Member’s Newsletter
July 2024
Message from the CEO
Dear member,
June has come to an end without progress on the legislative agenda for ISME- issues such as the planning bill and the defamation reform bill have been long-fingered. This is the difficulty with elections and referendumspolitical energy and attention is absorbed by election activity, and there is insufficient bandwidth to get anything done in the Dáil.
With just six sitting days in the Dáil before the summer recess starts on 11th July, it remains unclear whether there will be a general election before or very soon after the budget. However, we need you, the membership, to be ready to state your case to politicians directly on the doorstep.
Regrettably, we must report that while there has been a lot of “SME-friendly” rhetoric from Government recently, that has not translated itself into any form of meaningful engagement with the SME community This will mean we will be calling on YOU to follow up directly with your local TD or Minister or Senator this summer. You’ll fine their contact details HERE.
Simon Harris held his first LEEF meeting on 24th June. Despite the fact that the national minimum wage, collective bargaining and apprenticeships were under discussion, ISME continues to be excluded from this body These issues are breadand-butter for ISME members!
For this reason, ISME will continue to coordinate with other representative associations to press for adequate SME representation on LEEF.
If you haven’t already done so, please make sure you follow ISME on LinkedIn. Not alone is this a great way to stay up to date on our current activities, it is also a fast way to interact with like-minded SME owners on the topics that matter to you and to get feedback to us
It’s not just membership of LEEF that’s an issue of course, and we have set out our 11 strategic themes in this year’s Pre Budget Submission 2025.
I hope we have addressed the important budgetary issues for you in this. If not, please let me know directly.
To those of you taking a well-earned break in July, I wish you a good holiday, and I hope your plans are not disrupted by industrial action. I’ll drop you a line again in August
Innovio Technologies Limited
Midas Touch
Innoquality Systems Limited
Waterford Business Machines
Modern Plant Limited
Costello Windows
ISME news
To support businesses in accessing funding the ISME Finance Finder, powered by Swoop Funding, has updatedand improved its online platform by introducing cashflow and forecasting tools, banking and accounting system integration, as well as equity funding Register here now to explore the funding options available or to start a conversation about how much you could raise through equity. Your funding journey starts now by going to www.isme.ie/finance-finder
Corporate enforcement authority publishes first annual report
The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) has today published its first Annual Report. The Report, which covers the initial period to 31 December 20231 , provides a comprehensive account of the steps taken to establish the CEA’s presence, and of the work undertaken to build the organisation’s operational capability
The Report includes 17 case studies that illustrate the breadth of the CEA’s impact and demonstrate a considered and graduated approach towards the deployment of enforcement powers.
Read the report here.
ISME HR Hub – your HR support
To support Members to deal with the everchanging world of HR and employment law, we have created a portal to give you access to guides, templates, contracts, policies and more to support you in managing HR in your business We have curated the information based on the HR Life Cycle: Attraction, Recruitment, Onboarding, Policies & Training, Performance Management and Exit
You can also find information from government agencies and other third parties in our General Information & Resources page, links to the top downloads and view our selection of blogs including Statutory Sick Pay FAQs and EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions.
To find out how it works and looks, click on the video about the portal here. To use the ISME HR Hub log into the Members Area, click on the top left button.
ISME
ISME news
Take a look at the most recent addition to the ISME ADVANTAGE Affinity programme from ISME Member business Me2You
Order over €5,000 and get €50 gift card free. Other offers include discounted acceptance rates for all new ISME member merchants/retailers joining Me2You gift card
View all our Affinity programmes here. ISME Members can access all offers when they log into the Members Area
Wellness for your team
ISME partners with Laya healthcare and their health & wellbeing provider, SpectrumLife to provide 24/7 Mental Wellbeing Support Programme (EAP) for ISME Members We offer unlimited access for your employees and their families to a 365 freephone EAP service, accessible via website, app, or live chat The cost for up to 30 employees is €500 + VAT and each subsequent employee €9 per employee. Find out more here.
Spend Local This Summer
We want to continue our Shop Local message by encouraging people to Think Local and Shop Local this summer for holidays, activities, entertainment and shopping.
