Guiding employers through the maze of legislation

Employers are brave souls to employ anyone, what with the sheer amount of legislation that is out there; and it seems to be forever changing and getting more complicated.

The hapless employer may feel it needs a doctorate in law - when all it wanted to do was sell ice-cream or computer chips or run a mini-bus or typing service.

Whether you are a multinational or the local corner shop, merely by employing one person, you are catapulted into the seeming maze of employment law.

You have got to consider things like contracts of employment, data protection, equality in the workplace, the health and safety of employees, how best to deal with grievances and disputes and how to address what can be the humanly tragic circumstance of a termination of employment. And just when you have got a handle on equality legislation they go and change the goal posts. It is bye-bye to the Employment Equality Agency and hello the Equality Authority. Or you have finally sussed out discrimination on gender and marital status grounds when they introduce seven new grounds for workplace discrimination.

Grappling with employment law is not for the faint hearted. Even figuring things out like how long employees are allowed to work for, rest period entitlements, shift work schedules and holiday entitlements could be enough to dissuade an entrepreneur from employing anyone. But help is at hand, if at a cost. Dublin-based Graphite Human Resources Management has produced Personnel Policies and Procedures: The Law in Perspective. It is easy to read and it makes complex stuff simple. It makes employment law seem sensible, intelligible and, most important of all, manageable.

An accessible and practical tool, it should give heart to employers, whether they are a multinational corporation or an entrepreneur just starting out in the serious business of employing people.

It has chapters on: conditions of employment; contracts; data protection; discipline; employee assistance programmes; employee participation, equality; grievance; health and safety; holidays; leave of absence; payment of wages; recruitment; termination of employment and transfer of undertakings. Each chapter is divided into four sections: summary of legislation; operational considerations; sample policy; and trends and options.

For instance, the chapter on conditions of employment deals with the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997; the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996; joint labour committees employment regulation orders; and registered employment agreements. The language is clear and to the point. For instance, under its summary of the Protection of Young Persons Employment Act 1996, it states simply: "Employers who do not comply with the provisions of the Act are guilty of an offence." But it then clearly outlines that it is an employer's adequate defence "to prove that the breach was reasonable due to an emergency or threatened emergency provided that:

The work is temporary or must be done immediately;

Adult workers are not available to do the work;

Compensatory rest is given within three weeks of the emergency;

Pay is at time and a quarter for the period concerned."

Under "entertainment", it points out that if, say, a visiting manager from overseas were "required to be brought out to dinner", and "if the dinner is scheduled to facilitate a meeting that this constitutes part of a working day".

The sample working time policy presented in the chapter acknowledges at the outset the company's commitment to the health, safety and welfare of all employees and proceeds to outline a succinct policy covering working hours, holidays, public holidays and double employment. It includes a short sample letter companies could use to ensure they track all employees working in two jobs. In the trends and options section of the chapter, it notes that Ireland's atypical workforce is low by European standards and it outlines options such as personalised hours and annualised hour contracts.

Book version: £397.50. CD version: £392.50 + VAT. Contact: Graphite HRM Ltd., 7 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2. Telephone: 01 662 7099.

jmarms@irish-times.ie