Top 5 reads with your morning coffee: 

1. The WRC Provides Guidance on their role under the EU AI Act 🤖

2. How to Stop Meetings Eating Your Day ⏰

3. Sharpen Your Workplace Coaching Skills Over Lunch 🧠

4. Hybrid Working Appeals Begin at AIB 🏠

5. When Employees Go AWOL: The Rise of Workplace Ghosting 👻

And in other news… apparently, one little eye roll can be the start of the apocalypse. Read here from HR Director how small acts of rudeness can snowball into a toxic workplace culture, and why ignoring the little things might mean they become very big things indeed. 🙄

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Skill Builder for HR: Workplace Coaching Skills
4. Employment growth hits four-year high in Irish manufacturing
5. Garda staffing pressures highlighted in watchdog report
6. Industrial Relations
7. Employment permit statistics
8. Just In Case You Missed It....
9. HR Developments
10. Employment News in the Media
11. Friends of Legal Island
12. Free Webinars This Month 

A Complainant v A Large Retail Store ADJ-00064610

Summary: Employer failed to properly assess reasonable disability accommodations for an employee with Alzheimer’s disease and awarded €25,000 compensation.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• Undertake a structured and individualised assessment after receiving medical advice identifying a disability and recommended accommodations. Management should appoint a responsible decision-maker, consult directly with the employee and representatives, record each recommendation, assess its practicality and explain any refusal by reference to evidence, operational requirements and proportionality.
  
  
• Employers should investigate every reasonable support before concluding that an accommodation was impractical. That process includes occupational-health clarification, ergonomic or task assessments, written prompts, altered duties, buddy arrangements, disability organisations, grants and public funding.
  
  
• Where medical opinions conflicts, employers should manage the process promptly, transparently and collaboratively. Requests for reports should allow realistic timescales, and responsibility for obtaining medical evidence not shift unfairly to the employee or family. Sick leave and sick pay procedures considered alongside equality obligations, rather than applied mechanically. 
  

Read the full Review here.

Ram Shah v Aer Lingus ADJ-00058895

Summary: Transparent recruitment terms are essential, as undisclosed training conditions can create avoidable fixed term employment disputes.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• Distinguish clearly between a training engagement and any later fixed-term role. Recruitment advertisements, conditional offers and contracts should state, before acceptance, every material gateway to continued employment. Important terms should not first appear in a training manual issued after an employee has resigned from another position.
  
  
• Explain pay arrangements transparently. Where an advertised rate includes shift or other allowances, the basic rate and each allowance should be separately identified, together with when each payment applies. This reduces inaccurate financial expectations and assists the employer in defending allegations of misrepresentation or less favourable treatment.
  
  
• Review operational practices from the candidate’s perspective. Issuing uniforms, access cards or other symbols of appointment before a final assessment may create an expectation that employment has been secured. 
  

Read the full Review here.

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These case reviews were written by Patrick Barrett BL.

Patrick's legal education is robust, beginning with a BCL Law Degree from University College Cork (2012-2016), followed by an LL.M in Business Law from the same institution (2016-2017), and culminating in a Barrister-at-Law Degree from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns in Dublin (2019-2021). He has extensive experience on the South-West Circuit, handling Civil, Family, and Criminal Law cases, as well as advising the Citizen Advice Service.  He has worked as an employment consultant, dealing with workplace investigations and bankruptcy procedures.

Remember: Our Irish case law reviews are now held in our case law section on our fully-searchable employment law hub website.

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The WRC’s Role under EU AI Act

The WRC has provided guidance intended to help members of the public understand likely issues concerning the Workplace Relations Commission’s role as a Market Surveillance Authority (MSA) under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (2024), particularly where AI systems are used in employment, recruitment and workplace decision-making.

Enforcement of the AI Act Starts 

As expected, enforcement of the EU AI Act started on August 2. Non-compliance may result in fines and can also affect companies based outside the EU that, for example, offer AI models or systems to customers in the EU (Article 2 of the AI Act provides more information). Read more from Luiza Jarovsky, PhD on how enforcement will work in practice, and other information that everyone should know.

