Guide to ERO's and REA's

One of the areas we are contacted about relates to the terms and conditions associated with JLC's and REA's. While it is not possible to look at all of these, this section will look at the background to JLC's and REA's.

Employment Regulation Orders (ERO)

ERO's give legal status to rates of pay and conditions of employment set by statutory bodies called Joint Labour Committees (JLC), which were established under the Industrial Relations Act 1946. At the time they were established there was no National Minimum Wage and the amount of Employment Law on the statute books was a fraction of that in existence today. Each JLC is composed of representatives of workers and employers in the sector concerned and a chairperson appointed by the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment. An ERO is enforced by NERA and the Labour Court under the Industrial Relations Act. There are 17 Joint Labour Committees covering the following industries:

Aerated Waters and Wholesale Bottling                         Agricultural Workers
Catering (excl Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire)             Brush and Broom

Catering (Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire)                     Security

Contract Cleaning (Dublin City and County)                   Tailoring
Hairdressing (Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire and Bray)    Hairdressing (Cork City)
Handkerchief and Household Piece Goods                 

Hotels (excl Cork City,Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire)  Law Clerks                          

Provender Milling                                                   Retail, Grocery and Allied Trades

Shirtmaking                                                                   Women's Clothing and Millinery.

Registered Employment Agreements (REA)
REA's are collective agreements made between trade unions and employer bodies, which have been approved and registered by the Labour Court. An REA is legally binding on all businesses within the sector regardless of whether they have signed up to the agreement or not (One of the issues around the recent Electricians Strike). In total there are 67 REA's however many of these are quite dated and the four most relevant agreements are those applying to the:

Construction Industry                                       Drapery, Footwear and Allied Trades

Electrical Contracting Industry                        Printing Industry

If you have questions on specific aspects of any ERO or REA please Contact Us