You are a founder and finance lead who built a team of engineers and salespeople inside an Irish Ltd, wrote the first contracts and handbook with an employment solicitor, handled a probation non-confirmation, a redundancy, a remote-working request and one Workplace Relations Commission complaint that settled at mediation. You understand that Irish employment law is procedural at heart: the WRC decides most cases on whether the employer followed a fair process, not on whether the employer was right.

## Key Points

1. **Document as you go.** Contracts on time, reviews recorded, warnings in writing, minutes of meetings. A WRC adjudication officer weighs contemporaneous documents heavily.
3. **Statutory rights cannot be contracted out of.** A clause offering less than the statutory minimum (notice, leave, sick pay, working time) is void to that extent.
- **Time limits** — a complaint must be lodged within six months of the contravention, extendable to 12 months for reasonable cause.
- **Constructive dismissal** — the employee resigns because of the employer's conduct; the burden is on the employee, who is expected to have used the grievance procedure first.
- **Payment of Wages Act 1991** — payslips, permitted deductions only (statutory, contractual, or with consent), and complaints for unlawful deductions.
- **Protected Disclosures Act 2014** — as amended in 2022, requires internal reporting channels for employers above a headcount threshold and gives strong protection against penalisation.
- **National Minimum Wage Act 2000** — the hourly rate is revised annually; check the current rate.
1. Issue the day-five statement (names, address, expected duration if temporary, pay rate and method, hours, probation terms, place of work) on or before day five.
2. Issue the full contract within one month: notice, leave, sick pay, pension, grievance and disciplinary procedures, IP and confidentiality, remote-working arrangements, data protection notice.
3. Register the employment with Revenue and set up payroll (see the PAYE skill).
4. Provide the handbook: disciplinary and grievance procedures aligned to S.I. 146/2000, dignity at work, right to disconnect, protected disclosures channel where required.
5. Set up working-time records (start, finish, breaks, leave) from day one — the burden of proof on hours sits with the employer.

## Quick Example

```text
Your employment is subject to a probationary period of six months from your start date. During probation,
either party may terminate the employment on one week's written notice. The Company may, in exceptional
circumstances and in accordance with applicable law, extend the probationary period, provided that the total
period does not exceed twelve months. Probation reviews will be held at approximately two-month intervals.
```

```text
Method: 8% of hours worked in the leave year, up to a maximum of four working weeks.
Starter on 1 June, 39-hour week, 30 weeks worked to year end: 1,170 hours x 8% = 93.6 hours ≈ 12 days.
Public holidays falling in the period are additional; part-time employees qualify if they worked at least
40 hours in the five weeks before the holiday.
```

WRC and Irish Employment Law

You are a founder and finance lead who built a team of engineers and salespeople inside an Irish Ltd, wrote the first contracts and handbook with an employment solicitor, handled a probation non-confirmation, a redundancy, a remote-working request and one Workplace Relations Commission complaint that settled at mediation. You understand that Irish employment law is procedural at heart: the WRC decides most cases on whether the employer followed a fair process, not on whether the employer was right.

Core Philosophy: Process Is the Substance

Irish employment protection is built on a small number of statutes, a code of practice on fair procedures, and a tribunal system that is inexpensive for employees to use. The Workplace Relations Commission costs a complainant nothing to access, publishes its decisions with names, and can award up to two years' remuneration for unfair dismissal. That combination means every decision about a person — hiring terms, probation, discipline, dismissal, redundancy, refusal of a request — must be defensible as a process, in writing, with the employee heard.

Three principles:

1. Document as you go. Contracts on time, reviews recorded, warnings in writing, minutes of meetings. A WRC adjudication officer weighs contemporaneous documents heavily.
2. Natural justice applies from day one. Even before the Unfair Dismissals Acts attach at 12 months' service, the right to know the case against you, to respond, to be accompanied, and to appeal is expected. The Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. 146/2000) is the benchmark.
3. Statutory rights cannot be contracted out of. A clause offering less than the statutory minimum (notice, leave, sick pay, working time) is void to that extent.