Irish workers feel secure from AI job replacement, demand transparency

Almost two in every three Irish workers feel safe in their job despite the threat of AI replacing roles, a new survey has found, suggesting initial fears about AI may be allaying. The research also found that employees in Ireland are more likely than those in Europe to trust their organisation to use AI in a fair and ethical way. The survey of 1,000 workers and more than 300 employers here was part of the wider research by payroll firm SD Worx. More from the Irish Examiner.

Seven experts join AI Office of Ireland board

Members include distinguished AI researcher Alan Smeaton and Shutterstock AI director Alessandra Sala.Seven experts across technology, academia and public administration have been appointed to oversee the newly established AI Office of Ireland. Led by Mary Doyle, a former higher-up across Government departments, the board will help the new office implement the EU’s landmark legislation on AI. Silicon Republic has more on this. 

AI for HR Weekly Podcast with Barry Phillips 🎙️

Hub subscribers are beginning to request that our Chairman, Barry covers a particular AI topic in a future podcast. If you have a request, send it to him directly at barry@legal-island.com - he’ll feel like a DJ from the 80s…...🎧

You can tune into the latest episode right here - or, if you’re on the move, why not take us with you?

Listen on all major platforms: 🎧 Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Simply search for “AI for HR Weekly Podcast” and enjoy expert insights anytime, anywhere.

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Employment in the Irish manufacturing sector rose at its fastest rate in more than four years last month, with businesses upbeat about their prospects for the rest of the year. The sector reported “robust” expansion of activity in July on the back of growing demand, according to the AIB Ireland Manufacturing purchasing managers index. More from the Irish Times.

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The Policing Watchdog has criticised staffing pressures within An Garda Síochána, the lack of a national children’s plan, and also called for “greater consistency” in community engagement. The Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA) published its 2025 Annual Assessment of Policing Performance. More from the Journal.

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Fórsa begins public sector ballot over industrial action

Fórsa has begun a ballot of more than 90,000 members working in the public sector to see if they are willing to take industrial action over pay. The union said the ballot comes after the failure of preliminary talks with the Government to establish a basis for a successor deal to the Public Service Agreement 2024–2026 which expired at the end of June. RTÉ has more.

And…

Unite members in NSAI to take industrial action

RTÉ also reports members of the Unite trade union working in the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action over job loss concerns. The union has accused the NSAI of deciding to seek Government sanction to impose compulsory redundancies contrary to established practice in the public sector. Unite also claims that management is proposing to impose staff reassignments without agreement.

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Employment permit statistical tables and company listings for 2026. The list details companies issued with permits from the beginning of the year up until the last day of the previous month.

Most permits by sector include:

• Health & Social Work Activities – 6351
• Accommodation & Food Services Activities – 2340
• Information & Communication Activities – 2300

You can find more here.

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The Employment Law Hub is a comprehensive, jurisdiction-specific resource designed for HR professionals, legal advisors, and business leaders. It centralises essential employment law and HR updates, expertly curated and written by leading HR and legal specialists to provide reliable, practical, and authoritative insights. We have over 700+ in depth articles and 1000+ case law reviews. As a subscriber, you have access to all of this. Check it out the full Hub here and below are some recent articles you may have missed.....

Q&A: Managing maternity leave in the workplace

When an employee notifies an employer of their pregnancy, there are a number of important practical and legal considerations for employers.  Employers want to support employees and ensure compliance with their obligations under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and employment equality legislation. From preparing for maternity leave to managing restructuring exercises and facilitating a smooth return to work, Rachel-Maria Moore, Solicitor A&L Goodbody LLP looks at some of the questions employers frequently ask about maternity leave here. 

Missing in Action: The rise of AWOL and employee ghosting in the workplace

In recent years, Irish employers are increasingly encountering instances of employees going absent without official leave ('AWOL') or effectively “ghosting” their employer without explanation. Such conduct presents practical and legal challenges, particularly in balancing operational needs with the requirement to apply fair procedures under Irish employment law. Employers must review the circumstances of such absence carefully, before taking action to ensure that any action taken complies with principles of natural justice and statutory protections. In this article, we examine how employers can best manage these scenarios in practice, and how complaints arising from such situations are increasingly being scrutinised by the Workplace Relations Commission. Read more from Katie Doherty, Employment Solicitor at DAC Beachcroft. 

