Employers are allowed to pay workers who don't join a union higher wages than union members doing the same work. The 1990 Employment Act made unions responsible for members' industrial actions, including unofficial strikes, unless union officials repudiate the action in writing. Unofficial strikers can be legally dismissed, and voluntary work stoppage is considered a breach of contract. Unions do not have immunity from prosecution for secondary strikes or for actions with suspected political motivations. Actions against subsidiaries of companies engaged in bargaining disputes are banned if the subsidiary is not the employer of record.
Unions encouraging such actions are subject to fines and seizure of their assets.
Local education authorities can limit employment of children under 16 years old if working will interfere with a child's education. A new national minimum wage, established in 1998, will take effect in April 1999. Daily and weekly working hours are not now limited by law, although the EU directive outlawing mandatory work weeks longer than 48 hours will be implemented under legislation soon to be presented in Parliament. Hazardous working conditions are banned by the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. A Health and Safety Commission submits regulatory proposals, appoints investigatory committees, does research and trains workers.