ISME Members can advertise for free so please add your details here if you would like your business featured or to update your existing ad in our Shop Local portals To find out more please contact marketing@isme ie
ISME news
ISME taking bookings now for ads in the 2025 Wall planner
We will be printing and distributing our popular 2025 ISME Wall Planners to the membership before the end of the year We offer advertising space on the planner, a great B2B tool which will be distributed to all ISME Members nationwide There are four sizes available for advertising, and as always, ISME Members receive a discounted rate Book your spot now as they sell fast.
Download the spec here or email marketing@isme.ie for more information
➢ Q2 2024 Bank Watch Survey
ISME Surveys
➢ Q2 2024 Trends Survey
How did your business find the second quarter of 2024? In an ever-changing business environment, we want to hear from you on how your organisation has been impacted by completing our Trends Survey for Q2 2024 here.
Please share this survey with your network.
Please take our Bank Watch Survey for Q2 2024 based on your experiences of accessing finance and engaging with lenders here.
The Bank Watch Survey provides us with the latest up to date information on SME's access to finance. The findings of these surveys will be circulated to media and will feed into relevant groups and committees ISME sit on. Reports will also be uploaded to the ISME website, view previous reports here.
Please share this survey with your network.
ISME
❑ Why a Health and Safety Inspector Calls to your Workplace guidance explains to you what to expect when an HSA inspector calls to your workplace to carry out an inspection or an investigation. It also explains what we do with the personal data we are required to collect during our workplace inspections and investigations.
❑ A new course ‘Protecting Vulnerable Workers’ is now live on hsalearning.ie The course is accessible from a new topic titled ‘Vulnerable Workers’ on hsalearning.ie This course is targeted at employers/managers/supervisors – across all sectors. It includes a definition of vulnerable workers (VWs), examples of VWs, some profiling around specific cohorts, accident data (including HSA accident trends data 2013 to 2022), an explanation of vulnerability and some indicative personas. In addition, we have a useful checklist which provides examples of what a prevention approach looks like.
❑ New information sheet on occupational noise is written for employers and employees to raise awareness and control the risk of workplace noise. It is applicable to all sectors. Many thanks to Declan Foster, Mairead Wall, Shara Smith and Helen Hourihane. Please see: Sound matters - Occupational Noise
❑ New Topic Page on Human Factors: Human Factors - Health and Safety Authority (hsa.ie)
❑ Vulnerable Workers Information Sheet is written for employers, managers, and supervisors. The purpose of this information sheet is to raise awareness around vulnerable workers, employer responsibilities in relation to protecting vulnerable workers, and protection practices.
❑ Vulnerable Workers Topic Page on HSA Website provides some high-level information about vulnerable workers and some signposting to key resources.
❑ The HSA are delighted to have reached a huge milestone with BeSMART.ie with over 100,000 users.
❑ Psychosocial Risk Assessment: Guidance for Exposure to Sensitive Content was developed by the Health and Safety Authority and the State Claims Agency. It was developed in order to assist organisations employing people in roles which expose them to sensitive content as part of their assigned duties or other employees who are unexpectedly exposed in their role.
❑ Exposure to Sensitive Content Risk Assessment Template was developed by HSA to support organisations employing people in roles which expose them to sensitive content.
ISME news
The HSA will be hosting a National Conference on Safety Representatives in Dublin Castle on the 12th of November 2024.
All current Safety Representatives, employers, training organisations, instructors, professional health, and safety practitioners, those interested in occupational health and safety and anyone with occupational health and safety responsibilities are welcome to attend the conference. The conference will include keynote speakers, panel discussion and round table discussions.
Click here to book your spot and learn more.
Healthy Workplace
The Healthy Workplace Framework is a government strategy to enhance the health and wellbeing of Ireland’s workers A committee led by the Department of Health and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment oversaw the development of this Framework and set the strategic direction for workplace policies and programmes to enhance the health of workers
A new Healthy Workplace website was recently launched and features interactive tools to facilitate the delivery and evaluation of health and wellbeing initiatives in workplaces of any size This website aims to be the one-stop-shop for everything you need to make your workplace a Healthy Workplace It is designed to cater for the needs of public and private organisations and is targeted towards members of staff from Wellness/Health Promotion, Human Resources, Occupational Health, Health & Safety, decision-makers in senior management, and employees hoping to champion a Healthy Workplace.
