News 7th December 2018

EU Court’s Decision Raises Question Re Legal Qualification Requirement For WRC Adjudicators

On 4th December 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decided that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has the jurisdiction to dis-apply a rule of national law that is contrary to EU law, in the case of,...

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News 4th December 2018

Onus placed on employer in constructive dismissal award

On 14th November 2018 an employee was awarded €16,667 by the WRC in a constructive dismissal claim due to the fact that her employer could not show her grievance was properly addressed before she returned from maternity leave. Facts The...

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News 3rd December 2018

Right to Legal Representation in a Disciplinary Inquiry – where do we stand?

The recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Iarnród Éireann/ Irish Rail v. Barry McKelvey, [2018] IECA 346 has brought much-needed clarity to the above question. Mr. McKelvey, an inspector with Iarnród Éireann was subject to a disciplinary process...

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News 3rd December 2018

Lack of procedures costs Employer €21,000 for Unfair Dismissal

In the recent case of “A Store Manager v Wholesale and Retail Clothing Business” the Adjudicator awarded the Complainant €21,000 in compensation. The Complainant was employed as a store manager from January 2014 until her termination on 28th June 2017...

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News 31st October 2018

Contradicting decisions from WRC regarding Procedure

In the first case, the WRC made an award of €13,156.00 compensation to a claimant who was ultimately dismissed for theft. The WRC found that that the procedural inadequacies were of sufficient significance to render the dismissal procedurally unfair. The...

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News 25th October 2018

Firing and Re-Hiring of Employee Costs Employer €20,000

In the case of A Van Driver v A Florist, the Complainant worked as a delivery driver for the Respondent Florist. Given the perishable nature of the flowers, the Complainants role was very important and he was under immense pressure...

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News 25th October 2018

Flawed Procedure Costs Employer €4,500

In the recent case of Adjudication Officer Joe Donnelly, the complainant was awarded €4,500 for unfair dismissal due despite significantly contributing to his own dismissal. Facts. The Respondent operates a scrap metal and recycling business. The Complainant was dismissed for...

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News 25th October 2018

Fixed-Term Worker Awarded Redundancy Payment Plus Compensation

A plumber was engaged on a series of fixed-term contracts for the specific purpose of carrying our refurbishment of the hotels. It was at all times understood that this contract would be terminated when the re-fitting was completed. While the...

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Developments 1st October 2018

The increasing significance of work-life balance

There has been increasing legislative activity in both Ireland and the EU this year regarding the issue of “family-friendly” employment benefits. In Ireland, draft legislation is currently under review in the Dáil, which, if enacted, would permit pregnant employees to...

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News 1st October 2018

WRC Sets Aside Waiver And Considers Low Level of Ex-Gratia Payment In Finding Of Unfair Dismissal

Facts The Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) has held that an employee was unfairly dismissed in circumstances were although a genuine redundancy existed, the manner in which the redundancy was effected was procedurally flawed. In addition to this, the claimant had...

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