S.I. No. 169/1978 - Employment Regulation Order (Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee) 1978

WHEREAS the Labour Court (hereinafter called "the Court") pursuant to the provisions of Section 43 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 , (hereinafter called "the Act") made an Employment Regulation Order dated the 10th March, 1977 ( S.I. No. 70 of 1977 ) (hereinafter called 'the said Order") fixing the statutory minimum remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee (hereinafter called "the Committee") operates;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has submitted to the Court a proposal for revoking the said Order;

AND WHEREAS the Committee has also submitted to the Court the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto for fixing the statutory minimum rates of remuneration and regulating the statutory conditions of employment of workers in relation to whom the Committee operates;

AND WHEREAS the provisions of Section 43 of the Act have been complied with;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Court, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 43 of the Act hereby orders as follows:—

(1) This Order may be cited as Employment Regulation Order (Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee), 1978.

(2) Effect is hereby given to the proposals set out in the Schedule hereto.

(3) The provisions set out in the Schedule hereto shall have effect as from the 26th June, 1978 and as from that date the said Order shall be revoked.

SCHEDULE.

PART 1.

STATUTORY MINIMUM REMUNERATION.

For workers employed in all areas.

	Date of Order	1/4/79
	£	£
SECTION I—Managing Clerk	59·09	60·27
A Managing Clerk is a legal assistant (not being a Solicitor) of not less than 10 years experience who is fully experienced in all branches of a Solicitor's work conducted in the Office in which he/she is employed and who is able to, and habitually does, conduct legal cases, including the interviewing of clients, in that Office without constant supervision.

SECTION II—Conveyancing Clerk/Cost Clerk
	£	£
1st year of employment ... ... ... ... ...	51·39	52·41
2nd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	53·67	54·74
3rd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	55·82	56·94
A Conveyancing Clerk is a person who is wholly or mainly engaged in title work in all its branches, including the preparing of contracts, investigation of title, drawing and completion of conveyance, mortgages and other deeds.
A Cost Clerk is a person who is wholly or mainly engaged in the drawing and taxation of his employer's costs, and who is not remunerated on a commission basis by his/her employer.

SECTION III—General Law Clerks 17 years of age and over
	£	£
1st year of employment ... ... ... ... ...	35·12	35·82
2nd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	36·05	36·77
3rd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	36·66	37·38
4th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	38·06	38·82
5th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	40·72	41·53
6th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	43·40	44·27
7th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	46·04	46·96
8th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	49·16	50·15
9th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	51·66	52·69
A general law clerk is a person other than a managing clerk, a conveyancing clerk, a cost clerk, a shorthand typist or a typist but who may by a Court Clerk or a Book-Keeper and who is wholly or mainly engaged on clerical or book-keeping duties.

SECTION IV—Shorthand Typist/Typist.	Date of Order	1/4/79
	£	£
1st year of employment ... ... ... ... ...	32·38	33·03
2nd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	33·60	34·27
3rd " " " ... ... ... ... ...	34·91	35·61
4th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	35·65	36·36
5th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	38·56	39·33
6th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	40·50	41·31
7th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	42·94	43·80
8th " " " ... ... ... ... ...	46·02	46·94
A Shorthand Typist or a Typist is a person who is wholly or mainly employed on one or more of the following duties: viz, shorthand, typing, dictaphone, reception, copying, scrivenery, filing, post work, dispatch and telephone operation.
Where a Shorthand Typist/Typist has been trained and is performing duties appropriate to a law clerk such person shall be paid the rate appropriate to a law clerk.

SECTION V—Overtime Rates.

The minimum hourly rates for all hours of overtime shall be as follows:—

One-and-a-half times the hourly rates as defined in Section II, Part II below i.e., time-and-a-half.

PART II.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.

The following conditions of employment shall apply to all workers referred to in Part I above.

SECTION I—Normal Working Week.

The normal number of hours to be worked by workers in relation to whom the Committee operates shall be as follows:—

	Normal Hours
Workers over 16 years of age in any week not exceeding	38

For workers over 16 years and under 18 years the maximum number of hours which may be worked shall be governed by the provisions of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1977 .

	Normal hours	Maximum hours
Workers between 15 and 16 years of age in any week not exceeding ... ... ...	37½ hrs.	40 hrs.

SECTION II—The Hourly Rate.

For full-time workers or for part-time workers the hourly rate shall be the appropriate weekly wage divided by the appropriate normal number of hours worked per week.

SECTION III—Meal Intervals.

Meal intervals shall not be reckoned as time worked.

SECTION IV—Overtime.

All hours worked in excess of the normal hours in any week shall be overtime and shall be paid for at overtime rates as specified in Section V of Part I of this Order.

SECTION V—Sundays and Public Holidays.

All hours worked on a Sunday or on a statutory Public Holiday shall be paid for at twice the hourly rate as defined in Section II above, i.e., at Double Time.

SECTION VI—Annual Holidays.

Annual Holidays shall be in accordance with the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973 .

PART III.

WORKERS IN RELATION TO WHOM THE COMMITTEE OPERATES.

Clerical Workers and Messengers, whether whole time or part-time employed by Solicitors in connection with their professional work and by bodies corporate in their law departments under the direction of their law agents including managing clerks, general law clerks, court clerks, costs clerks, typists, stenographers and book-keepers, but excluding Solicitors' Apprentices and Solicitors.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Labour Court this 21st day of June, 1978.

(Signed) JAMES G. McCAULEY.

A person authorised under Section 18 of the Industrial Relations

Act, 1946, to authenticate the Seal of the Court.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Instrument fixes new statutory minimum rates of pay and regulates statutory conditions of employment as from the 26th June, 1978, for certain workers employed in Solicitors' Offices. It is made by the Labour Court on the recommendation of the Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee.