December 2021 Members Monthly

Message from / The CEO ISME Welcomes / New Members ISME / News HR Update / Employment law changes in ‘21 & ‘22 Training Courses / Course Updates Member Feature / ISME Members share their news

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO Dear Member, Elaine Dunne, Chairperson of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers and ISME Board member, has been appointed to the Early Years Joint Labour Committee by the Labour Court. This is a very significant development, as ISME members and affiliates have been excluded from “partnership” bodies since the commencement of social partnership.

However, the Federation represents the majority of providers in the sector, and excluding Elaine’s Federation would have been legally difficult and potentially consequential for the Labour Court. We wish Elaine well, and look forward to other ISME affiliates gaining official recognition by the Labour Court.

You may have seen the recent report in the Independent of an attempt by the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA, an IBEC affiliate) to seek a certification for Irish Whiskey in the United States. The IWA, while representing only 25% of Irish distillers, is led by multi-national drinks companies which would be household names to you. Irish Whiskey enjoys global Geographic Indication (GI) status from the EU and the Irish Government, and needs no certification by an IBEC association. We view this so seriously that Stuart McNamara, Chair of the Irish Craft and Artisan Distilleries Association (ICADA) and ISME National Council member, has made a formal complaint of anti-competitive behaviour to the to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). We have also written to the Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue on the matter. This is not done lightly, and it is the first time we have reported another trade association to the CCPC. But we cannot tolerate an attempt by multi-national producers to throttle small artisan producers.

Regrettably, the drift and lack of grip by Government in maintaining a credible pandemic control policy continues. Media and Government Ministers react more to the timing of NPHET meetings than they do to the virus. While we understand the need for Government to take action when case numbers rise and ICU beds fill, the completely contradictory messaging from NPHET on antigen testing is bordering on the farcical. Our letter to the Taoiseach is available here.

Thanks to a huge amount of work by Peter Boland and the Alliance for Insurance Reform, the MOU on insurance fraud has now been agreed with the Gardaí. You will find the form used to report a suspected MOTOR insurance fraud to the Gardaí here. We will send a link to the other form for non-motor fraud as soon as it’s available.

Finally, as we approach the second Christmas in pandemic conditions, please remember to stick with our Shop Local campaign, for both consumer and B2B shopping. I’m delighted to report that some of our retailers reported 2020 as their best year in decades as a result of more localised shopping last year!

Stay Safe, and have a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Neil McDonnell | CEO | neil@isme.ie

NEW MEMBERS: NEW MEMBERS

New members:

AbacusLabs Ltd. Amark Technologies Ltd ta Audio Visual Contracts Aronmar Plant Ltd Arriello Cohn Courtcare Ireland Halo Security Ltd. Hermitage Payroll Services Ltd. Honeysuckle Crafts Monaghan Bottlers ltd.

Orega Systems Ltd Platinum Brand Communications Portlaoise Golf Course ltd SortMyBooks Star Leisure

NEWS NEWS ISME & HSA: Managing Stress Video Q&A Our Managing Stress at Work Q&A will be taking place on Wednesday 8th December, 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm with Cait Lynch, ISME’s HR Advisor, Patricia Murray, Senior Work & Organisational Psychologist, HSA and John Barry, Managing Director, MSS. This webinar will look at the factors that can cause stress in the workplace, the outcomes and will give advice on guidance on dealing with stress.

This event is free to all. Please send questions you would like to ask the panel when you are registering here.

ISME & HSA: Managing Stress Video Series Patricia Murray, Senior Work & Organisational Psychologist with the Health and Safety Authority is in conversation our HR Advisor, Cait Lynch on a series of videos to discuss Managing Stress at Work.

The videos will focus on three key areas: • • •

Work-related stress Conflict in the workplace Employer stress

View the videos and other key information here.

Shop Local for Christmas As we have done all year, ISME will continue to back Shop Local through our B2B and B2C portals for Christmas shopping and looking ahead to 2022 purchasing. We want to ask businesses to support each other- either to purchase or refer business. Members can advertise for free, please fill out the form here or contact marketing@isme.ie.

The Latest bISME is available now Published in November, issue 15 of The bISME is packed full of articles and information including an interview with the Founder & CEO of Swoop, Andrea Reynolds; Neil McDonnell examines the budget & what it means to SMEs; also you can view articles on SCM and the GB Landbridge; advice on dealing with cybercrime for remote working; workplace trends & the changes employers are facing and much more. Read here.

