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the employer shall be guilty of an offence, and

(b) the employer shall (whether proceedings have or have not been taken under paragraph (a) of this section) pay to the worker a sum equivalent to the amount which under subsection (2) of section 10 of this Act he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker the annual leave and it had been allowed during the last fourteen days of the employment year.

Restriction on work during annual leave.

12. —(1) It shall not be lawful for a person who is an industrial worker or a member of the staff of a shop to do for reward for any person any industrial work or shop work during any period of annual leave.

(2) If a person who is an industrial worker or a member of the staff of a shop acts in contravention of this section he shall be guilty of an offence.

Annual leave of domestic workers.

13. —(1) Every person who employs a domestic worker shall, in every employment year of the worker during which he has been in the employment of such person either continuously or on a day to day basis and has worked in that employment for not less than three hundred days, allow at such time as such person thinks fit to the worker fourteen consecutive whole holidays including two Sundays (in this Act also referred to as annual leave).

(2) Where a person allows to a domestic worker in his employment seven consecutive whole holidays (in this Act referred to as semi-annual leave) in the first half of the employment year of the domestic worker and also allows to the worker semi-annual leave in the second half of that employment year, the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply as regards that worker in that employment year.

(3) Where a domestic worker is allowed annual leave or semiannual leave, the employer of the worker shall pay to the worker in respect of the annual leave or semi-annual leave a sum equivalent to the amount which the worker received from the employer as salary or wages in respect of—

(a) in case the worker is allowed annual leave, the two consecutive weeks next preceding the annual leave during which the worker worked the normal number of hours on the maximum number of days under his contract of service,

(b) in case the worker is allowed semi-annual leave, the week next preceding the semi-annual leave during which the worker worked the normal number of hours on the maximum number of days under his contract of service.

(4) Where—

(a) a domestic worker is employed by a person under a contract of service which includes lodgings,

(b) such person has given to the worker notice of intention to allow to the worker annual leave or semi-annual leave during a particular period, and

(c) the worker, with the consent of such person, remains at work with such person during that period,

such person shall, if, in addition to the wages for that period, he pays to the worker a sum equal to the amount of the wages, be deemed to have allowed to the worker a whole holiday on each of the days falling within that period.

(5) Where—

(a) a domestic worker ceases to be in the employment of a person during the currency of the first half of an employment year of the worker, and

(b) the worker has worked in the employment for not less than one hundred and fifty days in the first half, and

(c) the worker has not before the cesser been allowed during the first half either annual leave or semi-annual leave,

such person shall pay to the worker at the cesser a sum equivalent to the amount which, under subsection (3) of this section, he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker semi-annual leave during the first half and it had been allowed during the seven days preceding the cesser.

(6) Where a domestic worker ceases to be in the employment of a person during the currency of the second half of an employment year of the worker and the worker has not before the cesser been allowed either annual leave in respect of the employment year or semi-annual leave in respect of both the first half of the employment year and the second half, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) if the worker has worked in the employment for not less than one hundred and fifty days in the first half and also for not less than one hundred and fifty days in the second half, such person shall on the cesser pay to the worker a sum equivalent to the amount which, under subsection (3) of this section, he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker the annual leave and it had been allowed during the fourteen days preceding the cesser;

(b) if—

(i) the worker has worked in the employment for not less than one hundred and fifty days in the first half, but for less than one hundred and fifty days in the second half, and

(ii) the worker has before the cesser not been allowed semi-annual leave during the first half,

such person shall pay to the worker on the cesser a sum equivalent to the amount which, under subsection (3) of this section, he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker semi-annual leave during the first half and it had been allowed during the last seven days of the first half;

(c) if—

(i) the worker has worked in the employment for less than one hundred and fifty days in the first half, but for not less than one hundred and fifty days in the second half, and

(ii) the worker has not been allowed before the cesser semi-annual leave during the first half or the second half,

such person shall pay to the worker on the cesser a sum equivalent to the amount which, under subsection (3) of this section, he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker semi-annual leave during the second half and it had been allowed during the last seven days of the second half.

(7) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he so thinks proper, make regulations varying in respect of all or any particular class or classes (defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Minister thinks proper) of domestic workers all or any of the periods of three hundred days or one hundred and fifty days mentioned in subsections (1), (5) and (6) of this section by substituting therefor such other number of days as the Minister thinks proper, and whenever any such regulations are in force, those subsections shall have effect, in respect of the domestic workers or the class or classes of domestic workers to which the regulations apply, as if those periods or such of them as are affected by the regulations were varied in the manner stated in the regulations.

