Top 5 Reads: 

1. New HR Skill Builder just dropped! Workplace Coaching Skills are here 💼
2. Cabinet says yes to paid leave for early miscarriage 💗
3. Fired for taking parental leave? Employee wins €51,000 ⚖️
4. Irish workers: need €41k a year for comfy retirement 💰
5. Blog: Double jobbing in Ireland — what employers must know 🤹

And in other news... Huge congrats to Maura Connolly, Head of Employment at Addleshaw Goddard LLP, on her Patent of Precedence & title of Senior Counsel! 🎉We're chuffed to be teaming up with her employment law crew for our Bullying and Harassment event on 29 September 👏 Details here. 

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. New Skill Builder for HR just announced!
4. Miscarriage leave
5. Pensions & Retirement
6. 16% gender pay gap in financial services firms
7. Recruitment
8. Cybersecurity
9. Just In Case You Missed It....
10. HR Developments
11. Employment News in the Media
12. Friends of Legal Island
13. Free Webinars This Month

Noureldin Abdelgawwad v Al Maktoum Foundation CLG ADJ-00058389

Summary: Repeated management actions, including delayed pay, removal of authority and failure to address the employee's concerns, fundamentally breached trust and confidence, entitling the employee to resign and recover €40,000 for constructive dismissal plus €1,000 in unpaid wages.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• Ensure where there are changes in governance / management, communicate clearly with employees whose responsibilities may be affected. Managers should not be deprived of access, authority or operational functions without consultation / explained justification. Repeated unilateral changes may collectively undermine trust and confidence (even where no single act would independently justify resignation).
  
  
• Recognise that where employees raise genuine data-protection or safeguarding concerns, they should receive clear written instructions. They should not be portrayed as obstructive merely because they seek clarification. Salary delays should also be treated as serious contractual issues and corrected promptly.
  
  
• Treat substantive emails and written objections as potential grievances and respond meaningfully. They should also attend WRC hearings and provide evidence. Maintaining accessible grievance procedures, recording management decisions and engaging directly with employee concerns may prevent a dispute from developing into a breakdown of trust.
  

Read the full Review here.

Shabbir Ahmed v ICTS Ireland Ltd ADJ-00062173

Summary: An employee's claim for a 12 hour public holiday top up failed because the WRC held that an 8 hour top up correctly reflected the statutory entitlement where his 12 hour night shift spanned two calendar days.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• Ensure that public holiday entitlements are calculated by reference to the statutory framework rather than simply by reference to the total duration of a rostered shift. Where a shift crosses midnight, payroll systems should distinguish between hours worked on the ordinary calendar day and hours worked on the public holiday itself.
  
  
• Maintain clear payroll records showing how public holiday pay has been calculated. Payslips should distinguish ordinary pay, public holiday premiums, top-up payments and any night or unsocial-hours allowances.
  
  
• Ensure that payroll errors are corrected promptly and transparently. Employers should audit payroll systems regularly, particularly where Employment Regulation Orders or sectoral rules change. 
  
  

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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Targeted sectoral consultation on enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence

The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) is undertaking a targeted sectoral consultation to inform the development of the first phase of its Sectoral Strategy for Enterprise Adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The consultation forms part of a study being carried out by Accenture on behalf of the department to examine the opportunities, challenges and policy supports associated with AI adoption across selected sectors of the Irish economy. The consultation is seeking views from businesses in the manufacturing, tourism and construction sectors on their current experience of AI, including existing levels of adoption, potential opportunities, barriers to implementation, skills and capability needs, and the types of supports that could help enterprises adopt and scale AI effectively and responsibly. More here.

The AI Transparency Code Of Practice

The EU acknowledges that AI-generated or AI-manipulated media in the form of text, images, audio, and video is affecting the digital information landscape by reducing the capacity of ordinary users to distinguish it from human-created material. In order to remediate this problem, the EU has developed a Code of Practice on the Transparency of AI-Generated Content (the “Code“), to be read in tandem with the legal obligations set out under the EU AI Act. For companies that provide or deploy generative AI systems, the Code represents significant guidance on how to disseminate AI products responsibly. Read more from Philip Lee.

AI for HR Weekly Podcast with Barry Phillips 🎙️

As AI continues to reshape employment law, questions about accountability and oversight are becoming increasingly important. Barry Phillips explores these issues in one of his latest AI for HR Weekly podcast, examining the responsibilities that come with using AI in legal practice. Catch up with the episode here.

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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Find out more about all the upcoming Skill Builder for HR sessions HERE. 

