Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026

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PART 2

Amendment of Principal Act

Amendment of section 1 of Principal Act

4. Section 1 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “employee”:

“ ‘employee’ means a person who has entered into or works under (or, in the case of a contract which has been terminated, worked under) a contract of employment with an employer, and ‘employer’ and any reference to employment shall, subject to subsection (1A), be construed accordingly;”,

and

(ii) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘Act of 2012’ means the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 ;

‘contract of employment’ means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with a person who is carrying on the business of an employment agency, and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for another person (whether or not that other person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and, if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

‘deeming applicant’ has the meaning it has in section 4A(2);

‘deeming application’ has the meaning it has in section 4B(2);

‘employment agency’ has the meaning it has in the Employment Agency Act 1971 ;

‘General Data Protection Regulation’ has the meaning it has in section 8A(3);

‘insolvency arrangement’ has the meaning it has in the Act of 2012;

‘personal data’ has the meaning it has in section 8A(3);

‘Registrar’ has the meaning it has in section 2 of the Companies Act 2014 ;

‘special categories of personal data’ has the meaning it has in section 8A(3);

‘taxpayer information’ has the meaning it has in section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ;”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) In the case of a contract of employment under which an individual agrees with an employment agency to do or perform any work or service for another person, whether or not that other person is a party to the contract, the individual’s employer is, for the purposes of this Act, the person who is liable (or, in the case of a contract that has been terminated, was liable) to pay the wages of the individual in respect of the work or service to which the contract relates.”,

and

(c) in subsection (3)—

(i) in paragraph (f), by the substitution of “the State; or” for “the State.”, and

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (f):

“(g) the employer is deemed insolvent under section 4E; or

(h) the employer is deemed insolvent under section 4F; or

(i) the employer has, on or after the first date on which any provision of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026 comes into operation, entered into an insolvency arrangement.”.