Employment

A 64-year-old cleaner has won an age and disability discrimination case in the Workplace Relations Commission with support from legal rights group FLAC. The woman, represented by FLAC managing solicitor Sinead Lucey, took proceedings after being dismissed on the grounds of age and ill health from he

Breda O'Malley and Mary Kelleher of Hayes solicitors discuss the implications of a recent High Court ruling on the setting of certain minimum pay and conditions for workers in a number economic sectors. The High Court has struck down legislation providing for the setting of certain mi

Jason O'Sullivan, solicitor and public affairs consultant at J.O.S Solicitors, sets out some tips for employers as public health restrictions begin to ease. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s announcement last week that the Cabinet has approved plans to accelerate Ireland’s exit from current lockd

Employment lawyers have welcomed the launch of a consultation on parental bereavement leave and pay in Northern Ireland. The consultation, to run until 10 August, follows the recent introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay legislation in Great Britain.

The Labour Court has said it will continue to rely on a "combination of physical courtrooms and virtual courtrooms" in the medium term. The court began remotely hearing appeals and referrals to the court at the start of June and expects to re-open some physical courtrooms in July.

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates examines a recent case concerning disability discrimination at work. The issue of what constitutes a disability for the purposes of the Employment Equality Act 1998 as amended was addressed in some detail in case ADJ-000

The High Court has allowed the appeal of Robert Cunningham, a prison officer employed by the Irish Prison Service (IPS). In the course of his duties he suffered two assaults by prisoners, which resulted in him suffering a serious back injury, which has required three operations.

UK government officials have asked the Law Commission to help them design a lawful system for charging employment tribunal fees, according to reports.

Asylum seekers continue to face major barriers to entering employment more than three years after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the right to work, the Irish Refugee Council has said. The absolute prohibition on employment for asylum seekers was found to be unconstitutional by Ireland's top cour

Barrister Mark O'Connell reminds employers of their health and safety responsibilities to employees working from home. Without doubt – and even when the current disruption caused by COVID-19 abates – a much greater proportion of employees will be fulfilling more of their duties from home

Lawyers have experienced an increase in queries from employees who have been asked to return to work despite no change in public health guidance in Northern Ireland. Law Centre NI said recent statements by Prime Minister Boris Johnson had led to confusion in Northern Ireland, where advice for worker

A proposed new legal right for employees to work from home would be difficult to meaningfully enforce, a Belfast solicitor has said. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is currently considering the introduction of a new statutory right to work from home in order to s

In-house lawyers and HR professionals are optimistic about the re-opening of workplaces by September 2020, according to a new survey conducted by Mason Hayes & Curran (MHC). The business law firm surveyed around 300 participants in a recent webinar on the employment law and health and safety iss

A significant "spike" in complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) put the body under strain in 2019, according to its annual report. The WRC's adjudication service received 8,309 complaint applications in 2019, encompassing 20,939 individual complaints, the report states.

The right to work from home could be enshrined in employment law in Germany later this year, according to reports. Hubertus Heil, the federal minister for labour and social affairs, told Bild am Sonntag that he would bring forward legislation in autumn.