“JLC REA Rates” is often shown in job vacancies listed on FAS website and other job adverts.
These were agreements that covered the pay levels of certain types of workers in Ireland.
They are no longer valid.
Following a High Court decision all JLC Employment Regulation Orders ceased to have statutory effect from 7 July 2011. Employees who were covered by an JLC ERO have existing contracts of employment which govern their pay and conditions of work. If an employer reduces an employee’s rate of pay this would be a change in their contract of employment and normally it requires the employee’s consent. The pay and conditions of employees who start work after 7 July 2011 is governed by employment legislation such as the minimum wage.
JLC – The agreements on pay and conditions made by Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) were known as Employment Regulation Orders (EROs). It is the JLC that agrees the rates of pay and working for the workers in the JLC’s sector of employment, for example, catering. An Employment Regulation Order made by the Labour Court therefore makes the JLC agreement enforceable by law.
Other agreements which result from negotiations between trade unions and employers are called Collective Agreements. If a Collective Agreement has been registered with the Labour Court it is known as an REA Registered Employment Agreement (REA).
REAs were legally binding to the employers and employees in the sector of employment to which the agreement applied.
Update – May 2013 Supreme Court Rules REAs Unconstitutional