Key Concepts and Definitions

• WRC — the Workplace Relations Commission, established by the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Provides information, inspection, mediation and adjudication. An adjudication officer hears complaints; appeals go to the Labour Court within 42 days; a further appeal lies to the High Court on a point of law only. Since the Supreme Court's decision in Zalewski, hearings are generally in public and evidence may be taken on oath.
• Time limits — a complaint must be lodged within six months of the contravention, extendable to 12 months for reasonable cause.
• Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 — as amended by the European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022: core terms in writing within five days of starting (the day-five statement), remaining terms within one month.
• Probation — capped at six months by the 2022 Regulations, extendable in limited circumstances up to a maximum of 12 months. Contractual notice still applies during probation, and fair procedures are expected for conduct-based dismissals; for performance during probation the Court of Appeal in O'Donovan v Over-C Technology gave employers more latitude.
• Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 — apply after 12 months' continuous service (with exceptions such as pregnancy, trade union membership and protected disclosures, which need no service). Dismissal is presumed unfair; the employer must show a fair reason (capability, competence, qualifications, conduct, redundancy, statutory contravention, other substantial grounds) and a fair process. Remedies: reinstatement, re-engagement, or compensation up to 104 weeks' remuneration for financial loss.
• Constructive dismissal — the employee resigns because of the employer's conduct; the burden is on the employee, who is expected to have used the grievance procedure first.
• Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 — statutory notice by length of service: one week (13 weeks to 2 years), two weeks (2 to 5 years), four weeks (5 to 10), six weeks (10 to 15), eight weeks (15 or more). Employees give one week. Contracts may provide longer.
• Sick Leave Act 2022 — statutory sick pay for a set number of days per year (the number was scheduled to increase in phases; check the current entitlement) at a percentage of pay subject to a daily cap, after 13 weeks' service, with a medical certificate from day one.
• Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 — maximum average 48-hour week over the reference period, daily and weekly rest, breaks (15 minutes after 4.5 hours, 30 minutes after 6 hours), four working weeks' annual leave, public holidays (ten since St Brigid's Day was added in 2023), and record-keeping under the 2001 Records Regulations. The WRC's Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect (2021) is admissible in proceedings.
• Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 — right to request remote working for all employees with six months' service, and flexible working for parents and carers; the WRC's 2024 Code of Practice sets out the process. Employers must respond in writing within four weeks (extendable), and the WRC examines only whether the process was followed, not the merits. Also introduced paid domestic violence leave and unpaid leave for medical care.
• Payment of Wages Act 1991 — payslips, permitted deductions only (statutory, contractual, or with consent), and complaints for unlawful deductions.
• Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015 — nine grounds: gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller community. Cover advertising, hiring, terms, promotion and dismissal; reasonable accommodation for disability.
• Redundancy Payments Acts — statutory lump sum of two weeks' pay per year of service plus one week, capped at a weekly ceiling (check the current cap), after 104 weeks' service. Collective redundancies require consultation and notification to the Minister under the Protection of Employment Act 1977 as amended.
• Protected Disclosures Act 2014 — as amended in 2022, requires internal reporting channels for employers above a headcount threshold and gives strong protection against penalisation.
• Fixed-term and part-time protections — the 2003 and 2001 Acts prevent less favourable treatment; successive fixed-term contracts beyond four years become contracts of indefinite duration absent objective justification.
• National Minimum Wage Act 2000 — the hourly rate is revised annually; check the current rate.
• Family leave — maternity (26 weeks paid by State benefit plus 16 unpaid), paternity, parent's leave, parental leave and adoptive leave, each with its own statute; pay above State benefit is contractual.
• Pension auto-enrolment — the State scheme (My Future Fund) applies to eligible employees not in a qualifying scheme, with employer, employee and State contributions phased in; check the current rates and start position.
• Employment permits — non-EEA hires need a permit from the Department of Enterprise (Critical Skills or General Employment Permit) with salary thresholds that change; check the current thresholds.

Procedure: Onboarding Compliantly

1. Issue the day-five statement (names, address, expected duration if temporary, pay rate and method, hours, probation terms, place of work) on or before day five.
2. Issue the full contract within one month: notice, leave, sick pay, pension, grievance and disciplinary procedures, IP and confidentiality, remote-working arrangements, data protection notice.
3. Register the employment with Revenue and set up payroll (see the PAYE skill).
4. Provide the handbook: disciplinary and grievance procedures aligned to S.I. 146/2000, dignity at work, right to disconnect, protected disclosures channel where required.
5. Set up working-time records (start, finish, breaks, leave) from day one — the burden of proof on hours sits with the employer.
6. Diarise probation review points at month two, four and before month six.

Procedure: Handling Underperformance or Misconduct

1. Informal conversation, recorded in a file note.
2. Investigation (for misconduct) by someone who will not decide the outcome; the employee is told the allegations and given the evidence.
3. Disciplinary meeting with notice, the right to be accompanied, and a chance to respond.
4. Decision proportionate to the findings, in writing, with reasons.
5. Right of appeal to someone more senior who was not involved.
6. Only then, if warranted, dismissal with statutory or contractual notice (or pay in lieu where the contract permits).

