In the 6 month period between January and June 2013, The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) conducted 2,755 workplace inspections. A staggering 1,458 (53%) of these inspections were unannounced!

NERA’s update on activity from January to September 2013 illustrated the following:

*In the first 9 months of 2013 the NERA Customer Service Unit provided information to more than 48,484 people. The vast majority of people who received information from the Customer Service Unit were employees or former employees (an estimated 71%).

*Redundancy, Working Hours, Conditions and Terms of Employment, Payment of Wages and Unfair Dismissal were the main topics/issues dealt with during the period.

*The Workplace Relations Customer Services (which deals with complaints in relation to all employment rights bodies) received 11,787 Employment Rights Complaints between January and July of 2013. This number represents a significant increase on the same period in 2012 when 9,809 complaints were received.

*4,009 workplace inspection cases were completed in the first 9 months of 2013. These cases involved more than 44,100 employees. This represents a significant increase on the 2012 figure of 3,140. The amount of unpaid wages recovered totalled €583,650.

*In the period between January and September 2013, 33 cases were referred for prosecution. 47 convictions were recorded in cases heard by the Courts during the first 9 months of last year.

http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Publications_Forms/NERA_Update_September_2013.pdf