New Amendment To EIRA Comes Into Force Today

Today, the 6^{th of} August 2025, a major amendment to the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (the ‘Act') came into force, following a period of two (2) months from its date of publication in the Government Gazette, which was dated 6^th June 2025. The changes brought about by this amendment are the following.

First, the Act now extends the rather short prescriptive period of one year for offences. Since the promulgation of EIRA in 2002, the provision establishing a prescriptive period of one year from the commission of the offence, has never been amended. By means of the amendment, the prescriptive period applicable to proceedings for an offence which falls under EIRA has been extended to two years. This extension will be beneficial for both the DIER as competent authority entrusted with enforcement as well as the employee. Indeed, the DIER is now allowed more time to thoroughly investigate and to then institute criminal actions against employers who are in breach