Blog

Linda Hynes, employment law solicitor with Leman Solicitors has agreed to write a monthly feature for Legal-Island email subscribers providing handy precedents and checklists for subscribers to download and use. This month’s topic focuses on the probation period. The use of the probation period can provide employers with an opportunity to assess an employee’s suitability for the job...

In our last Employment Law Ezine, Linda Hynes updated you on the new single complaint form which has been put in place to deal with employment law claims in the first instance but how far have the other proposed reforms to the employment law complaint system come? Helpfully the Workplace Relations Website has begun publishing a quarterly newsletter to provide updates on how the reform...

Click here to read Linda's article in full. 

Linda Hynes, employment law solicitor with Leman Solicitors has agreed to write a monthly feature for Legal-Island email subscribers providing handy precedents and checklists for subscribers to download and use. This month’s topic focuses on temporary employees. The use of temporary resources can be really useful for employers when the nature and amount of work available is uncertain...

Maternity Leave and Returning to Work

There have been several cases recently where employers have been held to have unfairly or discriminatorily dismissed a employee by terminating their employment while on maternity leave or not allowing an employee to return to work after their maternity leave. Some of these decisions have attracted high awards – most notably the award against O’Callaghan...

Following on from Minister Bruton’s announcement last July to reform the employment law forums, the Project Office tasked with the reforms has put a number of changes in place. These changes include the new Workplace Relations website www.workplacerelations.ie. This is an interim website which was launched on 4 January 2012. The website provides information in relation to employment law...

The Government has published draft proposals for legislation designed to protect whistleblowers in both the public and private sectors. The draft legislation is based on existing models in South Africa, New Zealand and Britain. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is heading up the legislative changes. Minister Howlin has stated that the Bill will protect whistleblowers who speak...

Linda Hynes has recently become a contributor to Legal Island’s Employment Law Update email service. In January Linda published a Checklist for employers on ensuring they are following fair procedures. Linda followed this up in February with a template letter for employers to use when notifying an employee that their position is potentially being made redundant. The issue for employers...

Leman Solicitors held an employment law seminar on Friday 24 February which focused on the High Court decision in July 2011 that held that the decision making power of Joint Labour Committees was unconstitutional. The seminar was a great success with lots of audience participation. The guest speaker at the seminar was John Grace, owner of John Grace Fried Chicken in Cork City and founder of the...

Following on from last months’ Redundancy Procedures Checklist, Linda Hynes, has prepared a template letter to be used by an employer when notifying an employee that their position is potentially being made redundant. This template should be used in conjunction with the Redundancy Procedures Checklist and will assist an employer in ensuring they initiate the right procedures when considering...

Several recent EAT decisions point to an increasing trend for the Employment Appeal Tribunal to find that although a redundancy situation may be very genuine and necessary, the way the redundancy has been carried out was unfair and therefore an unfair dismissal. The compensation awarded in these cases has also been relatively significant. Leman Solicitors have prepared a template checklist for...

An article by employment law solicitor, Linda Hynes, was published by the Sunday Business Post on 18 December 2011. The article provides advice to employers and employees alike on how best to avoid the unintended consequences that can sometimes arise from the office 'Christmas Party'. Click here to read the...

Employment - Representation to EAT on whether contractor of coaching services was an employee.

Employment - Drafting and reviewing independent contractor contracts for services.

Background

As you may be aware the Temporary Agency Workers Directive (2008/104/EC) implementation date is looming. Under the Directive, Ireland should have implemented Irish legislation implementing the directive in Ireland by Monday 5 December. This has not happened and the Government is yet to even publish a draft bill. This means that the Government may be liable under EU principles for a...

The Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Procedures Regulations 2011 came into force on 30 September 2011. The regulations set out the procedures for making claims in relation to redundancy and pension payments from the Social Insurance Fund when an employer is insolvent. These claims must be made to a relevant person or officer appointed by the Minister for Social Protection....

Practical Tips – When is that contractor actually your employee? Checklist Time!

Due to the current economic climate, people who were previously happy to maintain their status as independent contractors are now seeking to be viewed as employees by the employment law tribunals in order to avail of employment law protection. The distinction between an employee and an independent contractor...

Services

• Recruitment and interview practices
• Employment contracts
• Temporary employment contracts and use of agency workers
• Contracts for services
• Staff handbooks
• Developing policies and procedures
• Advising on absenteeism Advising on  health and safety obligations Advising on equality and discrimination Advising on compensation and benefits
• Advising on workplace disputes and performance...

In July 2011, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton announced that the Government intends to streamline the current employment law claims procedures and institutions by introducing a more simplified 2 tier system. This 2 tier system, the Workplace Relations Commission, would comprise of a forum where claimants would first take their claim and a forum for hearing...