071 964 2748 | info@hrsolutions.ie

The csae of Nkemka Patrick Okachi v Sodexo Ireland Limited (ADJ-00045306) provides lots of learning on the necessity for fair and objective processes before taking the decision to dismiss.

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 will now commence on 29th June 2026 and provides that where an employee is subject to a contractual retirement age (‘CRA’) that is below the state pension age (66 years), they may request to continue working up to state pension age.

An award of €7,000 to an employee who was refused a second paid days force majeure leave when his wife miscarried, proved to be a costly refusal for the employer concerned.

With the recent formal announcement from the Department of Equality that the transposition of the European Pay Directive will be delayed, this case is a useful read around the potential issues that can arise (and how to mitigate them) with the likely increase in equal pay claims, as employees exercise their right to obtain information on colleagues average rates of pay.

With the pending transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive due by 7th June 2026, but with no legislation published as yet, or indeed not even prioritised for publication, and a recent call by IBEC to delay implementation for 12 months, many employers are confused as to whether they should proceed with their preparation or adopt a wait and see approach.

Employees will shortly have the legal right to stay working past a contractual retirement age (CRA) that is below State Pension Age, unless it can be ojectively justified by a legitimate aim and communicated accordingly in writing with a set time frame with heavy penalities available for non compliance.

With Strorm Bram due to hit this week, the issue of attendance at work and related payment or non payment is a query that many employers will have. Here is some helpful information from the WRC that can help both employers and employees undestand what should hapen in this scenario.

With the Christmas Party season kicking off this weekend, employers need to be aware of the potentiual additional costs that can arise, particulary when too much alcohol is involved, with case law clearly establishing the worpkplace connection with social events, even when the party has finished.

Some useful reminders in this recent case on the absolute necessity to ensure that Terms of Reference are adhered to in workplace investigations, as well as ensuring any right to appeal in a policy is always offered.

A significant award made by the WRC to a senior Chef in a hotel, who did not receive his statutory daily and weekly rest periods, should serve as a reminder that failure to comply with the Organisation of Working Time Act, can result in large sums of compensation being awarded by Adjudicators for breaches.

This summary article provides some essential guidance on some of the key steps that should be taken to ensure that a workplace investigation process is robust and can stand up to scrutiny in the event that it leads to further action being taken under the disciplinary policy or findings of misconduct such as bullying and harassment being made against employees.

Following on from my last post on the separation of stages within the disciplinary process, another example of how costly it can be not to adhere to fair procedures before dismissing an employee. In this case an award of almost €50,000 after six months paid suspension, during which no investigation or disciplinary hearing took place.

Archives