Contract/Temporary Employment bypassing Irish Labour Laws

Sunday July 07, 2002 19:11

by Querty Azerty

I was wondering if any vistiors to the site has any comments to make concerning a method of employment that's seemingly becoming more and more common in Ireland, that of the short-term Contract.

I, for example, am paid by an employment agency yet I work for a multinational. The employment agency renews my contract every three months. I have no paid leave at all. The company dosen't work bank holidays and so I don't get paid for them. The two days I was paid for absense were Christmas Day and New Years' Day. There is no pension scheme and if I'm geniunely sick, don't get paid - nor can I apply to social welfare to cover me as I'm still employed.

The Employment Agency takes (at an estimate) another 80% of my salary ontop of what I'm paid. According to previous contractors, during the recent boom that margin was at high as 100%. The agency does not have to disclose to you how much they charge your employer. In the event of a downturn, they don't need to pay me any compensation, they just terminate the contact. There are no trade unions active in the agency. I would imagine starting one would not get your contract renewed.

I'm not just out to whinge about this situation - I know I make far more money and have better conditions than workers in the far east under similar arrangements, but this is too fast becoming the standard method by which multinationals here in Ireland circumvent our labour laws. Another downside is exemplified by the recent Marlborough debacle. Here we had a situation where the recruitment company collapsed putting people out of work, dispite the fact that the companies they actually worked for wanted to keep them on.

I mean, how do you fuck up a business where all you do is find someone a job and then take 50% of their wages? It must take some doing. Meanwhile the people who actually do all the work become jobless thanks to the ineptitude of management.

Has anyone else had any experiance with these companies? Good or Bad? If anything could be accomplished perhaps we could advise students and people entering the workplace whom to avoid and to make people in the Unions aware of the situation.