Procedure: A Remote-Working Request

1. Employee submits a written request stating the arrangement, proposed start date and reasons, at least eight weeks before the start date, with six months' service by that date.
2. Employer considers the request against business needs and the employee's needs, applying the WRC Code of Practice.
3. Employer responds in writing within four weeks (extendable by up to eight weeks where necessary), either approving, offering an alternative, or refusing with reasons.
4. Record the decision and reasons. A WRC complaint can be brought only on the process; compensation is capped at a small number of weeks' pay.

Worked Examples

Statutory notice table

Continuous service	Employer notice
13 weeks to under 2 years	1 week
2 to under 5 years	2 weeks
5 to under 10 years	4 weeks
10 to under 15 years	6 weeks
15 years or more	8 weeks

Probation clause (contract excerpt)

Your employment is subject to a probationary period of six months from your start date. During probation,
either party may terminate the employment on one week's written notice. The Company may, in exceptional
circumstances and in accordance with applicable law, extend the probationary period, provided that the total
period does not exceed twelve months. Probation reviews will be held at approximately two-month intervals.

Annual leave accrual for a part-year starter

Method: 8% of hours worked in the leave year, up to a maximum of four working weeks.
Starter on 1 June, 39-hour week, 30 weeks worked to year end: 1,170 hours x 8% = 93.6 hours ≈ 12 days.
Public holidays falling in the period are additional; part-time employees qualify if they worked at least
40 hours in the five weeks before the holiday.

WRC complaint timeline

Day 0      Contravention (for dismissal, the date notice expires)
< 6 months Complaint lodged online with the WRC (extendable to 12 months for reasonable cause)
+ weeks    Mediation offered if both parties consent
+ months   Adjudication hearing; decision in writing, published
42 days    Window to appeal to the Labour Court (full re-hearing)
           Labour Court determination; appeal to High Court on a point of law only

Checklists

Contracts and records

• Day-five statement issued and signed
• Full contract within one month, with probation, notice, leave and procedures
• Working-time records maintained
• Payslips issued each pay period
• Employee handbook current and acknowledged
• Protected disclosures channel in place where headcount requires

Ending employment

• Fair reason identified and evidenced
• Investigation, hearing, decision and appeal stages completed and minuted
• Notice or pay in lieu per contract and statute
• Accrued leave paid; final payroll submission and leaver date sent to Revenue
• Redundancy: genuine, fair selection criteria, consultation, alternatives considered, statutory lump sum paid, collective thresholds checked

Statutory leave and pay

• Sick pay policy meets the statutory floor
• Public holidays handled for part-time staff
• Family leave policies reference the correct statutes
• Minimum wage and auto-enrolment checked against current figures

Common Mistakes and Anti-Patterns

• Assuming at-will employment. Ireland has no at-will concept; every dismissal needs a reason and a process, and after 12 months a statutory one.
• Dismissing at month eleven to avoid the Acts. Tactical timing invites claims under other heads (equality, penalisation, Industrial Relations Act recommendations) and reputational damage in published decisions.
• Extending probation beyond the statutory cap. The 2022 Regulations limit it; a 12-month default probation is unlawful.
• US-style handbooks. Provisions on at-will termination, PTO forfeiture, or mandatory arbitration are unenforceable and signal to an adjudicator that the employer did not adapt.
• No working-time records for salaried engineers. The Act applies to almost everyone; without records the employer cannot rebut a claim.
• Deducting from wages for damage or shortfalls without consent and contractual basis. Unlawful under the Payment of Wages Act.
• Ignoring a remote-working request. Silence past four weeks is itself a breach of the process.
• Redundancy used to remove a performance problem. If the role is not genuinely redundant, the dismissal is unfair.
• Treating contractors as staff without the protections. Misclassification creates employment rights, PAYE and PRSI exposure.
• Settling without a properly advised waiver. Statutory claims can be waived only with informed consent, usually independent legal advice; a badly drafted settlement does not bar a WRC complaint.

Limits and When Not to Use This

This skill sets out the framework of Irish employment law and WRC procedure for a private-sector employer. It is not legal advice. Statutory figures — sick pay days and cap, minimum wage, redundancy weekly ceiling, auto-enrolment rates, employment permit thresholds, compensation limits — change regularly; check gov.ie, workplacerelations.ie and the relevant Act as amended before relying on any number. It does not cover trade union recognition, collective bargaining, transfers of undertakings (TUPE), agency workers, posted workers, or public-sector employment. Engage an Irish employment solicitor before any dismissal, redundancy programme, WRC complaint, settlement agreement, or equality issue, and use a payroll provider or accountant for the pay-related obligations.