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6 Career Habits That Separate High Performers From Other Workers

Expert asserts that enduring career success in our AI-transformed workplace depends less on traditional credentials and more on cultivating six daily habits and taking calculated risks—such as work-life integration, mastering situational leadership, mentoring others throughout your journey, and actively partnering with AI. Discover the human-centric qualities that are essential for thriving as technology continues to reshape industries. Forbes magazine has more.

How to Keep Your Meetings on Track

Another meeting that should have been an email. When it comes to clear communication, meetings are many an organisation’s Achilles’ heel. Over the last decade, I have joined hundreds of meetings with organisations ranging in size from small startups to massive conglomerates, and they all had one thing in common: inefficient meetings. Marcia Goddard explains how managers can learn valuable lessons from Formula One teams’ debrief sessions in this article for Business Plus.

How little things snowball (for better or worse)

Incivility can creep into workplace culture with subtle behaviours going unnoticed until the rot sets in. This can take the form of relatively low-key rude behaviours to start with. Tutting, eye rolling, interrupting and forgetting our ‘P’s’ and ‘Q’s’ may seem minor, with isolated incidents being unlikely to raise red flags. On the other hand, what’s tolerated can quickly become the norm. If we turn a blind eye to behaviour continually, culture can quickly go downhill. This can be catastrophic in a medical context (Chris Turner’s TED Talk ‘When rudeness in teams turns deadly’ highlights a powerful example of the direct link between staff interactions and patient outcomes). Read more on this from HR Director.

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RTÉ reports an appeals process has commenced for staff at AIB whose hybrid working requests are refused. As part of negotiations between AIB and the Financial Services Union (FSU) on the bank's new hybrid working model, it was agreed that an external appeals process would be established. Appeals will now be heard by an independent third party, Stratis Consulting.

The Irish Times reports a worker at a pharma firm sacked after getting into a fist-fight with a takeaway driver in a row over a late order has won his job back, having spent 15 months out of work. The fracas broke out outside the premises of Almac Pharma Services Ltd in Dundalk in March 2025, when staff refused a food delivery because their break was finished, the WRC heard. The driver threw the first punch after demanding the sacked worker – who admitted calling the driver a “c**t” – repeat the remark, the tribunal was told.

At least 30 key positions within the HSE’s child mental health services have been unfilled for more than a year amid a crisis of under-resourcing. New data from the HSE shows at least 30 psychology, social-work, and occupational-therapy posts within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) have been vacant for upwards of 12 months. The figures, released to Cork East Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide via a series of parliamentary questions, show at least 14 of those positions have been vacant since 2023 or earlier. More from the Irish Examiner.

Fuel and forecourt retailer Applegreen said it plans to open a new €15m roadside service area and electric vehicle hub in Naas, Co Kildare, which will create 150 jobs. The new Applegreen service area, which will be located close to the Naas Ball at Junction 9 on the M7, is part of a multi-million euro investment that Applegreen is making in its Irish business this year. It is due to open later this year. RTÉ has the full story here.

In the UK, hundreds of pilots have filed a group claim against Ryanair over unpaid holiday pay. Their lawsuit is being led by Richard Phillips, a former Ryanair pilot, alongside 261 others, and was filed last week in London’s Commercial Court. It follows a ruling last year at the Court of Appeal, which found that another pilot, Jason Lutz, was an employee of the airline while flying for them rather than self-employed. More from Personnel Today.

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Lewis Silkin celebrates fifth anniversary in Belfast

Lewis Silkin’s Belfast office has grown its headcount more than tenfold in five years, expanding from a team of eight people in 2021 to more than 80 staff as the law firm continues to invest in specialist legal services across Northern Ireland. The UK-headquartered firm is marking the fifth anniversary of its Belfast operation, which was established after joining forces with employment law specialists Jones Cassidy Brett in 2021 before strengthening its Northern Ireland presence through a merger with technology-focused law firm Forde Campbell the following year. Business Plus has more.

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Missed our webinar? Catch up on demand: New Rules on Retirement Age, What Employers Need to Know

Sponsored by HRLocker

Ireland's new contractual retirement age framework is now in force, bringing significant changes for employers.

In this webinar, Laura McKee from Legal Island is joined by Anne O'Connell of Anne O'Connell Solicitors to explain what the new rules mean in practice, including retirement procedures, employee requests to work beyond retirement age, and the steps employers should take now.

Watch the recording HERE.

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