Irish Employment Law In Brief: A Case Law Special (April 2022)

This month’s 'In Brief ' is a common law catch up. It can be hard to keep up to date with case law developments – it’s all too easy to miss an important decision that has major implications for employers and employees. For this very reason we decided to compile a list of some of the most interesting employment cases that have been decided in the last few months.

If you want to know more about any of the cases, each has a link to a more detailed case review on the Irish Employment Law Hub, where you will also find a further link to the full judgment online.

The decisions highlighted in this article cover a wide range of employment issues, including redundancy, jurisdictional matters and equal pay.

Redundancy

In Ray Walsh v Econocom Digital Finance Ltd [2022] the Adjudication Officer (AO) highlighted the importance of following fair procedures in redundancy dismissals, including consideration of redeployment.  The application of fair procedures in a redundancy dismissal includes careful and consistent application of selection criteria. In Maria Doyle v Granby Ltd [2021] the AO found that the departure from the use of ‘last in first out’ in the case of the Complainant meant that redundancy was not the primary reason for the dismissal of the Complainant and found she had been unfairly dismissed.

Jurisdiction and Contracts of Employment

The Labour Court recently held that an employee engaged on an intra-company transfer from India was entitled to rely on Irish employment law to challenge a claim of unfair dismissal.  In Infosys Limited v Mr Shahid Shaikh [2022] the Labour Court found that in the circumstances, regardless of the temporary nature of the transfer, the Complainant was entitled to rely on Irish law to challenge his dismissal which took place while he was living and working in Ireland.

On a similar note in the case of Speedking Couriers Limited t/a Fastway Couriers Midlands v Mr John Read [2022] an AO concluded that a Complainant who was described by the Respondent as an Independent Contractor was, in reality, and notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, engaged at all material times by the Respondent under a contract of service.

Equal Pay

As we await the introduction of the gender pay gap regulations, the recent case of Paula Reid v Teagasc [2022] is a useful reminder of the potential benefits gender pay gap reporting could have for organisations in helping to identify potential differences in pay between male and female employees and create an action plan for improvement. The AO held that the Complainant carried out like work to her comparator, who although he had retired, had been paid more than the Complainant for carrying out essentially the same role. 

Legal Island and Addleshaw Goddard LLP will be holding an event on the 16^th June 2022 to discuss the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 – how to get it right and protect your reputation.  To find out more and book click on the link below:
https://www.legal-island.ie/events-ie/gender-pay-gap-information-act-2021/

These cases and many more can be found here on the Legal Island hub.