Legal representation and advice for employers and individuals on employment contracts, workplace policies, and dispute resolution. Specialised assistance with redundancies, settlement agreements, dismissals, and protective disclosures.
Drafting robust employment agreements, executive packages, and explicit terms of engagement ensuring direct alignment with the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts.
Designing legally fully compliant employee handbooks including mandatory disciplinary, grievance, data retention, anti-harassment, and remote work guidelines.
Providing strategic mediation, conflict resolution management, and dedicated, rigorous advocacy before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Labour Court.
Guiding employers and employees through structural redundancy selection criteria, legal consultations, and drafting secure, bulletproof settlement agreements.
Representing parties in cases involving constructive or unfair dismissals, ensuring procedural fairness, natural justice, and strict adherence to statutory processes.
Advising whistleblowers and companies under the Protected Disclosures Act, developing compliance pathways, internal reporting channels, and managing reprisal claims.
Within five days of commencement of employment, an employer must provide the following core terms in writing:
A full contract containing all statutory terms must follow within one month of the commencement date.
For private sector employees, the maximum probationary period shall not exceed six months, unless an extension is in the employee’s interest. In any event, the total probation period cannot exceed 12 months. Where an employee takes protected leave (e.g., maternity, sick leave), the probationary period may be extended by the duration of that absence.
It depends. If the off‑duty conduct damages the employer’s reputation, breaches a specific policy (e.g., social media or confidentiality), or affects the employee’s ability to perform their role (e.g., harassment of a colleague online), disciplinary action may be justified. Any sanction must be proportionate and procedurally fair.
The standard limitation period is six months from the date of the last act (e.g., dismissal, discriminatory act). This can be extended to twelve months if the employee shows “reasonable cause” for the delay. Missing the deadline is fatal to the claim.
Statutory redundancy is: 2 weeks’ pay per complete year of reckonable service plus one bonus week. Weekly pay is capped at €600 (for 2025; index‑linked). The employee must have at least 104 weeks (2 years) continuous service. Many employers offer enhanced packages (e.g., 4–6 weeks per year) to secure a clean exit.
A dismissal is automatically considered to be ‘unfair’ if the employee is dismissed, with or without notice, for:
No minimum service period is required for such claims.
Gender, civil status, family status, age, disability, race, sexual orientation, religion, and membership of the Traveller community. Discrimination in employment (recruitment, promotion, training, dismissal, working conditions) on any of these grounds is unlawful.
Once the employee establishes prima facie facts from which discrimination may be inferred (e.g., “I was passed over for promotion and I am the only woman; the successful candidate was a less experienced man”), the burden shifts to the employer to prove that the treatment was not discriminatory - i.e., that it was for objective, non‑discriminatory reasons. Many cases turn on this shift.
Employers must take appropriate measures, including physical adjustments (ramps, desks), assistive technology, flexible hours, part‑time working, or redeployment, to enable a person with a disability to access, participate in, and progress in employment. Refusing reasonable accommodation without justification is discrimination. The employer may claim “disproportionate burden” based on cost and organisational resources. The Supreme Court in Nano Nagle v Daly noted that a wise employer will provide meaningful participation to the employee, and confirmed that there is the duty to explore the possibility of securing public funding when considering reasonable accommodation.
Or reach out directly via email: