Employers who fail to consult workers on issues affecting them could face stiff penalties, including prison, under legislation to be drawn up shortly.
Prison terms and fines are among the sanctions being considered by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for those who fail to meet their obligations under the proposed new law on workplace consultation.
The law is to be enacted by March 2005, to comply with an EU directive extending the limited consultation rights currently possessed by Irish workers.
A consultation paper on how the directive should be applied in workplaces was published yesterday by the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Frank Fahey.
He said he hoped a significant number of individuals and organisations would make submissions on the issue, which would be accepted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment up to Wednesday, September 24th.
The directive gives workers the right to information and consultation about the business in which they work, its prospects and the circumstances affecting their employment.
It leaves scope for flexibility, however, in the way it is applied by individual member-states.
The Government must decide, for example, whether it should apply to companies or co-ops with at least 50 staff or to distinct entities such as factories or shops which have at least 20 staff.
A Bill proposing to give effect to the directive is to be published by the Department next summer, with a view to its enactment by the following March.
It was likely to include a provision that consultation agreements apply to entire workforces and must be negotiated rather than imposed by employers, the Department said yesterday.