Find out more on https://healthyworkplace ie/
New Module from SEAI
SEAI has released a new module - Introduction to Energy in Hotels. This module has been designed to support hotels on their energy efficiency journey. It will help businesses understand their energy use, identify quick wins and investment opportunities.
You can access the module here
SEAI Survey
At SEAI, they have noticed an increased interest in biomass options being discussed in all commercial sectors, in particular among SME’s. To further understand their target market SEAI are carrying out a short survey on biomass to assess both the driving and limiting factors that affect take up of biomass options, and to understand the current perceptions of biomass among SME’s.
We would be very grateful if you can take the time to fill this in before July 26th. The survey should take no more than 8 minutes of your time, and this data will be used to inform SEAI’s biomass offerings.
https://forms.office.com/e/eMaVr7zfcX
Green Business Supports
Ireland has a target to reduce carbon emissions (greenhouse gas emissions) by 51% by 2030, and to achieve a climate neutral economy by 2050. (source: Government Report). The sectoral emissions ceilings (SECs) agreed in July 2022 put in place targets for each sector to achieve this. The target for the enterprise sector is to reduce emissions by 35% by 2030. In order to do this, businesses are encouraged to invest in a greener future, through sustainable products, services and business models.
Whether your business is big or small, it is important to reduce emissions and promote sustainability in how you work Click here to find a number of training, mentoring and financial supports for companies trying to reduce their carbon footprint
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Annual Report 2023
HR Updates Workplace Relations Commission
The WRC has recently published its Annual Report; it is the first report published under the incoming Director General of the WRC, Ms. Audrey Cahill. Here at ISME, we wanted to save you the time of reading the comprehensive report released by the WRC and instead give you an overview of the aspects of the activities of the WRC that may be of interest to you. The number of hearings and decisions processed by the Workplace Relations Commission last year increased by a further 12% on the 2022 hearings.
Complaint Breakdown:
6,172 complaint applications encompassing 14,158 individual complaints were received by the WRC in 2023, a decrease of 4.5% and 6.5% respectively compared to 2021. The main types of complaints were as follows:
• Pay (3,662) – by far the main complaint received by the WRC
• Unfair Dismissal (1,875)
• Discrimination/Equality/Equal Status (1,817)
• Working time (1,554); - Breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
• Terms & Conditions (1,387)
• Trade Disputes/Industrial Relations (1,104)
The WRC noted a considerable increase in relation to complaints under Schedule 2 of the Protected Disclosure Act, 2014 of 201% compared to 2022.
While claims regarding Unfair Dismissals rose by over 300 cases compared to 2022, cases related to Equality remains high. Under this particular legislation, the majority of referrals were under the ground of Disability (331) followed by Gender (322), however, a considerable increase of 135% was noted under the ground of Sexual Orientation and Race increasing by 64% since 2022. Complaints related to Family Status rose by 28% to 68 cases.
HR Updates
The WRC conducts hearings "in person" and "remotely" with an average of 70% being "in-person" and 30% conducted remotely. A total 4,765 Adjudication hearings concluded in the period 1st January to 31st December 2023 - an increase of 12% (4,253) on hearings concluded in 2022.
Mediations
In 2023, 1,926 cases were selected for mediation, 785 of these cases progressed to full mediation where both parties agreed to participate. An additional 127 mediations took place in 2023 year on year representing a 19% increase in mediations compared to 2022 and a 57% increase compared to 2021.
Something of note here for employers is the reminder that the WRC provides two distinct forms of mediation service: preadjudication mediation (face-to-face and by telephone) to assist with the resolution of a specific complaints referred to the WRC, and workplace mediation to resolve ongoing interpersonal issues between persons or groups of persons. The latter can be applied for by all employers that require the service
Decisions
Almost 3,000 (2,951) Decisions and Recommendations issued in 2023 relating to 6,385 individual complaints. This represents a continued increase amounting to 50% (1,968) that issued in 2022. In 2023, The WRC was notified of 324 determinations issued by the Labour Court in 2023. Of the decisions made, 176 were upheld, 68 varied, 75 were overturned and the remainder were out of time.
