Groups representing employers have told a jobs, enterprise and innovation sub-committee that the Joint Labour Committee structure is unfair, outdated and obsolete.
IBEC director of industrial relations Brendan McGinty has called on the Government not to reinstitute the JLC arrangements in a way that they have operated to date.
Mr McGinty said that businesses operating in the most hard-pressed sector in Ireland should not be further penalised and businesses should be given a fighting chance.
He added that the JLC structure does nothing for job sustainability and that labour costs account for 60% of costs for retail and hospitality businesses.
Mr McGinty said the irony of this matter being discussed today, after the Government announced its Action Plan on Jobs, is not lost on him.
Local Jobs Alliance spokeswoman Tara Buckley has echoed Mr McGinty’s comments and said if a family business fails, the protections are few and far between.
However, John Douglas of Mandate has said that the current lack of a JLC system had created loopholes that some employers were exploiting.
Mr Douglas said that the union has strong evidence that employers are paying €1 extra per hour for people working Sundays due to a loophole in current legislation.
He said there needs to be a decency threshold.
Patricia King of ICTU has said that a Sunday premium code of practice needs to be linked to the JLC in proposed new legislation.
Ms King said when the Oireachtas is making comparisons between workers in other countries and their wage rates the comparison should be fair and reasonable.
She said that it should look at the cost of living for a worker, including levels of taxation and purchasing power.
