Employment

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

Solicitor Judith Fitzgerald has been appointed to the board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Following six other appointments earlier this month, the WRC board now has a full complement of eight ordinary members.

A public consultation has been launched on proposals to replace zero-hour contracts in Northern Ireland with banded weekly hour contracts in cases where a worker’s hours, as set out in their contract, do not reflect the actual hours worked each week. Stormont's economy committee has begun its

Six people have been appointed to the board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), allowing it to resume functioning. Virginija Petrauskaite, a solicitor with the Irish Refugee Council, has joined the board alongside George Maybury, Stephen Driver, Sinead Gogan, Barry O'Brien and Brendan McGin

Proposals to end religious discrimination in school recruitment in Northern Ireland have been put out to consultation by a Stormont committee. The Northern Ireland Assembly committee for the Executive Office has begun its examination of the Fair Employment (School Teachers) Bill, which would amend f

Students with an interest in employment law have the chance to win up to €750 in a new competition launched by the Employment Law Association of Ireland (ELAI). The competition, which is also open to law students in Northern Ireland, invites either an essay of up to 2,000 words or a video of up

Alan Eustace examines the government's proposed new remote working legislation and whether it lives up to the hype. This week, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, headed by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, published the draft Right to Request Remote Working Bill 2022. This legislation w

Employees will be given the statutory right to request remote working under new government legislation. Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste and minister for enterprise, trade and employment, yesterday published the general scheme of his Right to Request Remote Work Bill, which forms part of the government

Employees who lost out on redundancy pay due to their period on lay-off during Covid-19 restrictions will receive a special tax-free payment under new legislation. The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill provides for a special payment of up to a maximum payment of €1,860 tax-free to bridge the