Employment

Spain is set to introduce up to three days of menstrual leave for women suffering from painful periods, according to reports. The move, expected to be including in a forthcoming bill extending abortion rights to 16 and 17-year-olds, will make Spain the first country in the European Union to introduc

Reforms to remove legal exemptions to give live-in domestic workers access to the minimum wage are important but will be difficult to enforce because of Britain’s immigration rules, according to a new study. People who live and work in private households have been excluded from minimum wage re

The High Court has ruled that a plaintiff in personal injuries proceedings was not entitled to receive monies equivalent to his total sick pay in order to compensate his employer. The plaintiff claimed that he had provided an undertaking to his employer to repay approximately €40,000 in sick p

The High Court has determined that a garda inspector was entitled to have his promotion backdated after it was delayed due to a false complaint by a member of the public. The investigation of the complaint delayed the promotion by seven months, during which time the garda did not receive the higher

Parents and carers will gain a right to request flexible working, including the right to request compressed or reduced hours, under legislation expected to be enacted by the summer. The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, now being drafted by the Office of the Attorney General, will

Katherine McVeigh BL and Anne Conlon BL examine the key provisions of Ireland's proposed sick pay scheme. The recently published Sick Leave Bill 2021 intends to legislate for the first statutory sick pay scheme for all employees, both in the public and private sector.

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan considers the outcome in a recent case involving settlement agreements and waivers. This issue arose in the case of Philomena Hennessy and Ladbrooks Payments (Ireland) Limited and Ladbrooks (Ireland) [2022] IEHC 60, being a decision of Ms Justice Bolger delive

In-person hearings at Killymeal House will resume later this month, the Office of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal (OITFET) has announced. The main tribunals building will reopen for hearings from Monday 25 April 2022. The hearing rooms at Adelaide House, which were used on a te

Matheson partner Ailbhe Dennehy examines two recent decisions of the Workplace Relations Commission which carry warnings for employers. Two separate unfair dismissal cases, where the complainants were awarded approximately €120,000 each, serve as a cautionary tale for employers and highlight th

Cathy Smith SC examines a recent decision of the Supreme Court that examines the concepts of permanent employee and fixed term employee in the context of acting-up, an issue that arises, particularly in the health service, for a range of reasons – hiring freezes, retirements and the changing n

The High Court has ruled that the Commissioner for An Garda Síochána acted unlawfully when he decided to dismiss a member after a statutory Appeal Board had determined that dismissal was disproportionate. The Commissioner sought to dismiss the member for discreditable conduct arising f

The right to paid sick leave will be extended to all workers in the State over a period of four years under government plans announced yesterday. The Sick Leave Bill 2022 will initially provide workers with statutory entitlement to sick pay for three days per year, rising to five days in 2024, seven

Matheson partner Ailbhe Dennehy and solicitor Ciara Taggart provide a timely update on the upcoming gender pay gap reporting obligations for Irish employers. On International Women’s Day, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth provided an eagerly awaited update

A government review has failed to establish how often non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are used in settlements following sexual harassment allegations brought within Irish workplaces. The #MeToo movement which exploded in 2017 shone a spotlight on the use of NDAs in sexual harassment allegations, as

Most Irish businesses have started bringing employees back on site with plans to offer "partial" flexibility on remote working, according to a survey by Mason Hayes & Curran LLP. The business law firm surveyed over 150 HR professionals from both the public and private sectors at a recent webinar