This Week’s Top 5 ⚖️✨

1. 🧾 Case Law Review – Avoca’s redundancy process was found to be flawed by WRC.
2. 🏛️ New Bills alert! – Two employment law bills discussed in Dail this week.
3. 🩳 Camogie players - green light to wear shorts after Congress vote.
4. 😅 Toxic positivity – “Just stay positive!” is not a strategy. It’s gaslighting and it’s killing psychological safety.
5. 📟 Gen X, listen up – The workplace has changed (again). Here's how to roll with it without losing your edge.

And in other news....We get it. GDPR isn’t exactly edge-of-your-seat stuff. But our event on 28th May might just change your mind. Join leading experts from A&L Goodbody and more for sharp takes on GDPR, internal investigations, and cybersecurity. 🍪🔒 Book now before someone else ticks the box!

**If you have any difficulties accessing the article or resetting your password (if you haven’t already done so in 2025) please email hub@legal-island.com and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible.**

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Pay Transparency
4. ESG
5. Pensions
6. Equality
7. Legislation Update
8. Just In Case You Missed It....
9. HR Developments
10. Employment News in the Media
11. Health and Safety Developments
12. Free Webinars This Month 

Mark Mcgillycuddy v Avoca Handweavers Limited ADJ-00031700

Summary: WRC held that dismissal was unfair due to flawed consultation and redundancy process.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• Ensure that redundancy processes are procedurally fair and clearly documented. This includes issuing timely written communications, holding meaningful consultation meetings, and providing objective justifications for the redundancy, such as financial data or business restructuring plans. Failing to provide supporting documentation or failing to follow a fair procedure may render the dismissal unfair, even where a genuine redundancy exists.
   
  
• Explore all possible alternatives to redundancy, including redeployment to suitable vacant roles within the business or group. Employees should be informed of available positions and given a genuine opportunity to apply. If they are open to stepping down or taking different roles, this should be seriously considered and recorded.
   
  
• Ensure selection for redundancy is based on objective, consistently applied criteria. Employers must maintain clear records to demonstrate fairness if challenged.

Read the full Review here:
Mark Mcgillycuddy v Avoca Handweavers Limited [2025]

Daniel Kennoy v Tesco Ireland Ltd. ADJ-00052400

Summary: Employee waived minimum notice rights through informed redundancy agreement.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

• When offering voluntary redundancy, employers must ensure the process is clearly presented as an option, not an imposition. Employees should be offered a meaningful choice between continuing employment and accepting redundancy, with transparent communication of the implications. Document everything.  
  
  
• Employers should also ensure that settlement agreements include a comprehensive waiver of statutory and contractual rights and that these are communicated plainly. A reasonable timeframe should be given to allow employees to obtain independent legal advice, and employers should confirm that this opportunity has been provided. Including a clause confirming legal advice was offered and accepted can help protect the employer if the agreement is later challenged.
   
  
• Employers should avoid ambiguity around entitlement to statutory payments like minimum notice. Any exclusions must be explicit in the agreement and supported by proper communication.

Read the full Review here: 
Daniel Kennoy v Tesco Ireland Ltd. [2025]

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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:
https://legal-island.ie/employment-law-hub/case-law

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First AI committee to examine ‘urgent’ concern for democracy

“Increasingly urgent” concern around the potential subversion of Ireland’s electoral system is to be investigated by the incoming Oireachtas committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is likely to feed into a forthcoming renewal of Government strategy on cyber security. It is likely to spearhead much of the State’s discussions around the rapidly developing technology, widely perceived to bring threat and opportunity in equal measure. More from the Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/20/first-ai-committee-to-examine-urgent-concern-for-democracy/

AI is no longer about upskilling. It’s about full scale transformation

In his new podcast episode, Barry Phillips explores how Artificial Intelligence has moved beyond upskilling to become a force for full-scale organisational change. In this episode, he considers the challenges and opportunities this presents for HR and employment law professionals as they adapt to a rapidly evolving world of work.

AI is no longer about upskilling. It’s about full scale  transformation

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International Employment Lawyer - Guide to Pay Transparency

IEL’s Guide to Pay Transparency provides a comprehensive overview of remuneration disclosure rules across 24 jurisdictions worldwide, as well as advice on how to mitigate risk, and create more transparent and equitable workplaces. You can use the guide to compare queries quickly and easily across various jurisdictions. For ease of reference, users can conduct their research online or download a PDF of just the questions and answers that matter to them, or save whole chapters for later review:
https://www.internationalemploymentlawyer.com/guidetopaytransparency

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Sustainable Business Coach: Practical tool to boost SME decision-making around ESG

Following a successful pilot, Bank of Ireland has launched its new Sustainable Business Coach online platform. This is a free digital tool that is designed to support SME customers with sustainability planning to identify their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) priorities. The platform is unique to the Irish market in that it is designed as an ESG questionnaire that uses an online assessment capability to deliver a tailor-made report on their current sustainability situation and provides a plan of action. Think Business has more:
https://www.thinkbusiness.ie/articles/sustainable-business-coach-platform-for-smes/

