How to: Meet time limits for Complaints to the WRC

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 11/06/2024 The issue of ‘out of time’ or late complaints frequently surfaces in Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) proceedings. Hence, it is notable that in 2021 the High Court rejected a worker’s judicial review application against a WRC adjudication decision that had disallowed him an extension of time to...

Sexual Harassment at Work: Provisions, Precedents and Prescriptions

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 08/05/2024 Recent media coverage of workplace sexual harassment serves to confirm that the topic is not going away. Whilst Lois West was telling the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) about her sexual harassment experience at Garda Headquarters, the same forum was awarding an Indian chef €143,000 for a ho...

How To Conduct Workplace Investigations: Natural Justice and Proper Procedure

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 07/03/2024 One could be forgiven for thinking that after a (then) record WRC award of €329,000 in 2022 – despite the respondent employer claiming to have ‘conducted a scrupulously fair investigation’ (ADJ-00027573) – that the lesson had been learned. That is, it is of the utmost importance that proper proced...

How to Deal With ‘Banter’ At Work

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 11/12/2023 The subject of ‘banter’ at work rose to prominence in 1995, when Chevron Oil in the United States made a $2.2m. settlement to female employees who alleged they were sexually harassed via workplace banter, incl. the circulation of a ‘joke’ sheet entitled: ‘25 reasons why beer is better than women’. ...

How to Run Effective Meetings

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 14/07/2023 John Cleese of ‘Fawlty Towers’ fame put it well, when he succinctly named one of his earliest training films ‘Meetings Bloody Meetings’!Too often meetings take on a life of their own, being time consuming, badly planned and occasionally fractious, thus prompting the question: ‘What the hell am I do...

To Talk or Not To Talk? Talking With Employees About Retirement

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 14/02/2023 Introduction The subject of retirement is tied up in legal loopholes and shrouded in sensitivities. Hence, it has become a hot HR topic. In some jobs, there is a statutory retirement age. This means that the retirement age is specified in law (e.g. for some public servants, like Gardai and Defence ...

How To: Get A Pay Rise

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 03/10/2022 The Insolvency Service of Ireland recently announced that most people have some form of debt. Unfortunately, the prospects for getting out of debt are now grimmer than ever - with inflation at its highest level in almost 40 years and interest rates on the rise. And it looks like there’s little sign...

How To: Prepare for a WRC Hearing

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 07/09/2022 The Adjudication Context The Workplace Relations Commission’s (WRC) adjudication service investigates disputes, grievances and claims made by individuals or small groups under employment, equality and equal status legislation. Under Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, Adjudication O...

How To: Manage Workplace Conflict

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 09/05/2022 When it comes to ‘conflict’, the bad news is that: ‘an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind’, so, huge efforts are made by many to sidestep, resolve and eliminate conflict, whether it be in the home, the workplace, the Ukraine or elsewhere. Despite these efforts, ‘conflict’ remains ...

How To: Handle The New Code of Practice on Harassment at Work

Posted in: How To... with Dr. Gerry McMahon on 04/04/2022 Introduction Following hard on the heels of the revised Code of Practice on bullying at work, to coincide with International Women’s Day, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has launched an updated version of the 2002 ‘Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work’...