High Court sets aside SEO for electrical workers

The Sectoral Employment Order (SEO) for the electrical contracting sector, which covers craft electricians working for contractors, many of them in the construction sector, has been subject to High Court judicial review challenges brought earlier this year by an employer body known as National Electrical Contractors Ireland (NECI) representing small electrical contractors.

In its action NECI, which operates as a trade association for electrical contractors, claimed that the SEO for electrical workers was flawed on several grounds.

In particular, NECI argued that in its application for an SEO, the Connect trade union sought that all workers be entered into pension and death in service schemes from the age of 15, with the scheme retirement age to mirror the State retirement age. NECI maintained that according to Court's report to the Minister on the proposed SEO, because the Court had not been supplied with figures in relation to the cost of any such pension scheme or evidence of existing schemes that would cater for younger workers and those over the age of sixty-five, it had rejected this proposal during the SEO process.

However, in the Court's recommendation and in SI 703/2021, a 'worker' is defined as any person aged 15 years or more who is in a contract with an employer, including apprenticeship. The SI also sets out pension contributions to be made to 'workers'.

It was NECI's contention that the Labour Court had no right to recommend on issues on which it had no information before it.

Although the High Court has now set aside the SEO, the pay increase of 2.8% that came into effect for electricians in the electrical contracting sector will remain in place as an existing contractual entitlement. However, the second increase, due to take effect from February 1st 2023, will not now be legally binding on the sector.