Notice and dismissal

The minimum notice to which an employee is entitled will vary according the employee’s length of service as per the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts. The Unfair Dismissals Acts protect employees from unfair dismissal where they have at least one year's service. Where the dismissal is related to trade union membership/activity or for exercising an employee right under certain employment legislation (eg maternity, parental, paternity, adoptive, carer's leave or minimum wage) there is no service threshold.

Poor performance - grounds for dismissal?

12/04/2017 - Under section 6 (4)(a) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to 2015, performance that fails to meet the standard required is one of the fair grounds on which an employer may dismiss an employee however case law reaffirms that organisations must give the employee every opportunity to improve their performance before dismissal is considered.

Q1 2017 update of Labour Court decisions under UD legislation

21/03/2017 - In this quarterly case update we take a look at three recent Labour Court decisions under the Unfair Dismissals legislation. The first case involved an employee sleeping at work, the second case considered whether or not a procedural flaw was fatal to the dismissal process, and the final case focused on the extension of time limits for lodging a claim

Unfair Dismssals Acts 1977 to 2015

15/11/2016 - The Unfair Dismissal Acts give dismissed employees the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal against their former employer. A claim for unfair dismissal must be distinguished from a common law action for wrongful dismissal, which is pursued in the ordinary courts.

Definition of one year's service for the purpose of a UD claim

29/09/2016 - A recent unfair dismissal case before an Adjudication Officer (ADJ-00002110) suggests that one year’s continuous service means no more or less than 365 days, or 366 in a leap year;

Minimum notice guideline

09/06/2016 - This guideline outlines the legislation covering minimum periods of notice to be given by employers and employees when terminating contracts of employment. It also explains the requirements governing notice in other circumstances such as lay-off/short-time, strikes, redundancy and protective leave.

Premature lodgements of claims under the Unfair Dismissals Acts may be heard

20/01/2015 - Section 8(2) of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 as amended allows for a claim to be brought “within the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the relevant dismissal”. It was generally understood therefore that cases lodged prior to the date of dismissal would not succeed on jurisdictional grounds. However a recent High Court ruling will mean that in the great majority of cases a notice of claim lodged prior to the date of dismissal will confer jurisdiction on a rights commissioner or the Tribunal to hear that claim.

Understanding garden leave

16/07/2014 - "Garden leave" is the term used to describe the situation in which an employee who has resigned or been dismissed is required to serve out their notice period at home, rather than reporting to work.