Employment rights agency recovers €3m in wages

More than €3 million in wages owed to workers in Ireland was recovered by the National Employment Rights Authority in 2008.

The figures, which were published in Nera's annual review, revealed that a total of 27,900 calls, interviews and inspections were carried out during the year, with more than 4,600 breaches of employment law detected.

The number of calls to the authority has risen in the past year, with close to 115,000 calls handled by Nera in 2008. This is a 30 per cent rise on 2007. Some 11,300 email queries were also dealt with.

Speaking earlier today, Minister for Labour Affairs Billy Kelleher said employment law was not designed to be onerous on businesses.

"While recognising the economic challenges that exist for all businesses and the importance of retaining jobs, compliance with employment law is not something deliberately designed to be onerous on employers - it is about ensuring that there is a level playing field whereby responsible employers who give workers their full legal entitlements do not face even greater challenges because some competitors are prepared to short-change employees on their rights," he said.

Director of Nera Ger Deering said regardless of the economic climate, it wasn't acceptable for employers to fail to pay the legal minimum rates of pay.

"Whilst most employers are committed to complying with employment law and cooperate with Nera, we have encountered a number of employers where very serious breaches are evident or where employers refuse to cooperate," he said.

"Some are of the opinion that employers should not be required to pay the legal minimum rates to their employees due to the changed economic climate. Are we really suggesting that withholding money that is legally due to those on minimum rates of pay is a sustainable or legitimate way to run a business?"

Nera was established on an interim basis in 2007. Under the Employment Law Compliance Bill currently being debated in the Dáil, Nera would be placed on a full statutory footing. Since it was established, Nera has recovered more than €5.5 million in wages due to employees.