Workplace Relations Act 2015

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Amendment of Act of 1967

76. (1) The Act of 1967 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) of section 2, by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘Act of 2015’ means the Workplace Relations Act 2015;

‘adjudication officer’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2015;

‘Director General’ means the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission;”,

(b) in section 24, by—

(i) the substitution, in paragraph (c) of subsection (1), of “Director General” for “Tribunal”,

(ii) the substitution, in subsection (2A) (inserted by section 12 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1971 ), of “adjudication officer, if he is satisfied” for “Tribunal, if it is satisfied”, and

(iii) the substitution, in subsection (3) (inserted by section 13 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1979 ) of—

(I)“Director General” for “Tribunal” in each place that it occurs, and

(II)“at his discretion” for “at its discretion”,

(c) in section 39, by—

(i) the substitution, in subsection (15), of “Director General” for “Tribunal” in each place that it occurs,

(ii) the substitution, in subsection (16), of “Director General” for “Tribunal”,

(iii) the insertion of the following subsection:

“(16A) The Director General shall refer to an adjudication officer for adjudication by that officer an appeal under subsection (15) or a question referred to the Director General under subsection (16).”,

(iv) the insertion of the following subsection:

“(16B) Subsections (15) and (16) of section 41 of the Act of 2015 shall apply in relation to an appeal under subsection (15) or a question referred to the Director General under subsection (16) as they apply to a complaint or dispute to which the said section 41 applies, subject to the following modifications:

(a) references to complaint or dispute shall be construed as references to such an appeal or such a question;

(b) references in the said subsection (15) to complainant or respondent shall be construed as references to employee or employer;

(c) the reference in the said subsection (16) to parties to a complaint or dispute under that section shall be construed as a reference to the employee or employer concerned; and

(d) any other necessary modifications.”,

(v) the substitution, in subsection (17), of “adjudication officer concerned” for “Tribunal” in each place that it occurs,

(vi) the substitution, in paragraph (a) of subsection (19), of “Director General” for “Tribunal”, and

(vii) the substitution, in paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (i) of subsection (19), of “an adjudication officer” for “the Tribunal” in each place that it occurs,

(d) by the insertion of the following section:

“Appeal to Labour Court from decision of adjudication officer

39A. Section 44 of the Act of 2015 shall apply in relation to a decision of an adjudication officer in relation to an appeal under subsection (15) of section 39 or a question referred to the Director General under subsection (16) of that section as it applies to a decision of an adjudication officer under section 41 of that Act, subject to the following modifications:

(a) the reference in subsection (1) of the said section 44 to—

(i) proceedings under section 41 shall be construed as a reference to such an appeal or proceedings in relation to such a question, and

(ii) those proceedings shall be construed as a reference to such an appeal or proceedings in relation to such a question;

and

(b) any other necessary modifications.”,

and

(e) by the substitution of the following section for section 40 (inserted by section 9 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1971 ):

“Appeal to High Court on point of law

40. A party to proceedings before the Labour Court under this Part may, not later than 42 days from the service on that party of notice of the decision of the Labour Court in those proceedings, appeal that decision to the High Court on a point of law, and the decision of the High Court in relation thereto shall be final and conclusive.”.

(2) The amendments to the Act of 1967 effected by this section shall not apply in relation to—

(a) an appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal under subsection (15) of section 39 of that Act brought before the commencement of this section, or

(b) a question referred to in subsection (16) of that section falling to be decided by a deciding officer before the commencement of this section.