by Alan Jacques
SINN Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan is to seek the support of the Council’s metropolitan district to call on the Government to amend the Companies Bill 2012 to provide for the piercing of the corporate veil to protect vulnerable workers from calculated breaches of employment law by rogue employers.
Cllr Quinlivan told the Limerick Post that he believes workers’ rights, particularly those on low pay in the retail and services sectors have become increasingly precarious over the last number of years. The City North representative, insists that far too often we see company directors walking away from their responsibilities, not because they cannot afford to meet their liabilities, but because existing employment and company law allows them to.
“There have been a number of high profile cases where workers have had to resort to sit-ins and other types of protracted industrial actions to secure their rights and entitlements. We saw workers in Cork in Vita Cortex and here in Limerick in HMV and Game occupy their place of employment to demand their entitlements,” Cllr Quinlivan declared.
“Over the last couple of years there has been an increasing demand for government to hold company directors to account for outstanding non-payment of awards and pay arising from breaches of employment law,” he added.
The Sinn Féin leader on the Council, claims that rogue employers are hiding behind the “corporate veil” provided for in company law and as a result vulnerable workers are being left high and dry.
“We know there are a small number of unscrupulous business owners who continue to establish a number of companies in an effort to break the link between assets, operations and employees. The provision of the corporate veil in company law in effect separates the legal personality of a company from its Directors thus protecting them from personal liability of the company’s obligations,” he concluded.
At next Monday’s metropolitan district meeting, he will ask councillors to write to Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton calling on him to amend the Companies Bill 2012 to include a provision that will prevent unscrupulous directors exploiting company law to withhold outstanding pay and other earned entitlements.
