In Brief: Important Updates from October 2017

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Here are some of the important articles we covered in October 2017:

• Gender Pay Gap Reporting - Labour Bill Accepted by Seanad;
• Fair Procedures: The Labour Court View;
• Employee Absences due to Unforeseen Weather Events;
• The Mediation Act 2017;
• Retirement Age in Contracts of Employment;
• Subject Access Requests under the GDPR

Gender Pay Gap Reporting - Labour Bill Accepted by Seanad
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017 was accepted by Government on Wednesday 25th October and attempts to eliminate the disparity in pay between men and women.

The Bill, introduced by Labour Senator Ivana Bacik, assigns new powers to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to make mandatory information disclosure schemes. Under the schemes, businesses with more than 50 employees will be forced to reveal the details of any gender pay gap among staff, as well as disclosing the nature and scale of the problem.
https://www.legal-island.ie/news/roi/2017/gender-pay-gap-reporting---labour-bill-accepted-by-seanad

Fair Procedures: The Labour Court View
There has been much discussion in employment law circles in relation to investigations and fair procedures, especially following the High Court decision of Lyons v Longford Westmeath Education and Training Board. Síobhra Rush, Senior Associate in the Employment Law & Data Protection team in Leman Solicitors, discusses two influential Labour Court decisions on fair procedures when conducting disciplinary investigations.
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/features/labour-superior-court-review/2017/oct/fair-procedures-the-labour-court-view/

Storm Ophelia - Employee Absences due to Unforeseen Weather Events
In this month’s ‘How do I handle it?’ article, Harry Wall of Ronan Daly Jermyn, considers the question, “In light of the recent disruption caused to businesses by Storm Ophelia, how do I handle employee absences due to unforeseen weather events in future?”
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/features/how-do-i-handle-it/2017/oct/storm-ophelia-employee-absences-due-to-unforeseen-weather-events/

The Mediation Act 2017 – A Game Changer for Employment Lawyers?
In this article, Jacqui Kelly, a Senior Associate in the Employment Department at A&L Goodbody and a CEDR accredited mediator, explains why a knowledge of mediation processes and the Mediation Act is so important to employment lawyers.
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/features/hr/2017/oct/the-mediation-act-2017-a-game-changer-for-employment-lawyers/ 

Should we include a Retirement Age in our Contracts of Employment?
Employers are becoming increasingly more wary of including retirement ages in their contracts of employment due to an upsurge in litigation taken by aggrieved employees who have been forced to retire. Laura Graham, Managing Associate in the Employment Law team in Reddy Charlton Solicitors, explains the two-step process in successfully retiring an employee and provides a valuable ‘practical steps’ segment for employers contemplating the compulsory retirement of staff.
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/features/contracts/2017/oct/should-we-include-a-retirement-age-in-our-contracts-of-employment/

Subject Access Requests under the GDPR
Linda Hynes, Head of Employment & Data Protection at Leman Solicitors, has prepared a handy checklist on how to deal with data/subject access requests under the GDPR.
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/resources/templates-checklists/2017/oct/dealing-with-subject-access-requests-under-gdpr-checklist/