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The Workplace Relations Commission oversaw a range of cases in 2024

Musk, gig economy, pizza name badge all featured at WRC

A look at some of the more interesting cases from the Workplace Relations Commission during 2024.

Business • 01 Jan

Musk, gig economy, pizza name badge all featured at WRC

A look at some of the more interesting cases from the Workplace Relations Commission during 2024.

Business • 31 Dec 24

Three civil servants were suspended after a security probe prompted by the discovery of an unauthorised computer in the basement of the Department of Foreign Affairs passport service offices

Civil servants suspended as 'unauthorised computer' found

Three civil servants were suspended following a security probe prompted by the discovery of an unauthorised computer in the basement of the Department of Foreign Affairs passport service offices, a tribunal has heard.

Business • 18 Dec 24

Gabor Hoff, an employee of Lidl Ireland Gmbh since 2008, was dismissed from his job as deputy logistics manager at the supermarket group's regional distribution centre in Charleville, Co Cork

Sacked Lidl manager loses claim over dismissal

A Lidl manager who was sacked after making a remark about the suitability of a female employee for warehouse work has lost a challenge to his dismissal.

Business • 17 Dec 24

A bar manager is challenging his dismissal from a hotel after management said he was 'defrauding customers' by adding 10% to the bills of smaller tables that it would not normally ask to pay a service charge

Bar manager accused of "defrauding" challenges firing

A bar manager is challenging his dismissal from a Dublin hotel after its management decided he was "defrauding customers" by adding 10% to the bills of smaller tables that it would not normally ask to pay a service charge.

Business • 10 Dec 24

The case was the third time this year that Nadine Lattimore has gone to the WRC to assert her rights under equality legislation as a blind person

Eddie Rockets ordered to pay ex-paralympic athlete €5k

Eddie Rockets has been ordered to pay €5,000 after coming to an equality hearing "holding its hands up" to discriminating against former Paralympic athlete Nadine Lattimore as a guide dog user.

Business • 08 Dec 24

Emma Hughe secured the award worth a year's gross salary on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998.

Social media manager wins €35k over 'hostility' from boss

A social media manager who said her former boss turned hostile towards her after she told him she was pregnant has won €35,000 in compensation for maternity-related discrimination.

Business • 03 Dec 24

The WRC has cancelled two days of planned hearings in a whistleblower penalisation claim after the claimant's lawyers said their legal filings were lost in the tribunal's spam folder for nearly a weel

Legal filings in whistleblower case lost in spam folder

The Workplace Relations Commission has cancelled two days of planned hearings in a whistleblower penalisation claim after the claimant's lawyers told the tribunal that they had learned their legal filings were lost in the tribunal's spam folder for nearly a week.

Business • 03 Dec 24

The WRC has ordered her former employer, eTeam Workforce Ltd, to pay her one of the largest sums awarded to a claimant before the employment tribunal in 2024

Pregnant worker wins €136,000 for discrimination

A pregnant worker who said she was threatened with having her pay cut off if she did not agree to sign off on terminating her previously open-ended contract has won over €136,000 for discrimination.

Business • 02 Dec 24

The WRC upheld a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against a specialist construction firm Protum Services, but cut the award to take account of the builder's 'very significant contribution' to his own sacking

Builder whose boss put tracking device on van wins €10k

A tribunal has made a reduced award of €10,000 for unfair dismissal to a builder whose work van racked up over 1,000 miles in "unexplained" driving after his boss discovered a vehicle tracker on the dashboard was being disconnected - and had a second one covertly installed.

Business • 29 Nov 24

The WRC heard complaints from the premium spirits marketing manager for Coca-Cola's Irish arm (stock image)

Coca-Cola marketer says she was demoted after having baby

A marketing executive says she quit Coca-Cola's Irish arm over the stress of returning from maternity leave as she felt she was being "bullied" into taking what she regarded as a demotion from a management job to "nearly a graduate position".

Business • 28 Nov 24

The Workplace Relations Commission rejected a challenge brought by Peter Gleeson over his dismissal from Go-Ahead Ireland Bus Ltd

Bus driver caught using phone loses dismissal challenge

A bus driver who was fired after being caught on camera using his mobile phone just before getting into a collision has lost a challenge to his dismissal - but is now back behind the wheel for work, a tribunal has heard.