NEWS NEWS Christmas and public holidays Did you know that when a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, some people assume that the following Monday is treated as a public holiday? However, this is not the case. This year Christmas falls on a Saturday and St. Stephens day is on a Sunday. If a public holiday falls on a weekend, employees do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. When this happens – some employers might treat the following Monday as a public holiday but an employer can require employees to attend work on that day. If a public holiday falls on a day that is not a normal working day for a business employees are still entitled to the benefit for that public holiday.

When this happens, employees are entitled to one of the following: • A paid day off within a month of the public holiday • An additional day of annual leave • An additional day’s pay The benefit is given at the discretion of the employer.

Protecting your business from Cybercrime We have created a Cybersecurity page on the website here where you get advice on managing Cybersecurity for your business.

Re-watch our recent free online panel discussion about protecting your business from cybercriminals. Watch back here You can also watch a webinar from Spector IT here offering steps to follow to avoid a cyber attack.

It pays to refer Did you know that when you refer another business(es) to join ISME, you receive 10% discount when you renew your membership but make sure they mention you when they join! We want to continue to grow ISME so we can represent and support more Irish businesses.

ISME in the media ISME have been speaking to the media this month abut COVID-19 restrictions, working from home and BREXIT. You can take a look at some of the coverage here.

NEWS NEWS Central Bank release report on Motor Insurance ISME welcomes the publication of the Central Bank’s third report of the National Claims Information Database into private motor insurance. The report confirms a downward trend in the cost of motor insurance, falling 7% from 2019 to 2020. In view of the heavy restriction on movement during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, we in ISME are surprised that this decline was not higher.

Read in full here Support Scheme for Energy Audits The SEAI has launched their Support Scheme for Energy Audits. The scheme offers a voucher of €2,000 for eligible SMEs to enable them to get a high-quality energy audit from a Registered Energy Auditor. You can read full details on the the SEAI website here.

ISME Wellness Programme In these unprecedented times of a global pandemic, the health and wellbeing of employees is more important now than ever. As we support our members and their employees working remotely, we are committed to delivering the best, most appropriate, and most accessible solutions along with our partners, Laya healthcare and their health & wellbeing provider, Spectrum.Life with our ISME' Wellness Programme.

This 24/7 Mental Wellbeing Support Programme (EAP) offers unlimited access to employees and their families. For members with up to 30 employees the fixed cost is €500 + VAT and each subject employee is €9 for one year. To find out more go click here.

COVID-19 Survey Please complete our 9th COVID-19 survey, it is open to members and non-members alike. The survey aims to find out how COVID-19 is affecting your business, and how you’re dealing with it.

Survey available here.

NEWS NEWS Upcoming events from InterTradeIreland Through their Go-2-Tender Workshops, InterTradeIreland is offering a series of practical, sector specific workshops to give firms across Ireland the edge when it comes to applying for public tenders. Workshops will take place in December.

Their Customs Q&A will take place on Tuesday 7th December 2021, 11:30am - 1pm. This webinar will focus on Customs requirements and provide your business with an update on cross border trade post Brexit.

The Equity Advisory Clinics are one-to-one clinic aimed at companies seeking Equity Investment.

Companies can receive advice on their fund-raising activities including a business plan review and investment pitch practice. These take place in December and January.

See full details on events here.

Back to Business Mentoring & Coaching Programme

ISME Skillnet are offering ISME members the opportunity to apply for fully funded business coaching and mentoring in their Back to Business Mentoring & Coaching Programme.

Business coaching and mentoring has long been recognised as a highly effective method to review, improve and grow a business; however, it can prove to be costly and out of reach for many small businesses. We want to change this for ISME members. This fund will allow ISME to engage 60 businesses and develop new ideas and strategies they wish to implement. The six hours with a business coach / mentor will provide an organisation with the right skills, tools, and competencies to develop their business.

Read more here

NEWS

HR UPDATE

Employment law changes in 2021 and 2022 Employers and employees have seen plenty of changes to employment legislation in 2021, and are expecting more over the next twelve months.

Employers need to ensure that they are reviewing handbooks and policies in line with these changes to ensure continued compliance with current legislation.

