Irish Draft Employment Bill To Affect Thousands Of Contract Workers

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

23 April 2003

According to reports, around 68,000 Irish contract workers may be affected by a draft bill designed to give contract workers the same rights as permanent staff, set to be published at the end of next month.

Although the new legislation is designed to ensure that contract employees have more rights within the workplace, and can access benefits such as maternity leave and sick leave, observers have suggested that not all of the changes resulting from the forthcoming adoption of an EU directive on workers rights are likely to be beneficial.

Speaking to the UK's Sunday Times this week, a Revenue source suggested that the new legislation may bring many contracted employees who are currently working in a self-employed capacity into the PAYE net:

'If these workers have the same status as PAYE workers, the same tax rules should apply,' the unnamed official observed.

The newspaper also warned that contract workers who have been receiving higher take-home pay as a result of the greater uncertainty inherent in their position could find that their pay packet shrinks as a result of the draft employment law.

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