There's nothing worse than having a zero-hour contract. You know, the one where you literally never get any hours, and when you do get called in, you get sent home? Well, that could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a Government initiative for employees.
According to RTE, the Government has approved draft legislative proposals that will hopefully introduce legislation to get rid of so-called "zero-hour" contracts and dodgy employment.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and Minister of State for Employment and Small Business Pat Breen based their proposal off recent University of Limerick research that shows the extent of unpredictable employment in Ireland.
There are currently no real regulations surrounding casual and unreliable work - and we all know how frustrating it can be if we don't know when our next pay cheque will be.
The proposal also called for the outlaw of zero-hour contracts by making employers pay staff who are called into work and sent home three hours' pay at three times the national minimum wage. Can you imagine how game-changing that would be for some of us?
Oh and under the proposed laws the ministers want workers to be entitled to clearer information about the terms of their employment within five days of starting a job.
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It makes you wonder why we haven't had this sort of legislation in place for years now.
If employers breach the proposed legislation, they will be guilty of a criminal offense.
Fingers crossed!
Also read: Calls For More CCTV In Ireland After Young Woman Allegedly Raped In Dublin Yesterday