Most notable cases
Amy Farrell v. An Garda Síochána
Legislation: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, objective condition, standing, locus standi
Complainant started work as a cleaner with the Respondent in August 2016 Her role was classified as a relief cleaner, and she was on a fixed rate of pay, aligned to the first point of the salary scale for the grade of cleaner She did not receive incremental credit, paid sick leave or other entitlements to which permanent employees in the grade of cleaner were entitled After the Complainant’s union raised the issue of a contract of indefinite duration, the Respondent issued a contract of indefinite duration to the Complainant which was backdated to take effect from 1 April 2019 and not from the original start date from 2016.
Learning from Case: Providing Employee Documents confirming the terms of their employment is critical While this complaint was not well founded, the complainant was deemed to have been in continuous employment with the respondent from the first date of employment and any breaks in service were deemed to have been periods of Lay-Off. Therefore, she was not employed on a serious of Fixed Term Contracts
Catherine Kelly v. An Post
Legislation: Sexual harassment, Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2021
Alleged that while she was talking to another colleague, he came up behind her and put his hand on the inside of her thigh. She pushed him away stating that she had warned him before not to do that.
HR Updates
The Complainant reported the matter to the floor manager and provided a written statement. CCTV of the incident was obtained and statement from a witness.
The matter was investigated although the Complainant was never interviewed and advised there was insufficient evidence as the CCTV did not show the incident. Upon appeal, the Complainant was not asked about events that led to her making the complaint and CCTV was not reviewed. The original outcome was upheld.
Learning from Case: Section 14A
Employment Equality Act 1998 (“EEA”) provides that if sexual harassment by someone other than the employer can be regarded as discrimination by the employer, the employer may rely on the defence that they took such steps as were reasonably practicable to deal with the allegation of sexual harassment.
The duty of the employer is that complaints of this matter should have been taken seriously and investigated in accordance with the Dignity at Work, AntiBullying and Harassment policy with the appropriate independent investigators appointed
€53,560 compensation awarded to the complainant.
Thomas Doolin v. Eir Business Eircom Limited
Legislation: Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2021
The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent in September 2019. He worked as a Desk Support Agent on a salary of €35,000 a year. The Complainant was due to turn 65 in July 2023
In January 2023, he was notified of his upcoming retirement after which he made a formal request to work past the age of 65. The Complainant requested to continue working past the age of 65 however the request was denied, and this decision was upheld following an appeal.
Learning from Case: A mandatory retirement age raises an inference of discrimination The Respondent submitted that the following were legitimate and objective justifications for its mandatory retirement age: the need to promote intergenerational fairness, the necessity for effective succession planning, and the importance of maintaining age balance in the workforce to uphold the individual dignity of an employee.
The Adjudicating Officer assessed the Complainant held a junior role and it was unlikely that retaining him in employment would have impeded the career progression of any other employee.
The Complainant be re-instated in his previous role with effect from the date of his retirement.
The complete WRC Annual Report 2023 can be found on the ISME HR Hub.
If perhaps you require any HR assistance for your business don’t hesitate to contact the HR Team via HR@ISME.ie , or alternatively phone 01 6622755 Option 2.
Learning & Development
The ISME Skillnet service is here to help both the business owner and their employees. ISME Members can receive up to 40% discount for ISME Skillnet training, view courses below.
UPCOMING COURSES:
COURSE
DATE VIEW COURSE
Introductory Certificate in Bookkeeping using Big Red Cloud Join Anytime View Course
Planning & Budgeting in Accounts Join Anytime View Course
Cyber Security Workshop Wednesday, 24th July View Course
Certified Leadership Programmes:
• Emerging Leadership Development Programme
• Frontline Managers - Leadership Programme Monday, 16th Sept View Courses
Introduction to Canva Tuesday, 17th Sept View Course
Customer Service and Complaints
Handling Thursday 19th Sept View Course
Business & Email Etiquette Friday, 1st Oct View Course
SCAN THE QR CODE TO FIND THE FULL LISTING