These changes include: Sick Leave Bill 2021 The Sick Leave Bill will provide for an entitlement to a minimum period of paid sick leave for all employees in the event that they fall ill or sustain an injury which prevents them from being able to work.

All employees will eventually be entitled to ten days, or two weeks, of sick pay per year. This will be in addition to any other leave such as annual leave, parental leave, or maternity or paternity leave. It’ll be for both full and part time employees. It will initially be paid at 70% of regular earnings up to €110 per day, from the first day of illness, and this can be varied by ministerial order.

As currently drafted, the bill does not provide for any further top up of salary for the employee and nor will any compensation scheme be provided for employers to assist them with the costs of sick pay. Therefore, Businesses around the country must now make provision for this new regime and consider where changes to existing policies are required once the scheme is introduced.

This is expected to be enacted into legislation in 2022.

The proposal is to introduce a legal right to request remote work, Currently in Ireland, all employees can ask their employers for the right to work remotely, but there is no legal framework around which a request can be made and how it should be dealt with by the employer.

This new law will set out clearly how these requests should be dealt with, as well as giving employees a way of challenging decisions relating to this.

This legislation was expected to be in place by now, however to date we have not seen a draft bill, and it is understood that this will now be brought about in 2022.

Right to disconnect The WRC code of practice on The Right to Disconnect was signed into effect in April of 2021. The Right to Disconnect gives employees the right to switch off from work outside of normal working hours, including the right to not respond immediately to emails, telephone calls or other messages. There are three rights enshrined in the Code which comes into effect today: •

the right of an employee to not have to routinely perform work outside their normal working hours

•

the right not to be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside of normal working hours

•

the duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect (for example: by not routinely emailing or calling outside normal working hours)

Right to request remote working As part of the national remote working strategy the right to request remote working was expected to be brought into legislation by the end of 2021, however this is now more likely to be brought into law in 2022.

NEWS

HR UPDATE

Employment law changes in 2021 and 2022 The legislative basis for this code lies in Section 20(2) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 which provides, at the request of the Minister, for the preparation of draft codes of practice by the WRC for submission to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Codes of Practice set out guidance and best practice for employers and employees with respect to compliance with employment legislation.

Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021 The new provisions under this act include : •

An additional three weeks of paid Parents' Leave and Benefit to each parent to be taken in the first two years after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. This increased the statutory entitlement for eligible parents from 2 to 5 weeks.

•

All adopting couples will be able to choose which parent may avail of adoptive leave, including male same-sex couples who were previously precluded due to an anomaly in legislation.

•

Paternity Leave and Benefit will be made available to the parent who is not availing of adoptive leave.

This Act became effective in March 2021.

EU Directive on Work-Life Balance In August 2019 a new EU Directive came into force: the EU Directive on Work-Life Balance.

Member states have three years within which to implement the Directive. Remote working is just one example of a far broader range of flexible working arrangements, including parttime, flexi-work, annualised hours and compressed hour arrangements. The Work-life Balance Directive requires member states to ensure that certain workers have the right to request “flexible working arrangements” which are defined to include not only remote working, but also working schedules and working hours.

However, the government’s Making Remote Work strategy document suggests that only legislation relating to a request to work remotely is currently being planned. The EU directive is limited to parents and working carers. If employers implement flexible working arrangements in the workplace, they need to be mindful of their obligations in respect of breaks between shifts, and other obligations, under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.

Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the transposition of the EU Whistleblowing Directive into Irish law. Ireland is one of just 10 EU Member States to already have comprehensive legal protections for whistleblowers in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act. The Act will be amended to give effect to the Directive and to further enhance and strengthen the protections it provides.

NEWS

HR UPDATE

Employment law changes in 2021 and 2022 The Amendment means that, volunteers, unpaid trainees, board members, shareholders and job applicants will all come within the scope of the Protected Disclosures Act for the first time.

Private sector organisations with 50 or more employees will be required to establish formal channels and procedures for their employees to make protected disclosures, just like the public sector.

Employers and prescribed persons who receive protected disclosures will be required to acknowledge them and follow-up on the allegations made and give feedback to the reporting person within three months.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Act The Gender Pay Gap Information Act was signed into law in July 2021. The Act amends the Employment Equality Act 1998, requiring the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to make regulations requiring private and public sector employers (subject to employment thresholds) to report and publish information relating to their gender pay gap, and, where there is a gap, to explain why there is a gap and what measures are being taken to reduce it.

