Lots of useful lessons in this WRC decision for employers in proper and fair disciplinary handling as well as making a reasonable and proportionate decision before deciding to dismiss. In this case poor procedures were very costly with €329,000 awarded....

The importance of always adhering to fair investigation procedures was highlighted in a recent Labour Court case that upheld the Complainant’s appeal of the quantum awarded of €2,544 made by an Adjudication Office, increasing the compensation payable to €5,000 (Ref UDD2167)....

The Court of Appeal decision last October in Irish Rail v McKelvey has provided some much needed clarity for HR practitioners on the issue of whether legal representation should be permitted at internal disciplinary hearings, following the confusion caused by the earlier decision of Eagar J in Lyons v Longford & Westmeath ETB....

The determination published earlier this year in the SSP Ireland v Albert Fordjour provides some useful lessons for employers on the necessity of adopting fair procedures at all stages of the investigation and disciplinary processes and in particular around the interviewing of proposed witnesses (Ref UDD 1758)....

The Labour Court recently rejected an appeal by a hotel worker that his summary dismissal for breach of IT & Security Policies was unfair and confirmed that the decision to dismiss was within the range of responses of a reasonable employer with regard to the employee's conduct and that his dismissal was not unfair (Determination UDD 1839)....

In this recent Labour Court Determination(UD1835), following an appeal by a Beauty Company against an Adjudicator's decision to award a former employee €10,000, there are lots of learning points for employers on how to run disciplinary procedures correctly, as the Labour Court dismissed the appeal due to a number of procedural errors on how the disciplinary process was run....

All organisations should have a clear set of policies and procedures that govern not just relevant employment and HR areas but all aspects of their operations. The benefits of policies and procedures reach far beyond being legally compliant and can contribute hugely to the overall effectiveness of an organisation provided they are consistently applied....