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Irish Life, Amundi and BlackRock picked to run Ireland’s auto enrolment pot

It is expected these companies will complete contract negotiations this summer, well in advance of the commencement of the auto-enrolment regime, known as My Future Fund, in January, the Department of Social Protection said in a statement on Tuesday, reports the Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/20/irish-life-amundi-and-blackrock-picked-to-run-irelands-auto-enrolment-pot/

Union ballots school secretaries on strike action over exclusion from pension scheme

More than 2,300 secretaries in Irish primary and secondary schools may go on indefinite strike over a pensions’ dispute, a trade union has warned. Fórsa said a ballot of its members is now under way as part of an ongoing campaign to secure access to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme for school secretaries across the country. The Irish Examiner has more on this:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41635963.html

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Camogie players given green light to wear shorts after Congress vote 

A motion at the Camogie Association's Special Congress at Croke Park providing players with the option of shorts or skorts passed with overwhelming support, 98% in favour, and is effective immediately. Read more:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41637574.html

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025

Bill entitled an Act to provide for prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a person’s socio-economic disadvantaged background, for those purposes to amend the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000; and to provide for related matters. The bill is currently before Seanad Éireann, Second Stage. More here:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2025/20/eng/initiated/b2025s.pdf

The Trade Union Recognition Bill 2021

The Bill sets out to provide a legal mechanism for trade union recognition for workers who comprise at least 20 per cent of the employees in a employment (or any category within that employment). It was confirmed in the Dáil this week that the Government intends to oppose this Bill. Read the Explantory Memorandum here:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2021/65/eng/memo/tradeunionrecognitionmemo2021-v1.pdf

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Into the Portal – Updates to Gender Pay Gap Reporting

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality has recently announced that a gender pay gap reporting portal will be launched in Autumn of 2025.  It is expected that around 6,000 employers will be required to report into the new portal when it goes live later this year.  Further to the Minister’s announcement, what will the changes to gender pay gap reporting be when the portal is introduced and what do they mean for employers? More from Siobhán Lafferty, Byrne Wallace Shields LLP, here: Into the Portal – Updates to Gender Pay Gap Reporting

Auto-Enrolment Explained: Preparing Your Organisation for Ireland’s New Pension Scheme

Auto-enrolment is a new retirement savings scheme for employees who do not already have a workplace pension scheme or an additional pension arrangement. Pension membership in Ireland, particularly among private-sector workers, has historically been low. According to recent data, only about 35% of private sector workers have supplementary pension coverage. Read Caroline Reidy's full article here:
Auto-Enrolment Explained: Preparing Your Organisation for Ireland’s New Pension Scheme

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Seven years on businesses still grapple with GDPR compliance

As we approach the 7th anniversary of GDPR coming in to force, research from SurveyMonkey finds 58pc of Irish businesses still experience challenges. Read more:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/seven-years-on-businesses-still-grapple-with-gdpr-compliance

Struggling with GDPR in your organisation? Why not come along to our Data Protection Update in Ireland 2025 online event this coming Wednesday 28th May? The experts at A&L Goodbody will help you navigate this complex area. Find out more HERE

Workplace manipulation or mindful manoeuvring?

It’s often a fine line between positive and negative workplace strategies, so how can you ensure that you’re on the right side? Silicon Republic has more here:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/employees-use-manipulation-mindful-manoeuvring-skills

Toxic positivity is gaslighting staff and destroying psychological safety

HR leaders play a critical role here. If you’re serious about building a culture of trust and high performance, you must help your organisation understand the difference between authentic optimism and enforced positivity. More from HR Director:
https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/hr/toxic-positivity-gaslighting-staff-destroying-psychological-safety/

Note to Generation X workers: The workplace is always changing

Historical analysis provides a harsh truth that people who bank on the world of work never changing are likely to lose out. More from RTÉ:
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0519/1513599-generation-x-workplace-changing-nature-of-work/

Digital watercoolers are becoming toxic playgrounds for organisations

As workplaces become increasingly digital, a new threat is emerging, and I believe many leaders are turning a blind eye. With collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and internal chat channels now central to the way we work, we’ve unknowingly created unregulated spaces where bullying, exclusion and inappropriate behaviour are quietly escalating. More from HR Director:
https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/the-workplace/digital-watercoolers-becoming-toxic-playgrounds-organisations/
 
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The Workplace Relations Commission has thrown out multiple employment rights claims by a worker at a community probation service because she turned up half an hour late for her hearing before an adjudication officer last month. More:
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0522/1514370-worker-has-claims-thrown-out-because-she-turnen-up-late/