The mandatory reporting obligations apply to private and public sector employers and will initially only affect employers with 250 + employees. The Act widens the scope to employers with 150 + employees on or after the second anniversary of the regulations and to employers with 50 + employees on or after third anniversary of the regulations. There will be no requirement on employers with less than 50 employees to report.

Minimum Wage The National Minimum Wage will increase to €10.50 per hour from 1 January 2022.

This represents a 30-cent increase, or just under 3%, on the current National Minimum Wage of €10.20 per hour.

This increase will also mean that those working under certain conditions, under the age of 18, 19 and 20, will receive a corresponding increase in their pay, as they are entitled to a percentage of the full minimum wage rate.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Business coaching and mentoring has long been recognised as a highly effective method to review, improve and grow a business. It can prove to be costly and for this reason used more frequently by large businesses and out of reach for many SMEs. This we believe will change for ISME members as we will be offering our member companies a fully funded business coaching and mentoring programme.

Skillnet Ireland have been instrumental in supporting SMEs during the pandemic. Their ‘’Future Dynamics – Industry/Regional Innovation Initiative’’ was exactly what ISME needed to further assist our member companies with their future growth plans, and we are very grateful for their support at this difficult time for Irish businesses.

How many businesses will benefit?

This fund will allow ISME to engage 60 businesses and develop new ideas and strategies they wish to implement. The 6 hours with a business coach / mentor will provide an organisation with the right skills, tools, and competencies to develop their business.

The areas we will cover, but not exclusively are: • Digital and Automation • Growth and Finance • People and Leadership • Business Improvement Strategies • Business Processes

Our Mentors Our panel of experienced coaches and business advisors have either sectorial or domain expertise.

They have been through ordeals that many businesses are going through themselves. Therefore, offering to share their experience allows the development of a trusted partnership, and set a confident path to success. The progression of this relationship will aid a business owner to delve into their true purpose, both personally and professionally.

Who can apply?

Private sector businesses based in Ireland with between 5 and 250 employees are eligible to participate in the ISME Back to Business initiative.

Additionally, you must be an existing ISME member to avail of this programme.

Before applying: Please ensure that you have devoted some thought and effort into the following when applying: • Shortfalls in your current business performance • How you think you might be able to do better, and identify what you would like to achieve.

APPLY HERE

MEMBER FEATURE ISME members AsIAm, want to hear from employers and employees AsIAm Is Ireland’s National Autism Charity. We are working to create a society in which every autistic person is empowered to reach their own personal potential and fully participate in society. We believe that by developing the capacity of the autism community and addressing the societal barriers to inclusion we can make Ireland the world’s most autism-friendly country.

AsIAm is working on a new project which aims to reach autistic people in rural communities so that they can have greater access to employment in their area. Autistic people have high rates of under or unemployment, even those with relevant qualification and training. Despite an openness to hiring autistic workers, many businesses lack an understanding of what is needed to make their business autism friendly.

AsIAm are keen to hear directly from the autistic community from both urban and rural areas, as this will be a both community-led and community-informed project. We appreciate you taking the time to help our new initiative! Please fill in your details at the end of the survey for a chance to win a €50 One For All Voucher.

Separately we would like to hear from the employers (no matter what size or location in Ireland) how we can assist you in recruiting autistic people.

Employee survey here

Employer Survey here

The Printed Image welcome Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe The Printed Image – Home of Sustainability were delighted to welcome Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD, local Fine Gael TD Deputy Emer Higgins and local Fine Gael Councillor Shirley O’Hara to our new Greenogue premises on Tuesday 23rd of November.

Our public representative’s visit was an excellent show of support for The Printed Image in our ongoing sustainability initiatives and our continued growth as an Irish employer.

We are proud to be ISO-9001 and FSC® certified, ensuring all of our paper is sourced from FSC® certified mills promoting exemplary sustainable forest management. Alongside this, we concentrate on waste stream segregation, recycling everything we can including waste paper and board, ink tins, HDPE and LDPE containers, wooden pallets and plastic wraps and films. We operate a100% effluent free site.

Read more here