Employers' group Ibec has warned the Government against introducing additional employment legislation to deal with situations such as the liquidation of Clerys department store and the rise in precarious work.
In a speech to be delivered to Ibec's annual employment law conference in Dublin, Ibec's Director of Industrial Relations and Human Resources Maeve McElwee will say it would be unhelpful to Irish business to introduce new draconian employment laws when robust remedies already exist to deal with employers whose behaviour falls short of the standard required.
Addressing the shock liquidation of Clerys, Ms McElwee says Ibec is disappointed at the lack of emphasis on remedies already available to employees that have not been availed of.
She says Ibec supports responsible corporate behaviour and believes directors should be called to account where appropriate.
However, Ms McElwee adds that existing company law already allows for directors' behaviour in the run-up to a liquidation to be scrutinised, with severe consequences for inappropriate conduct.
She says it would be unnecessary and udnhelpful to Irish business to propose new draconian employment laws without looking at all the facts.
Ms McElwee also addresses the ongoing debate about zero hours contracts and precarious work, saying there is significant demand for such flexible arrangements from employees.
She says Ibec was not suggesting that there were no issues to be addressed around how working hours were arranged but warned that a "one size fits all" set of rules could have unforeseen consequences, not least for employees themselves.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms McElwee said existing legislation would avoid imposing "a huge burden of compliance on lots of businesses" who are compliant with existing laws.
Ms McElwee acknowledged the distress and hardship caused by the closure of Clerys, but said it was a "rare event".
She said existing remedies under the Company Act could quite competently deal with creditor/liquidator situations like Clerys "without introducing a whole raft of employment laws".
Provisions of the Act would act as a deterrent against misconduct by directors of business, she said.
Ms McElwee said using existing legislation would avoid imposing "a huge burden of compliance on lots of businesses" who are compliant with existing laws.
Ms McElwee acknowledged the distress and hardship caused by the closure of Clerys but said it was a "rare event".
ICTU condemn 'misleading' Ibec claims
The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has accused Ibec of being "misleading and irresponsible" by claiming no change in law is required to prevent another Clerys debacle occurring.
Patricia King said Ibec's proposal was a "diversion" from new proposals that ICTU hope to see enacted to prevent the same corporate behaviour from re-occurring.
Speaking on RTÉ News at One, Ms King said legal advice taken by ICTU "definitively" stated that under current law workers would only be entitled to statutory redundancy and that any case taken by Clerys staff would not give "a good result".
She said a review into the closure of Clerys by the last government had led to "a good set of proposals" which she hopes to discuss with the new Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O Connor.
She said Ibec are trying to take the focus off changing the law because new proposals would never allow such behaviour to be repeated.
