Posted By Jay Joshi There is:- 1)ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME ACT, 1997 1997 NUMBER 20 (AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE 93/104/EC OF 23 NOVEMBER 1993 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES CONCERNING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF WORKING TIME, TO MAKE PROVISION OTHERWISE IN RELATION TO THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF EMPLOYEES AND THE PROTECTION OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF EMPLOYEES, TO AMEND CERTAIN ENACTMENTS RELATING TO EMPLOYEES, TO REPEAL THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT ACTS, 1936 AND 1944, THE HOLIDAYS (EMPLOYEES) ACTS, 1973 AND 1991, AND CERTAIN OTHER ENACTMENTS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.) 2)ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME (CODE OF PRACTICE ON COMPENSATORY REST AND RELATED MATTERS) (DECLARATION) ORDER, 1998 S.I. No. 44 of 1998. 3)ORGANISATION OF WORKING TIME (GENERAL EXEMPTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1998 S.I. No. 21 of 1998. There are other orders etc

Posted By Juliet Fennell Yes, Ireland does have similar legislation, for anyone interested all Irish legislation up to 1998 is on the web, it will be updated this year to 2000 apparently. Check out www.irlgov.ie/ag/, then access Irish Statute Book and the act you want is 1997, Organisation of working time Act. There is also a code of practice SI 44/98 - which you should be able to access under regulations. In summary, the average working week should not exceed 48 hours averaged usually over 4 months. There must be a rest period of 35 consecutive hours, the daily rest period must be at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24 hour period. If the staff of the hotel have a collective agreement approved by the Labour Court they may work above an average of 48 hours. I will point out that the hospitality industry in particular have been notorious in terms of hours worked and length of shifts especially for trainees (degree students seeking experience) I have often been served a last drink by the same person who serves breakfast the next morning and may have only had 4 hours inbetween. However this was all prior to the introduction of the Act and I do not know how the industry in general have changed. If the girl in question has the ability to join a union that may work in her favour. Should she not like the circumstances in that particular hotel the good news is that there are loads of catering/hotel jobs in Ireland and she should find one suited to her. I hope this is of help, contact me if you need anything, Juliet Fennell