Bill will shake up IR bodies
by Bernard Harbor
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The Workplace Relations Bill, which was finally published at the end of last month, will give statutory force to Government plans to reform the state’s official industrial relations structures. The move, which has been largely welcomed by trade unions, will see just two bodies – a new Workplace Relations Commission and a strengthened Labour Court – replace five existing bodies.
The Workplace Relations Commission will deal with all complaints in the first instance, while a revamped Labour Court will deal with appeals. The legislation is due to be enacted by the end of the year.
The bodies set to be merged into the new structure are the Labour Relations Commission, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court.
In future, appeals heard by the Labour Court will be taken as new or, to use the Latin term, ‘de novo,’ and they will beheld in public unless they involve sensitive or confidential issues.
The new arrangement is designed to reduce delays and simplify the system while making it easier to use and understand. Complaints and appeals currently being dealt with by employment appeals tribunals will remain in the EAT process.
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