From the statisticts below, NERA inspectors have been very busy visiting businesses in many different sectors, checking companies are compliant in relation to employee rights and employment law practices.  In addition to assisting companies prepare for a NERA inspection Voltedge can help you address the outcomes of a NERA inspection and can conduct our own HR Audit of  identify areas requiring attention before you are contacted by NERA.

Please get in touch with us on 01 5252914 or email contact@voltedge.ie if you have any questions or concerns in relation to your compliance as an employer.

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In the three quarters up to September 2012, the NERA (The National Employment Rights Agency) call centre provided information to over 54,203 people, a decrease of 43% on the same period of 2011.

Employees and former employees accounted for 73% of callers, while an estimated 18% were employers.

Topics raised were:

• Redundancy,
• payment of wages,
• working hours,
• terms of employment,
• with unfair dismissal consistently representing the most common category.  

NERA Workplace Inspections:

NERA carries out workplace inspections to ensure compliance with employment rights legislation.

In the period January to September 2012 a total of 3,140 inspection cases were completed involving over 51,000 employees. This compares to 4,199 cases in the same period on 2011. The amount of unpaid wages recovered was €659,435, compared to €1,622,979 in 2011.

Prosecutions:

In the period January to September 57 cases were referred for prosecution (in the same period last year 102 cases were referred). 46 convictions were recorded in cases heard by the Courts over the period resulting in fines of €102,000 being imposed and arrears of wages of over €37,700 being awarded to employees.

Summary of Inspections & Breaches Detected by Industry Sector: January to September 2012