Category: Uncategorised

Two WRC Race Discrimination Decisions, €12,000 in Awards: What Service Providers Should Learn from the Affidea Case Two recent Workplace Relations Commission decisions provide a detailed example of how frontline customer-service decisions can create equality risk for an organisation. The linked cases concerned a 75-year-old Pakistani woman, Mehr un Nisa, and her daughter, Dr Shereen… Continue reading €12,000 WRC Race Discrimination Awards: Affidea Case Lessons

Employee Raises Potential Wrongdoing — Three Days Later Redundancy Follows: Employer Lessons from €10,800 WRC Award An employee raises serious concerns about the conduct of their manager. Three days later, the employee receives notice that their position is being made redundant. Even where an employer says that genuine financial pressures exist, that sequence of events… Continue reading Employee Reports Wrongdoing Then Faces Redundancy: €10,800 WRC Award

Pregnancy Disclosure Followed by Proposed Hours Cut: WRC Awards €10,000 for Discrimination Employers are entitled to restructure a business when genuine financial or operational circumstances require change. However, where a significant change to an employee’s working arrangements follows closely after the employee announces a pregnancy, the timing and evidence supporting the decision can become critically… Continue reading Pregnancy Disclosure Followed by Hours Cut: €10,000 WRC Award

Disciplining an Employee After a Safety Complaint? Labour Court Awards €33,000 in Penalisation Case A recent Labour Court decision provides an important warning for employers dealing with employees who raise health and safety concerns. The National Council for Special Education was ordered to pay €33,000 to an employee after the Labour Court found in her… Continue reading Disciplining an Employee After a Safety Complaint? Labour Court Awards €33,000

WRC Hearings Are Usually Public: What Employers Need to Know Before Adjudication Receiving a Workplace Relations Commission complaint can immediately raise legal, financial and operational concerns for an employer. There is another consideration which can sometimes be overlooked: the dispute may ultimately be heard in public. A recent preliminary WRC hearing involving a senior manager… Continue reading WRC Hearings Are Public: What Employers Need to Know

Can You Deduct the Cost of Employee Damage from Their Wages? WRC Courier Case Offers a Warning for Employers An employee accidentally damages a customer’s property while carrying out their job. Can the employer simply deduct the repair cost from the employee’s next payslip? A recent Workplace Relations Commission decision provides a useful reminder that… Continue reading Can Employers Deduct Pay for Employee Damage? WRC Case

What 1,000 WRC Mediations Tell Employers About Resolving Workplace Disputes Not every Workplace Relations Commission complaint needs to end with witnesses giving evidence at a public adjudication hearing. A major review published by the WRC provides employers with a rare insight into what actually happens when parties attempt to resolve employment disputes through mediation. The… Continue reading What 1,000 WRC Mediations Tell Employers About Settling Claims

Fish Shack Founder Awarded €75,549: Why Employers Must Keep Protected Disclosures Separate from Dismissal Decisions An employer may believe there is a genuine commercial reason for ending an employee’s employment. But where that employee has recently raised concerns about potential wrongdoing, the employer also needs to be able to demonstrate that those concerns played no… Continue reading Fish Shack Founder Awarded €75,549 for Unfair Dismissal

What 992 Labour Court Cases Tell Employers About Employment Risk Employment disputes reaching the Labour Court fell during 2025, but that does not necessarily mean employment law risk is becoming easier for employers to manage. The Labour Court’s recently published Annual Report for 2025 shows that it received 992 appeals and referrals during the year.… Continue reading Labour Court 2025 Report: Key Lessons for Irish Employers

Bus Éireann Ordered to Pay €40,000: Why Employers Must Keep Health & Safety Complaints Separate from Other HR Decisions An employee does not have to be dismissed for an employer to face a substantial penalisation claim. A recent Workplace Relations Commission decision involving Bus Éireann demonstrates how an employer can create significant exposure where an… Continue reading Bus Éireann Ordered to Pay €40,000 for Penalisation