Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Ireland (Ratification: 1998)

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year, as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019.

The Committee notes the observations of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) received on 26 October 2018. It further notes the observations of the ICTU received on 9 October 2019, together with the Government’s report.  The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 3(1) of the Convention. National policy for hotel and restaurant workers. The Government indicates that, following the first review of the existing bipartite joint labour committee system (JLCs) by the Labour Court in 2013, the Dublin Hotels JLC was abolished by a Ministerial Order in January 2014. In its second review carried out in March 2018, the Court took note of the submissions of the employers’ and workers’ representatives, who expressed the unanimous view that there was no justification for maintaining the two existing JLCs for the catering sector. Thereafter, the Statutory Instrument giving effect to the amalgamation of the two catering JLCs came into force on 19 December 2018. In response to the Committee’s 2013 direct request concerning the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the hotel and restaurant sector, the Government reports on a series of legislative measures and initiatives taken to boost the hospitality sector. The Government indicates that the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018, which came into force on 4 March 2019, introduced a number of significant changes to the labour legislation, and increased protections for employees in the hospitality sector. It adds that, as of 1 January 2019, under the National Minimum Wage Order 2018, the national minimum wage for an experienced adult employee is €9.80 per hour, and that wage rates solely based on age as well as trainee rates are abolished. This provision applies equally to workers in the hospitality sector. In its supplementary information, the Government indicates that, as of 1 February 2020, under the National Minimum Wage Order 2020, the national minimum wage for an experienced adult employee is €10.10 per hour, with separate national minimum wage rates provided for young people and trainees. The Committee takes note of a series of initiatives taken by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, such as the introduction of a number of regional experience brands designed to stimulate regional tourism, for example, the Wild Atlantic Way campaign launched in January 2018. In addition, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) published a Greenways Strategy for the development and future funding of Greenways in the country, to create new sustainable employment opportunities for communities where they are located. The Government also introduced a reduced VAT rate on tourism-related services, from 13.5 to 9 per cent in 2011, which applied to the hotels sector and to restaurants and cafe services. The Committee notes with  interest  that, according to the report, partly as a result of these initiatives, hotel sector occupancy levels have recovered, job vacancies in the hotel sector increased by almost 200 per cent between 2013 and 2017, and all regions benefited from job growth. According to the Government’s report, a 2017 study commissioned by Fáilte Ireland indicated that employment in sectors where the reduced VAT rate applies increased by 38,400 since the reduced rate was implemented, attributing between 4,800 and 8,900 of these jobs to the VAT reduction. In its observations, the ICTU expresses the view that the increase in employment in the tourism sector was not entirely attributable to the reduced VAT, referring to the June 2018 review by Ireland’s Revenue Commissioners and the July 2018 report of Ireland’s Department of Finance. The ICTU also refers to some sectors where the lower rate (9 per cent) of VAT applies, despite years of a favourable VAT rate accorded to the sector during the economic crisis, as documented in the above-mentioned reports of June and July 2018. The ITUC further asserts that employers in some of these sectors refuse to engage with the JLC system and that the Government has repeatedly declined to compel them to do so.  The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated detailed information on further developments concerning the national policy for hotel and restaurant workers, and to transmit copies of any new texts, legislative or others, which may be adopted with respect to pay and employment conditions in the hotel and catering sector. Noting that separate national minimum wage rates are provided for young people and trainees, the Committee requests the Government to clarify what is the basis for the different rates, and provide information on the breakdown of the workforce, specifying the percentage of young workers.

Training and education programmes. The Government refers to the policy “People, Place and Policy: Growing Tourism to 2025”, published in March 2015, which highlights the key role of training and education in ensuring an adequate supply of skilled staff in the tourism sector, and sets out a number of policy proposals in relation to employment promotion, training initiatives and working conditions. The Committee notes that a Tourism Action Plan for the period 2019–21 was published in December 2018. Subsequently, a new Tourism and Hospitality Careers Oversight Group was established to address labour supply and skills development issues affecting the growth of tourism businesses. The Committee notes that the Group is chaired by Fáilte Ireland and its members include: industry representative bodies, education providers and state agencies.  The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the nature, content and extent of training and education programmes aimed at improving the skills of those employed in the hotel, restaurant and catering industry.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Irish Inspection Services in the report, in relation to the activities of the Workplace Relations Commission, established in 2015. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government regarding the results of the inspections conducted on the accommodation and food service sector, the food and drink sector and the hotels sector. The Committee notes that, in 2019, inspectors concluded 4,804 workplace inspections, covering over 126,903 employees and recovering over €3.9M in unpaid wages. However, the Committee notes with concern the Government’s indication that the food and drink sector remains an area of relative high non-compliance in terms of employment law, with the main areas of non-compliance in 2019 being the failure to maintain employment records, non-payment of public holidays and employing foreign nationals without obtaining proper authorization. The Committee notes that, non-compliance rates for the food and drink sector increased from 58 per cent in 2017 to 67 per cent in 2018, compared to a 44 per cent average non-compliance rate for all sectors in 2018. It further notes that, for the period from 1 June 2019 to 31 August 2020, the non-compliance rate for the food and drink sector stood at 41 per cent, compared to a 31 per cent average non-compliance rate for all sectors. The Government indicates that the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) prepares and updates health and safety advice for the catering and hospitality sector, in consultation with the Irish Hotels Federation, the Vintners Federation of Ireland, the Panel of Chefs of Ireland and the Waterford IT School of Hotel Management. The Committee notes the information provided on the number of inspections and investigations carried out in the hotel and restaurant sectors by HSA Inspectors from 2013 to 20 May 2019. The Committee notes that the HSA Strategy 2016–18 targeted new and returning workers in the hotel and restaurant sector, given that these workers were at increased risk of occupational accidents.  The Committee requests the Government to continue to transmit detailed updated information on the application of the Convention in practice, in particular statistical information, disaggregated by age, sex and sector (hotels, restaurants) regarding the number of visits conducted by the labour inspectorate and the outcomes of such visits. The Committee requests the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged to reduce the high level of non-compliance in the sector.

COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee notes that the accommodation and food services subsectors have been among the “hardest-hit” sectors following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted by the Governments to contain it. In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee recalls the guidance provided by international labour standards. In this regard, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), which provides guidelines for the formulation and implementation of effective responses to the profound socioeconomic repercussions of the pandemic. The Committee invites the Government to provide up-to-date information in its next report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the application of the Convention.