No fishing expeditions for Labour Inspectors: Supreme Court finds no right to circulate to the general public
The case of GAMA v Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment and another which you may recollect got a lot of publicity in 2005, when the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment directed the Labour Inspectorate to investigate and report to the public in relation to alleged breaches of the Working Time Regulations and Minimum Wage Act 2000.
GAMA obtained an Order preventing general publication of the report of the Labour Inspectorate as being outside the relevant Acts from the High Court and then the company judicially reviewed the Labour Inspectorate process of obtaining the report and the report itself. The Supreme Court recently upheld the decision of the High Court that the powers of Inspectors must be used for the purposes of the Acts and not a fishing expedition. The Supreme Court found that the Inspector can pass on information to Statutory Agencies and the Minister in its report arising from its investigation but cannot circulate or publish a report to the general public as this is not envisaged in the legislation.
In summary, the Supreme Court found that the investigation and the findings of the report of the Labour Inspectorate were valid even though the report had been prepared for public circulation which was not authorised by the legislation. The Court severed the fact that the report had been prepared for a public commissioning from this and found this did not affect the validity of the report or process.
This is a summary of recent legal developments. Specific legal advice should be obtained in every situation. If you have any queries regarding the advice please contact Davnet O’Driscoll Associate Solicitor of the Employment Law team at dodriscoll@hayes-solicitors.ie