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Cabinet approves paid leave for early miscarriage

Paid leave will be provided for the first time for women who suffer an early miscarriage. The Cabinet has approved a proposal from Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke to offer five days of paid leave for women who experience a miscarriage before 23 weeks of pregnancy. The proposed Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill aims to provide for five days of paid leave per year for individuals who experience a pregnancy loss prior to 23 weeks gestation. RTÉ has more. 

And…

General Scheme of the Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill

This document outlines the heads of the Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill, including:

• The Bill will provide 5 days paid leave per year for a person experiencing a pregnancy loss prior to 23 weeks gestation. The leave will require medical certification.
  
  
• The entitlement to leave will be a day one right, while the entitlement to payment will include a 13-week service requirement.
  
  
• It will operate as a distinct statutory entitlement, separate from statutory sick leave and maternity leave.

More here.

Read Arthur Cox’s briefing on it here.

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Irish workers say they will need €41,000 a year from pension for comfortable retirement

The Irish Times reports Irish workers believe they will need almost €41,000 a year for a comfortable retirement, a new study shows. Laws automatically enrolling people with no retirement savings into pension schemes came into force this year, but they can opt out this month and next. Read here.

Pensions update: Spring 2026

This spring update from Arthur Cox's Pensions Group covers topical issues in pensions law including the latest news on automatic enrolment and IORP II, updates from the Pensions Authority, Revenue and European Commission, and a summary of significant recent case law. Read it here.

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The gender pay gap remains high in financial services firms with a 16% average wage differential between male and female employees at the companies surveyed in the Women in Finance Charter's Annual Report. Research Assistant at the ESRI and co-author of the report Eva Slevin said gender pay gap reporting is an "important tool for change" to highlight where gaps are greatest and to allow firms to benchmark their performance. You can read more from RTÉ.

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DPD to create 200 Dublin jobs in €10m investment

Delivery firm DPD Ireland said today that a €10m investment by the company to expand its warehousing and logistics capabilities will create 200 jobs. DPD said the expansion is driven by continued strong performance across all areas of its business, including next-day delivery, logistics services and Out of Home solutions. The company is investing €10m in developing a second distribution hub, which will be located at Gateway Logistics Park, Newlands Cross on the Naas Road in Dublin 22. More on this story from RTÉ here.

Recruitment blunder 'seemed avoidable' – Publicjobs

Publicjobs said a recruitment blunder that saw more than 12,500 job applicants issued with incorrect scores and rankings "seemed avoidable" and was likely to damage its reputation.An internal review said the error in the clerical officer competition followed a series of communication failures, system problems, and inadequate testing of the online application process. The mistake meant candidates were given scores and rankings on answers to questions that were not intended for the competition. RTÉ reports on this here.

Sharp reduction in professional vacancies hits pay and conditions, report finds

The number of professional job vacancies declined by 7.2 per cent in the second quarter of the year and was down almost 10 per cent on the same period in 2025, according to the latest Morgan McKinley quarterly employment monitor. The international recruitment specialist suggests employers have become more cautious in their approach to hiring in recent months, with a growing emphasis across a wide number of roles on temporary or contract recruitment so as not to increase permanent headcount. More from the Irish Times.

Slow Garda vetting costing companies staff

The slow pace of Garda vetting is costing companies staff, a healthcare provider has said. Last year, there were over 600,000 applications for Garda vettings; however, many are repeat applications due to people changing jobs. Wicklow TD Edward Timmins has described it as “cumbersome” system and called for it to be streamlined. More from NewsTalk.

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Irish NCSC Issues Cyber Governance Guidance for Management Boards Ahead of NIS2 Implementation

On July 7, 2026, the Irish National Cyber Security Centre (“NCSC”) published guidance for management boards and senior executives of organizations subject to the EU’s Network and Information Security Directive (“NIS2”). Reflecting a central theme of NIS2, the Guidance makes it clear that cybersecurity is no longer solely a technical issue, but a governance and risk-management matter that requires active oversight at “the highest levels of executive management.”  It is a helpful document for organizations that are likely to be subject to NIS2, expect to be supervised in Ireland, and that are considering their governance structures and board-level oversight mechanisms. More from Mark Young and David Brazil from the team at Covington for Inside Privacy. 

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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: Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025: Key questions answered

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 (2025 Act) came into force on 29 June 2026, with the WRC's updated Code of Practice on Longer Working (Code of Practice) being published the same day. The 2025 Act introduces a new statutory process allowing employees to notify their employer that they do not consent to retiring at a contractual retirement age that is below the State pension age of 66. Molly Hackett, Solicitor at A&L Goodbody LLP looks at this new piece of legislation in more detail in her article here. 