Business • 27 Nov 24

The complaint is denied, with the university having told the complainant that she had been notified by an internal vacancy email in the same manner as all staff.

Academic claims DCU broke its own jobs policy

An academic has claimed Dublin City University broke its own jobs policy and discriminated against her by keeping her "in the dark" about a permanent job that was advertised while she was out on maternity leave.

Business • 26 Nov 24

Former Supermac's staff lose 'anti-American' bias claims

A mother and daughter who claimed they were subjected to a "hostile work environment" at a Supermac's because they came from America have lost their discrimination cases.

Business • 26 Nov 24

Margaret Boylan, Michelle Boyle and Caroline Nugent each secured orders under the Payment of Wages Act 1991

Staff left short by company win orders for unpaid wages

Three workers who said they were left short on wages and severance pay after being let go due to "trading difficulties" at an engineering firm have won pay orders.

Business • 25 Nov 24

A Workplace Relations Commission adjudicator found the dismissal of the truck driver 'procedurally lacking'

Truck driver fired for leaving concrete in lorry wins €2k

A truck driver fired for clocking off for the night and leaving a load of concrete to go hard in a lorry has won €2,000 for unfair dismissal.

Business • 22 Nov 24

The former host of Galway Bay FM's breakfast show,has lost a claim for unfair dismissal at the Workplace Relations Commission

Fired radio presenter was 'insubordinate' to station boss

The former host of Galway Bay FM's breakfast show, who was sacked last year over what was termed a "verbal assault" on the radio station's chief executive, has lost a claim for unfair dismissal at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Business • 20 Nov 24

The student, Ellie Dunne, (25) is pursuing a complaint under the Equal Status Act 2000 against the college.

Art student accuses NCAD of disability discrimination

An art student with Down Syndrome who has accused the National College of Art and Design of disability discrimination had her typed signature "forged" on an assessment document, her mother has alleged.

Business • 18 Nov 24

The WRC ruled that the Swissport worker was unfairly dismissed in December last year after the company failed a security inspection by the IAA two months earlier

Air cargo compliance manager unfairly fired wins €44,000

Air cargo company Swissport has been ordered to pay over €44,000 to a compliance manager after its failure to follow "anything approaching fair procedures" when it accused him of misleading a State inspector and sacked him.

Business • 18 Nov 24

The award to the employee, David McCullagh, includes a full year's salary in compensation for unfair dismissal.

Man fired before boss arrested for meth seizure wins €78k

An IT manager fired shortly before the arrest of his former boss in connection with Ireland's largest-ever seizure of crystal meth has won nearly €78,000 for unfair dismissal and employment rights breaches.

Business • 15 Nov 24

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has found St Vincent's University Hospital (SVUH) in Dublin to be in breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997

Hospital chaplain wins claim for double time on Sundays

A hospital chaplain who found out he was meant to be paid double time for working Sunday shifts after nearly a quarter of a century walking the wards has been awarded €2,600 in compensation for a breach of his employment rights.

Business • 14 Nov 24

The worker, Jackie Deevy secured the award on foot of a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.

HSE care worker 'never given a proper break' in 26 years

The HSE has been ordered to pay over €11,000 in compensation to a care worker who said she was "never given a proper break" in the course of 26 years' employment at a residential home.

Business • 08 Nov 24

Norma Burke accused the Press Photographers Ireland CLG (PPI) of belittling and dismissing her when she inquired about membership last year.

Photojournalist loses gender discrimination claim at WRC

A photojournalist who accused the professional body for the trade in Ireland of harbouring a "jobs for the boys attitude" has lost her gender discrimination claim at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Business • 08 Nov 24

The complainant said she first started to work for RTÉ in the late 2000s as an editor

'Bogus' contractor deals cost RTÉ editor €238k, WRC told

An RTÉ editor who claimed that she was left €238,000 worse off than her permanently-employed colleagues because she was treated as an "independent contractor" for 11 years is to be given more time to consider a retrospective benefits deal tabled by the broadcaster, a tribunal has decided.

Ireland • 07 Nov 24

Trade unionist Brendan Ogle is appealing the WRC's rejection of his claim.

Ogle appeals WRC ruling on discrimination claim

Trade unionist Brendan Ogle is appealing the Workplace Relations Commission's rejection of his claim that he was discriminated against at work as a cancer survivor by Unite.

Business • 07 Nov 24