The Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2017, which was signed into law on 19 October 2017, fixes statutory minimum pay, unsocial hours’ payments, pension entitlements, sick-pay entitlements and dispute resolution procedures for various categories of workers in Building Firms and Civil Engineering Firms. What constitutes a Building Firm or a Civil Engineering Firm is defined in the Order.
These mandatory terms and conditions are in force as of 19 October 2017 and will apply to almost 50,000 workers in the construction sector.
In relation to pay, specific mandatory pay rates have been set for the following categories of workers in the sector:
- Category 1 Worker: General operatives who have worked in the sector for more than one year: €17.04 per hour.
- Category 2 Worker: Skilled general operatives, namely scaffolders who hold an advanced scaffolding card and who have more than four years of experience, banks operatives, steel fixers, crane drivers and heavy machine operators: €18.36 per hour.
- Craft Workers: €18.93 per hour. A pro rata rate of pay applies to apprentices in these trades.
- New Entrant Workers, namely new entrant operatives who are over the age of eighteen and entering the sector for the first time: €13.77 per hour.
