It is sad to hear that any employee is experiencing such difficulties with their employment rights. Suggest you read through the following information and this should clarify and I hope explain the situation.
You mention your partner works in a 'salon'. Presuming therefore she is employed as a hairdresser/barber/beautician/manicurist or a trainee/apprentice of any of those professions? You may not be aware, but there are specific agreements between industry and the Labour Court that regulate the pay and employment rights of some employment sectors. They are called JLC Agreements (or Joint Labour Committee Agreements).
Hairdressers, beauticians, manicurists (and trainees) in the County and County Borough of Dublin, the Borough of Dun Laoghaire and the Urban District of Bray, and those employed in Cork are all covered by these agreements. The agreements set down specific rules regarding the hours of employment, breaks, pay, etc. for those employed in those professions in those parts of Ireland. Read these agreements here:
http://www.labourcourt.ie/labour/labour.nsf/LookupPageLink/HomeRatesOfPay
These employees of course also enjoy the full protection of the law under normal employment rights. If this employee is employed outside of those geographical areas, they are not covered by the JLC but their terms and conditions of employment are protected in law, just like everyone else.
If this employee works in a geographical area covered by the JLC agreement, then details regarding her breaks are set down in the JLC agreement. Details about how breaks, etc. are calculated for all other employees is here:
It is illegal for an employer to deny an employee time off work for rest during the day. This is a matter that should be reported to the Employment Rights Unit at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Employees are not entitled to written contracts of employment. I would suggest therefore that you don't act on other advice above and insist she requests one from her employer. The law however, (see Terms of Employment Information Act 1994) states that certain terms of contract must be available to them in writing.
Hours of work and
details of rest periods and breaks required by law are just two items that must be made available to the employee in writing. The employee is entirely within their rights to request this information in writing but regarding details of their hours of work and overtime, the employer doesn't have to provide this information to everyone individually. Instead, they can refer you to another document (i.e., a collective agreement, etc.).
It may occur in employment that changes to working conditions can occur by implication - rather than formal agreement. For example, if you're requested to start at 8:30 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. you can do so and continue with this starting time. Even though, there has been no formal agreement to change the starting time in the contract. The fact an employee has continued with the earlier starting time over a period could mean there's been an implied change in the contract and unfortunately, the employee could be bound by this.
It's difficult to know however, as you don't state how long the new working arrangements have been in place so it is questionable as to whether the employee could be bound to simply accept the changed arrangements.
However, Section 17 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 does cover the issue of provision of information in relation to working hours. It basically sets down the notice periods employers are required to give to employees, where they require them to work additional hours, etc.
I would think however that major changes such as changes in the day of the week employed is a significant change to a contract that cannot simply be imposed by one party on another.
The Courts in Ireland take a dim view of any employer who infringes the rights of pregnant employees. Maternity Protection legislation, equality legislation and employment rights legislation are at one on this issue. If this woman leaves her job on the basis of the behaviour of her employer and her experience in his employment she would seem to me to have a strong case.
However, before anyone rushes off to complain to any authority - make sure every effort to resolve these issues has occurred between the employer and employee. Sometimes, employers are ignorant of employment rights and when escalating these matters, organisations like the Equality Authority, etc. want to see that you have made every effort to resolve the matter before seeking redress elsewhere.
A useful booklet entitled 'Employment Rights Explained' is availble FREE OF CHARGE from your nearet Citizen Information Centre. Leaving a few copies of this book around your colleagues and your boss might help start off this process.
This employee remember - hasn't left the employment yet so until they do so (or are driven to it), matters such as constructive dismissal, Equality Tribunals, etc. are not an issue.
I hope the above information has been of assistance and has clarified matters.