A webinar on employment law heard that the capacity issues facing Workplace Relations Commissions (WRCs) are unlikely to ease this year.
The event (24 June) was organized by Law Society Professional Training in collaboration with the Law Society’s Employment and Equality Law Committee.
The webinar included presentations on the latest employment law trends and discussion of recent case law developments.
Discussing the WRC’s 2025 Annual Report, Einde O’Donnell (Partner at Alastair Purdy LLP) and Susan Batty (Partner at Bird & Bird Ireland LLP) pointed out that while the number of complaints filed had increased by 44% to just over 10,500, the number of decisions taken had fallen significantly.
Mr O’Donnell said parties were waiting on average six months to get their first hearing date, adding that this needed to be factored into advice to clients.
timely submission
Mr Batty (pictured small) said at the event that the WRC encourages practitioners to make timely submissions and provide early notice of requests for adjournments and the absence of witnesses, in order to free up hearing dates and resolve backlogs.
If a solicitor, his or her lawyer or key witness is unavailable on a particular day, the WRC must be notified before the case is registered for hearing.
She added that while the WRC has scheduled public hearings for sometime in August this year, the postponements will not be backfilled during that month.
WRC will respond “firmly”
WRC cited increased case volume and complexity as reasons for capacity issues, but O’Donnell told the event that the use of AI was also a factor.
The employment lawyer also said that with recent guidance on the use of AI, the WRC had “firmly and appropriately” addressed issues raised by AI, including inaccurate or inaccurate citations of case law.
“The core message is very simple: WRC will treat everything you submit as your own, whether or not AI is used,” O’Donnell said.
He added that while disclosing the use of AI in submissions and documents is not mandatory, it shows transparency and is “probably a prudent policy.”
Problems with electronic complaint form
Mr Batty told the webinar that the Employment Equality Act Commission was working with the WRC on the difficulties lawyers are experiencing with electronic complaint forms.
She said electronic forms now “time out” for inactivity after two hours instead of 30 minutes.
The WRC said the electronic complaint form was primarily designed for direct use in individual applications.
Guidance on use of the system by delegates is available and updated in the WRC User Guide (available on the WRC website).
Mr Batty added that he was also open to lawyers contacting the WRC about recovering data lost on electronic complaint forms due to timeout issues.
For any issues raised with the electronic complaint form, users may contact WRC’s information and customer service team.
Some delays in issuing decisions may be due to parties not providing additional information required by the adjudicating officer after the hearing, and practitioners are encouraged to contact pru@workplacerelations.ie as they wait for a decision beyond the median time of 40 working days.
Sick leave litigation
In a recent review of case law, Sarah Lawn, Senior Associate at Lewis Silkin Ireland, said in a webinar: Sick Leave Act of 2022 The focus was on whether the employer’s sick pay scheme as a whole was more favorable than its statutory entitlement under the Act.
she said: Lee Peat v Musgrave MarketplaceThe WRC found that the claimant was entitled to statutory sick pay because the company’s system was not generally favorable in terms of the required length of service (12 months compared to 13 weeks under the 2022 Act).
in SK Biotek Ireland Ltd v Shannon ReynaHowever, the Labor Court overturned an earlier WRC judgment in favor of the employee in a case where both parties agreed that the company’s scheme was more advantageous than the statutory sick leave entitlement.
The employee had been denied the company’s sick pay due to a prior warning for not following the company’s absence management policy.
Mr Loan said the Labor Court had made clear that under the 2022 law, companies were allowed to attach conditions to sick pay schemes.
Excludes bonus
Roan also highlighted several recent high-profile unfair dismissal cases involving senior executives, including the Labor Court decision that reduced the compensation of former X Company (formerly Twitter) senior manager Gary Rooney.
He said the Labor Court upheld the WRC’s finding of unfair dismissal, but excluded from the award bonuses and share scheme payments that were found to be discretionary.
Commissioner Ronnie Neville (Mason Hayes & Curran) said these cases showed the importance of the draft bonus scheme, which applied equally to people on €30,000 or €300,000 contracts.
Mr. Lone pointed to the Labor Court’s decision. Caroline O’Connell v Lionbridge InternationalAdditionally, discretionary bonuses were excluded from bonuses, stating that “expectations for bonuses are not equivalent to rights.”
Contract renewal orders are “rare”
in Graham Reidy v Musgrave LimitedMr. Loan noted that the WRC found that the claimant had been unfairly dismissed for gross misconduct, determined that compensation was not a legitimate remedy, and ordered renegotiation with the employer.
She said such decisions were “rare” but added that it was always important to warn clients of the risks of such orders when advising clients on unfair dismissal claims.
Lewis Silkin’s lawyers also highlighted recent important discrimination cases, such as the WRC award of €40,000 to the National Special Education Council in favor of jobseekers after it was found that an award of up to €13,000 to job seekers under the Equality Act was not an effective remedy.
This decision is being appealed to the Labor Court.
