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HR Blog (6 Jul): Employment Law Updates and Considerations for the Nonprofit Sector

Posted on
6 Jul 2022
by Sarah Fagan, Adare Human Resource Management

There are currently 20 different employment law changes and updates that are in progress. Being informed and understanding these changes and the impacts they will have on policies and procedures in your nonprofit organisation can be time consuming, especially when the sector is addressing other HR challenges such as recruitment and retention. 

As the HR Partner to The Wheel, Adare Human Resource Management aims to provide the latest information to help support you in ensuring you remain compliant with the latest legislative changes and informed of new Codes of Practice.  

In this update, we look at updates in relation to the living wage and remote working.  

Living Wage 

In our April update, we highlighted the Government’s intention to replace the Minimum Wage with Living Wage. Since then, the Government announced how this transition is planned to happen and gave some clarity on how the living wage is to be calculated.  

The living wage is defined as the minimum hourly wage that should enable workers to afford to live at an agreed socially acceptable minimum standard of living.  

It is planned that the living wage will be phased in over the next four years and will see the closing of the gap between the minimum wage. The minimum wage is currently €10.50, and the living wage, currently set at €12.17.  

The new plans would also mean that the living wage would become mandatory for all employers by 2026. However, the economic circumstances of the country may delay the proposed changes.  

In terms of how the living wage is to be calculated, it was announced that it will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year. The Department of Enterprise gave indicative figures illustrating how the living wage would change over the coming four years based on current projections;  

  • 2022 - €12.17 p/h  

  • 2023 - €12.54 p/h 

  • 2024 - €12.92 p/h 

  • 2025 - €13.30 p/h 

  • 2026 - €13.70 p/h 

The difference between the current minimum wage and the living wage represents a significant increase, approx. 16.5%. If implemented today, that would put a real strain on the finances of some in the nonprofit sector. Our most recent HR Barometer Report found that the average salary increases for the sector for 2022 is 2.6%.   

Along with other proposed legislation, such as mandatory Sick Pay, employers will need to carefully consider the personnel budgets over the coming years against fundraising targets and other sources of finances to ensure they can deliver their services effectively.  

Remote Working 

The most significant impact of Covid-19 on the employment landscape has been remote working. For the most part, remote working has been successful with many organisations permanently integrating remote and hybrid working models into their organisation. According to our research, nine in ten nonprofit organisations have or will introduce a formal remote working policy this year. 

The Government has committed that the Right to Request Remote Working Bill 2021 will be enacted ahead of the summer recess. When enacted the legislation will provide a legal framework around which requesting, approving or refusing a request for remote work can be based. Some of the key proposals within the Heads of Bill currently are: 

  • Employers must have a remote working policy in place, which is available to all employees. 

  • Employees with six months employment can submit a remote working request. 

  • Employers must respond with its decision within 12 weeks.  

  • Employers can propose different arrangements to those proposed by the employee. The employee must respond within one month, either accepting the proposals or rejecting them (with a supporting explanation). 

Employers can, however, refuse the request on 13 grounds, most of which relate directly to the ability of the employee doing their job effectively. Employers should be aware that any refusal can be appealed to the Workplace Relations Commission.  

Given the high number of organisations within the sector implementing remote working, nonprofit employers who have yet to make a decision need to consider developing a policy that suits the services they provide, what similar organisations are doing and the positive impact remote working will have on retention, recruitment and overall employee engagement.  

Work Life Balance Bill 

In our April update, we provided information on the proposed Work Life Balance Bill, which aims to bring the European Union’s work-life balance directive into Irish law. The directive seeks to ensure a better work-life balance for parents and carers, as well as encouraging a more equal sharing of parental leave between men and women. 

Since then there have been a number of additional recommendations; it is now envisaged that the Bill will have provisions for child sick leave and ten days domestic violence. It is also expected that there will be an entitlement for lone parents to ten days leave for medical care purposes, double the usual amount to account for the absent parent, and that other targeted supports for single parent families should be developed by relevant Government Departments over time.  

With so many proposed changes anticipated for the remainder of the year it is essential that organisations within the nonprofit sector look to understand the impact on their organisation financial or otherwise, and plan for the upcoming changes to policies and procedures continuing the engage with employees as needed. 

Adare Human Resource Management is a team of expert-led Employment Law, Industrial Relations and best practice Human Resource Management consultants. For more information go to www.adarehrm.ie or call (01) 561 3594.