An appeal by the horse racing trainer, Anthony (Tony) Mullins, against an award of more than €86,000 made to one of his former employees by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been rejected by the Labour Court. The court upheld the award against Mr Mullins, a well-known figure in the industry, in the case taken by Yasir Ali, a migrant worker who he employed as a stable hand at Watree Stud in Co Kilkenny. Read more from the Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2025/05/16/racehorse-trainer-anthony-mullins-loses-appeal-against-86000-wrc-award-to-stable-hand/

Former Swim Ireland national performance director Jon Rudd has been accused of “bullying, a toxic training environment and controlling food culture” by 12 swimmers during a previous role he held in England. The allegations against Rudd were detailed in a BBC Panorama programme on Monday night reports the Journal:
https://www.thejournal.ie/swim-ireland-jon-rudd-panorama-2-6709436-May2025/?utm_source=thejournal&utm_content=top-stories

A financial services manager who assisted gardaí in investigating a €61 million fraud perpetrated by her employers is demanding to know why she was later targeted for prosecution. Ciara Kelleher twice went on trial accused of involvement in a conspiracy to defraud customers of Custom House Capital (CHC) out of their investments during the financial crash. Each trial ended in a hung jury. The Irish Times has more on this:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/20/ciara-kelleher-on-her-two-custom-house-capital-fraud-trials-the-powers-that-be-refused-to-listen-to-the-truth/

Ryanair has asked some of its flight attendants in Spain to pay back thousands of euros in raises they have received since last year as part of a union deal later struck down in court, documents seen by Reuters showed. A judge from Spain's High Court ruled in March that an agreement over salaries between union CCOO and Ryanair last year was not valid after rival union USO contested it in January reports RTÉ:
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0520/1513814-ryanair-asks-some-spanish-staff-to-pay-back-a-2024-raise/

The chief executive of a veterinary business has told a tribunal that he has "never heard of a veterinary surgeon on the dole", with lawyers arguing that the firm's unfairly dismissed former clinical director was choosing new jobs that suited her desire to work and give childcare to her daughter. "I'm not choosing, that’s my family," the complainant Annie Baltz said in reply. The company's position is that Ms Baltz failed to mitigate her losses when she was left out of work and is not entitled to pursue the company for them. RTÉ has more on this:
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0520/1513919-firm-shouldnt-be-held-liable-for-losses-after-sacking/

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EU-OSHA Workers’ Exposure Survey (WES) on cancer risk factors in Europe

The survey aims to better identify the cancer risk factors responsible for most of the exposures, providing an accurate and comprehensive overview that can contribute to preventive measures, awareness-raising and policy-making, ultimately helping in the fight against occupational cancer. The survey was conducted by local interviewers in Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Hungary and Finland between September 2022 and February 2023 using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview), completing 24,402 valid interviews in total, with 2,500 respondents in Ireland. Read the survey results here:
https://www.hsa.ie/eng/workplace_health/research_reports/eu-osha_survey_on_cancer_risk_factors_in_europe/

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MCS Lunch and Learn: What Top Recruiters Know that You Don’t (Yet)       

🔔 Please note that the webinar has been rescheduled to 23rd July.

🗓  Thursday, 23 July 2025
🕚 12:00 – 12:45 (45 mins)
💻 Online

Register HERE.
                                                            
Join Julie from Legal Island for an MCS Lunch and Learn webinar with leading recruitment experts Ryan Calvert and Rebekah Mulligan. In the first quarter of 2025, the business and recruitment landscape has already been reshaped by macroeconomic, socio-economic, and political forces. Policy changes, inflationary pressures, and shifts in the labour market are compelling organisations across the UK and Northern Ireland to reassess their HR strategies. As workforce dynamics continue to evolve and skills demands grow, it’s essential for HR professionals to adapt their approaches to remain competitive and effectively meet new challenges.

In this 45-minute webinar, Ryan and Rebekah will share the latest trends in recruitment, exploring how organisations are addressing skills shortages, meeting the demand for flexible work, and adapting to the changing expectations of today’s candidates. From the rise of AI-assisted applications to the impact of global DEI rollbacks on local employer brands, they’ll outline the trends that will define talent acquisition in 2025 and beyond.

In this session, we’ll cover:

• Evolving Hiring Trends – Gain insight into where job demand is expected to increase in the next year.
  
• Practical Strategies for Addressing Skills Shortages and Talent Demands – Learn how organisations are responding to economic pressures and shifting labour markets.
  
• Building an Authentic and Competitive Employer Brand – Discover how cultural fit and retention efforts can strengthen your recruitment strategy.

Learn how to build trust and strengthen your employer brand in an era where candidates are more informed than ever. Our experts will also discuss how HR teams can stay authentic and competitive in a rapidly shifting environment - ensuring your organisation’s values shine through at every touchpoint, from job adverts to interviews and beyond. Expect practical tips, straight-talking insights, and just enough humour to make your talent challenges feel (almost) manageable.

Got questions? Bring them along! Ryan and Rebekah will be answering audience questions, giving you the chance to get expert advice on the issues that matter most to you.

Check out previous discussions:
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