Press release
Minister Higgins to sign order to increase pay for the Contract Cleaning Industry
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
Emer Higgins, Minister for Business, Employment and Retail has approved an Employment Regulation Order for the Contract Cleaning Industry, which provides for a pay increase for the sector.
From 1 June 2024, all workers aged 18 and over in the sector are entitled to a minimum rate of pay of €13.30 per hour. The Employment Regulation Order maintains all other current terms and conditions as provided for in S.I. 110 of 220.
The Minister said:
"I am very pleased to approve this Employment Regulation Order which I will sign to bring into effect on 1 June 2024. It will see the minimum rate of pay of contract cleaning workers increase from the current National Minimum Wage of €12.70 to €13.30. I would like to thank the members of the Joint Labour Committee, the Labour Court and those interested parties who submitted submissions as part of the public consultation for their contributions to this process. This process sits very much within the context of Ireland's voluntarist system of industrial relations.
"The Contract Cleaning Joint Labour Committee is a good example of how effective the reformed Joint Labour Committee system can be when representatives of employees and employers can agree a commonality of purpose in a sector.
"I believe that for specific sectorial workers, the advantage of Joint Labour Committees is that they see fair terms and conditions such as wage rates, sick pay etc. agreed and given effect by an Employment Regulation Order, while for some employers, the advantage of the system, based as it is on the principle of self-governance, means that they can agree and set minimum pay and conditions, agree on work practices which are custom-made to their industry – a flexibility which cannot be achieved by primary legislation."
This ERO proposal amends the ERO that was signed in 2022 for the Sector (SI 110 of 2022) which provided for an hourly rate of €11.50 from 1 April 2022, and further increases to €11.90 per hour from 1 April 2023, and €12.30 per hour from 1 April 2024. This Order, which will become effective from 1 June 2024, amends the previous Order and provides for an increase in the rate of pay for an adult worker in the sector to €13.30 per hour.