(8) Where any non-working day or any two or more consecutive non-working days falls or fall immediately before or after a day on which an employer has allowed a domestic worker a whole holiday, the non-working day or each of the consecutive non-working days (as the case may be) shall, if the worker does not work thereon for the employer, be deemed for the purposes of this section to be a day on which the employer has allowed the worker a whole holiday.

(9) No day which is a public holiday or a day on which a non-domestic worker is deemed, in pursuance of section 9 of this Act, to have been allowed a whole holiday shall be reckoned as a day of annual leave, but if any such day intervenes between days of annual leave, those days shall be deemed to be consecutive notwithstanding the intervention.

(10) This section shall apply to the employment year current at the commencement of this Act of every person who is a domestic worker at such commencement, and this section shall have effect in respect of that employment year and that person as if this section had been in force at the beginning of that employment year.

(11) Where a person who employs a domestic worker proposes to grant the worker any whole holidays in pursuance of this section-—

(a) he shall, not later than fourteen days before the day on which the whole holidays are to commence, give notice of his intention to grant the whole holidays and of the day on which they will begin;

(b) if he fails to comply with paragraph (a) of this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(12) For the purposes of this section a domestic worker shall be deemed to have worked in the employment of a particular person on any day on which he has been available for service at such person's request for a period of two or more hours.

Failure to allow annual leave to a domestic worker.

14. —If the employer of a domestic worker fails to allow annual leave to the worker in respect of an employment year of such worker in accordance with this Act, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the employer shall be guilty of an offence;

(b) the employer shall (whether proceedings have or have not been taken under paragraph (a) of this section) pay to the worker a sum equivalent to the amount which, under subsection (3) of section 13 of this Act he would have been liable to pay to the worker if he had in fact allowed the worker the annual leave and it had been allowed during the last fourteen days of the employment year.

Payment in lieu of board and lodgings during leave.

15. —(1) Where—

(a) a worker is allowed by his employer annual leave or semi-annual leave, and

(b) the worker was, immediately before such annual leave or semi-annual leave, entitled as part of his remuneration to accommodation,

the employer shall, in addition to any sum payable to the worker under this Act in respect of the annual leave or semi-annual leave, pay to the worker, in respect of any day falling within the annual leave or semi-annual leave during which he does not receive accommodation, in case the worker is employed in a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire, the sum of three shillings or, in any other case, the sum of two shillings.

(2) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks proper, make regulations varying the sum which an employer shall pay to a worker under subsection (1) of this section by substituting for the sum mentioned in that subsection in respect of that worker such other sum as the Minister thinks proper, and whenever any such regulations are in force, the provisions of the said subsection (1) shall have effect, in relation to the worker to whom the regulations apply, as if the sum mentioned therein in respect of that worker was varied as stated in the regulations.

(3) In this section “accommodation”means—

(a) in relation to a worker who is entitled to board only, board;

(b) in relation to a worker who is entitled to lodgings only, lodgings;

(c) in relation to a worker who is entitled to board and lodgings, board and lodgings.

Annual leave of non-domestic workers in one or more than one period of consecutive days.

16. —The Minister may, after consultation with such Ministers of State or employers' organisations and with such workers' organisations as he considers appropriate to be consulted, make regulations providing that all or any particular class or classes (defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Minister thinks proper) of non-domestic workers may be allowed their annual leave in more than one period of consecutive days specified in the regulations, and the regulations may modify any of the provisions of this Act for the purposes of the regulations.

Reckoning of days off with pay as annual leave.

17. —(1) Where, immediately before the commencement of this Act, it was the practice of an employer to allow to any worker employed by him days off with pay in addition to public holidaysand annual leave, and that practice is continued after the commencement of this Act in respect of a worker whether so employed before and after, or after such commencement, such days off with pay may, for the purposes of this Act, be reckoned as days of annual leave in respect of not more than seven days of such annual leave.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section an employer shall be deemed to have allowed a worker a day off with pay if he allows to the worker a whole holiday (otherwise than in respect of sick leave) for which he pays the worker a full day's pay as defined in subsection (13) of section 9 of this Act.

(3) The Minister may, after consultation with such Ministers of State or employers' organisations and with such workers' organisations as he considers appropriate to be consulted, make regulations providing that the practice mentioned in subsection (1) of this section may be applied either wholly or in part as between any employer and any worker (or any class or description of workers defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Minister thinks proper) referred to in the regulations who consent to the application of such practice to the extent specified in the regulations, and upon the regulations being made and such consent being given, the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall apply to them as they do to those referred to in the said subsection (1), but wholly or in part (as may be appropriate).

(4) The Minister may by regulations modify any of the provisions of this Act for the purpose of enabling the provisions of subsection (1) of this section or those provisions as applied by subsection (3) of this section to have effect.