Employment

The UK government has ordered a review of the exemption of domestic workers from minimum wage legislation following an Employment Tribunal ruling. A tribunal ruled in December that the exemption is discriminatory against women, who are far more likely to be employed as live-in domestic workers than

A landmark Court of Appeal earlier ruling this week has made it harder for employees to seek an injunction against their dismissal, employment law firm GQ|Littler has said. The decision in Donal O’Donovan v Over-C Technology Limited and Over-C Limited is said to effectively restrict injunction

Employment solicitor Leanne McKeown of Rosemary Connolly Employment & Equality Solicitors highlights a recent ruling from Great Britain which Northern Ireland employers should note. The recent GB case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Mr S Gehlen (2021) demonstrates the continuing duty on employers to review

A growing backlog in Northern Ireland's employment tribunals is creating an access to justice crisis, lawyers have warned. Killymeal House, the home of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal, is currently "closed until further notice".

Judith Curtin, partner at O'Flynn Exhams Solicitors LLP, looks at the new Code of Practice on bullying. The Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work came into effect on 23 December 2020.

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan considers Fixed Term Work Act contracts and their interaction with the Unfair Dismissal Acts 1977-2015 and the Maternity Protection Act 1994. There are very strict time limits in the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Under section 44(3), an appeal to the Labour Co

Ireland has joined eight other member states in raising concerns about a proposed directive on adequate minimum wages across the European Union. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar was among the signatories of a letter sent to the EU presidency, currently held by Germany, at the end of January which says t

William Fry partners Louise Harrison and Nuala Clayton examine a case in which the rejection of an employee's request to work from home constituted constructive dismissal. In a recent decision, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that an employee was constructively dismissed when her empl

Dr David Begg, a former general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), has been appointed as chairperson of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). He will serve for a five-year term as the second-ever chairperson of the WRC since its establishment under the landmark Workplace Rel

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan considers Fixed Term Work Act contracts and their interaction with the Unfair Dismissal Acts 1977-2015 and the Maternity Protection Act 1994. The Labour Court, in a recent case of Akina Dada Wa Africa and Claudia Horeau UDD/18/237, determination number UDD216,

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates looks at the increasingly prominent issue of dismissing an employee who is sick or ill. At present in Ireland there is no statutory sick leave scheme. This is likely to come in. The issue that has yet to be addressed is wheth

Legislation providing for parental bereavement leave and pay will be brought to the Northern Ireland Assembly following the completion of a consultation. Economy Minister Diane Dodds has published her Department's assessment and response to the two-month consultation, which closed in August.

Employment rights enshrined in EU law are set to be scrapped in the UK following Brexit, according to reports. Business leaders have been "sounded out" on plans to do away with the likes of the EU Working Time Directive, FT said this morning.

Employment lawyer Natasha Hand examines a case concerning alleged discrimination on the race ground in a company's sick pay scheme. In case ADJ-00027767, the case of Krzysztof Tryka and Thermal Insulation Distributors Limited, an employee claimed that the company's sick pay scheme was applied less f

The Workplace Relations Commission has launched a public consultation on the drafting of a new code of practice on the "right to disconnect". The code will set out guidance for employees and employers with regard to best practice and approaches to employee disengagement outside normal working hours.