JLC Issue Rumbles On.
THE High Court may have deemed JLC’s unconstitutional, but grocery retailers are not free of wagesetting mechanisms just yet. David Fitzsimons, Chief Executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, the largest retail trade body in Ireland, criticised the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, for not scrapping JLC’s. “We’re going to see reintroduction of the JLC’s.
JLC-light will be the best way of describing it,” he said in an interview with Retail News. Retail Ireland added that the government decision to bring back JLC’s was a missed opportunity to create jobs in the sector. “Retail is in crisis, with over 50,000 people having lost their jobs in the last three years. The decision to resuscitate the antiquated JLC system is totally unnecessary. Employees are protected by national minimum wage legislation, as well as over 40 pieces of employment legislation,” said Torlach Denihan, Retail Ireland Director.
In July, the High Court ruled the JLC system unconstitutional. Rather than scrap the system, the minister announced a series of reforms to make it “fairer, more competitive and more flexible”. Amongst the measures was the reduction of JLC’s from 13 to 6. For retailers, the most significant change is the scrapping of Sunday premiums. Current employees are still entitled to receive their original rates, continued Fitzsimons. “Every employee, prior to the outcome of the court case, had terms and conditions that applied to their contract. If I have a job in SuperValu and I was on a basic rate of €9.36, I’m still entitled to that, no matter what Richard Bruton or the court does. The only way that can reduce is through negotiation with my employer.
It’s different for new employees.” Fitzsimons believes that over a 10-year period, the majority of retail employees in the grocery sector will eventually be under the auspices of standard wage legislation. He also believes there will be less administrative burdens on retailers. “The record-keeping aspects of JLC’s will be diluted. Currently, you need to have records going back five or six years. There will be less of them and they’ll be streamlined. JLC’s are coming back, but in a different guise.”
