Increased Pay For Construction Workers
Pat Breen TD, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has signed into law an Order entitled “Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2017”. This Order fixes the statutory minimum pay, pension and sick pay entitlements for craftsmen, construction operatives and apprentices employed in the construction Sector.
The Order gives legal effect to the terms of a Labour Court recommendation which the Minister accepted in July. The draft Ministerial Order was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 22 August 2017.
The revised terms and conditions for the construction sector take effect from the date of the Order i.e. 19 October 2017 and will apply to almost 50,000 workers in the sector.
Minister Pat Breen said: ‘This is the first Sectoral Employment Order made under the new legislative framework put in place in 2015. I want to thank those, including the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), who actively and constructively engaged in the deliberative process before the Labour Court which has resulted in the delivery of pay increases of the order of c. 10% in that sector.”
The Minister noted the value of using the machinery of the State such as the Labour Court to achieve reasonable outcomes such as in this instance which contributes to harmonious industrial relations and allows the State to progress its ambitious plans for economic recovery. “This is important now more than ever in the construction sector in the context of a growing economy with increasing demands for housing and office space,” he added. “This Order will bring a sense of certainty to employees and employers in the construction sector around pay and terms and conditions, particularly at a time when employers are tendering for contracts.”
The SEO provides for the following pay rates:-
Category 1 Worker: €17.04 per hour
(General Operatives with more than one year’s experience working in the Sector)
Category 2 Worker: €18.36 per hour
(Skilled General Operatives, Scaffolders who hold an Advanced Scaffolding Card and who have four years’ experience, Banks operatives*, Steel Fixers, Crane Drivers and Heavy Machine Operators)
(*Banks operatives are more generally known as banksmen)
Craft Worker: €18.93 per hour
(Craft Workers in the following trades: Bricklayers/Stone Layers; Carpenters and Joiners; Floor Layers; Glaziers; Painters; Plasterers; Stone Cutters; Wood Machinists; Slaters and Tilers)
Apprentice
(Apprentices in the following trades: Bricklayers/Stone Layers; Carpenters and Joiners; Floor Layers; Glaziers; Painters; Plasterers; Stone Cutters; Wood Machinists; Slaters and Tilers)
Year 1: 33.3% of Craft rate
Year 2: 50% of Craft Rate
Year 3: 75% of Craft Rate
Year 4: 90% of Craft RateNew
Entrant Worker: €13.77 per hour
(General Operatives who are over the age of 18 years and entering the Sector for the first time).
The SEO also includes recommendations in relation to sick pay, pensions and unsocial hours payments.
