Employment

Wrongful Dismissal

Overview A “wrongful” dismissal refers to the termination of an employment contract, in breach of its terms. Wrongful dismissal claims are taken in the Civil Courts, in common with other breaches of contract claims. In the case of the vast majority of employees, their employment contract may be terminated by relatively short notice.… Read the rest

WRC Procedures

Commencement of WRC Complaint There is a common procedure for the presentation of complaints and the referral of disputes under employment legislation to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission. The complaint is presented to the Director General by giving notice thereof in writing to the Director-General.… Read the rest

WRC Inspections

Enforcement The Workplace Relations Act, 2015 provides for new enforcement procedures in workplace and employment matters. Inspectors have been appointed to the Workplace Relations Commission. They succeed the former NERA Inspectorate. The powers of the Inspectors and authorised officers are consolidated.… Read the rest

Working Time Issues

Zero Hour Contracts A zero-hour contract is one where the employee is expected to be available for a certain number of hours or to be available when required, where there is no guarantee that there will be any paid work available.… Read the rest

Working Time – Sectors

General Exceptions The working time legislation excludes certain categories of workers. It does not apply to members of the Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces. Certain parts of the legislation, in particular, those dealing with minimum rest periods, night working, Sunday work and zero hour working practices, do not apply to certain categories of persons including the following persons; those involved in sea fishing; doctors in training; those employed by a relative; those employed in a relative’s household or employed in a dwelling house or farm on which the relative resides; and persons who fix their own working time.… Read the rest

Working Time

Organisation of Working Time The law on the organisation of working time seeks to ensure that employees do not work excessive hours. It is based to a considerable extent, on health, safety and welfare at work considerations. … Read the rest

Work Permits

Context A key objective of Irish labour market policy is to ensure that labour and skills needs are met from within the Irish and European Economic Area (EEA — EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) labour markets.… Read the rest

Visas

Immigration Control All non-EEA nationals, whether visa required or not, are subject to immigration controls upon arrival in the State. These controls are applied on an occasional basis on persons arriving from within the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK.… Read the rest

Unfair Dismissal

Overview of Unfair Dismissal The Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 introduced a statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed. The right is not enforced by the courts and does not form part of the employment contract as such. … Read the rest

UFD Scope of Act

Dismissal Dismissal means the termination of the employment contract, whether or not a proper notice was given. A person is generally dismissed where he is unequivocally told that his employment is at an end or the circumstances make this abundantly clear that this so. … Read the rest