NERA

Who are NERA?

NERA is the National Employment Rights Authority.  It was established under the Social Partnership Agreement ‘Towards 2016’ to “achieve a national culture of employment rights compliance”.  NERA provides information to employees and employers through its information unit (www.employmentrights.ie, Lo Call 1890 80 80 90); it monitors employment conditions through its inspection services; and can enforce employment law compliance and seek redress for employees.  It can also initiate prosecution proceedings against employers who fail to comply following notice from NERA inspectors.  NERA covers many aspects of employment rights including, but not limited to, Wages, Holidays and Public Holidays, Working Hours and Rest Breaks, Redundancy, Dismissal, Notice and Protection of Young People.

What are their powers?

NERA’s inspection teams are regionalised and in total, it currently has 90 inspectors (12 team managers and 78 inspectors) with regional offices in Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Shannon and Carlow.  Inspections are instigated in a number of ways.  They can be planned inspections (either on the basis of a particular geographical area, or a particular industry), they can be as a result of a complaint made by an employee (and this can be anonymous), or they can be on foot of a referral by another statutory agency.  Inspections can be announced or unannounced.

NERA inspectors have the right to:

·    Enter any premises at a reasonable time;

·    To demand sight of records;

·    To inspect records;

·    To take copies of records; and

·    To interview and require information from any relevant person (including employees, supervisors, payroll staff, etc.) 

Where a breach of employment rights legislation has been identified, NERA’s primary role is to seek compliance and rectification of the breach.  This includes redress for the employees concerned and payment of any arrears due.  Employers are generally given a fixed period of time in which to rectify matters – usually a period of weeks.  Where the employer fails to rectify the matter or where breaches of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996, or the Employment Permits Acts 2003-2006, have been detected, the matter is referred to the Chief State Solicitors Office with a view to initiating a prosecution in the Courts (in the period 1^st Jan to 30^th  Sept 2010, 102 cases were referred to NERA Solicitors for prosecution).  When the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 is enacted, these powers will be further enhanced.

How to prepare for a NERA Inspection

Get your employment documentation in order!  There is certain documentation that an employer is expected to provide or make available to their employees and NERA Inspectors will expect you to produce this documentation for them.  Documentation required includes – for each employee – copies of payslips, evidence of hours worked and breaks, terms of employment, holiday and public holiday entitlements received by each employee, and any other documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with employment rights legislation e.g. Disciplinary policy and procedure, Bullying Prevention procedure, etc.  Documentation should be up to date.  Employers are required to retain employment related documentation for a minimum of three years.

Check out the Employers Guide to NERA Inspections at http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/media/An%20Employers%20Guide%20to%20NERA%20Inspections.pdf