Double Employment in Ireland: What employers need to know

As employees continue to seek greater financial flexibility and additional sources of income, employers are increasingly encountering situations where individuals hold more than one job. Commonly referred to as double employment, double jobbing or parallel employment, the practice is not prohibited under Irish law. Caroline Reidy, Head of HR Solutions, NFP explores this topic here. 

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The leaders who actually changed

This article from Forbes features leaders Joy Rohadfox of Rohadfox Construction and Janis Ware of the Atlanta Voice, who exemplify a nuanced approach to modern workplace management. They adeptly balance adapting to younger workers' needs, such as flexible schedules, with maintaining unwavering standards and project deadlines. You can read more here.

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The Irish airline Aer Lingus has proposed cutting up to 500 jobs under a new cost-cutting plan. Under the plan, 290 roles in its head office at Dublin Airport, along with 140 cabin roles and 70 pilot positions are at threat. The airline currently employs about 6,000 people. It also said that a planned 6% reduction in its flight capacity would come into effect by removing "poor performing routes". BBC has more. And RTÉ reports on it here.

More on this from SIPTU…….

SIPTU representatives have expressed deep concern and surprise following the announcement by Aer Lingus of its intention to reduce headcount by approximately 500 positions across the airline. The union has warned that the sudden announcement has caused significant worry and uncertainty among workers and their families, and has demanded an immediate, face-to-face meeting with senior airline management.

RTÉ reports a Marks and Spencer worker whose staff discount credentials were used 73 times in six weeks when his wife secretly copied them and shared them with her family and friends has won a challenge to his "disproportionate" dismissal. A Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator ruled Marks and Spencer was wrong to use the "nuclear option" by sacking sales advisor Mark Brennan from his job of over a decade. A 50% reduced award of €2,000 was made to Mr Brennan under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, as the complainant "contributed significantly by his carelessness", the adjudicator decided. Read here.

A migrant construction engineer who was put to work for 10-hour days doing building work for under the minimum wage after being given "assurances" he would get support for a work permit has secured €14,000 for employment rights breaches. The worker, Dongming Hou, secured the award on foot of complaints under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 and the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 against his former employer, Buildify Construction and Technology Limited. RTÉ has more on this story.

Dozens of Meta employees in the US have sued the social media company over claims that it used artificial intelligence tools to tag workers for mass layoffs. The workers allege that those AI tools targeted them after they asked for protected or maternity leave or disability accommodation. More from the Irish Examiner. 

A senior sales manager who said his employer made a "threat" that he might have no job to come back to if he took his parental leave has won €51,000 for employment rights breaches. Deel Ireland EOR Limited, the Irish arm of US-headquartered human resources management software firm Deel Inc, has been directed by the WRC to pay the sum on foot of complaints by a former head of sales for the Nordic region, Tommi Wong. More here from RTÉ. 

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Panel of Adjudication Officers (Contractor) in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Adjudication Service

A competition is being held to establish a panel of suitably qualified individuals, on a contract for service basis, to act as Adjudication Officers (Contractor) for the Adjudication Service of the WRC. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday 30th July 2026 and you can find out more here.

Maura Connolly, Patent of Precedence 

Congratulations from Legal Island to Maura Connolly, Partner, Addleshaw Goddard who has received Patent of Precedence and appointment as Senior Counsel by the Government of Ireland. Read more. 

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New Rules on Retirement Age – What Employers Need to Know 

📅 Tuesday 21 July 2026
🕒 11.00 am to 11.45 am
📍 Live online | Free to attend

Register HERE. 

Ireland's approach to contractual retirement ages changed significantly on 29 June 2026 with the commencement of the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 and the updated Code of Practice on Longer Working.
These changes introduce a new consent-based framework that will affect how employers manage retirement, employee requests to work beyond retirement age, and the drafting of contracts and workplace policies.

Laura McKee, Legal Island will be joined by Anne O'Connell, Anne O'Connell Solicitors, where she will explain what the new framework means in practice and the steps employers should be taking now.

This webinar will explore: 

1.    How the new legislation interacts with existing equality law
2.    Practical changes employers should make to contracts, policies and retirement procedures
3.    Managing requests to continue working beyond retirement age while minimising legal risk
4.    Common pitfalls and practical tips for HR professionals and managers.

Check out previous discussions:
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