Too hot to read the full round up? 🫠 Here's your top 5: 

1. Too Hot to Work? What the Law Says About Working in Extreme Heat ☀️
2. AI Act Amendments Approved: What the New Timelines Mean for Business ⏳
3. Gender Pay Gap Portal Goes Live 🔍
4. Is HR Facing Extinction or Simply Losing Its Way? 💭
5. Ireland's Employment Permit Changes: What Employers Need to Know 🌍

And in other news… workplace suspensions are still making plenty of noise, cropping up from the WRC to the Labour Court and beyond, as Dr Gerry McMahon explores the ongoing debate around how they are handled in this week's Hub article. 

1. Case Law Reviews
2. AI and Employment Law
3. Quarter of women on maternity leave got no top-up pay from employer
4. Budget 2027
5. Gender Pay Gap Portal now publicly available
6. Defamation in the workplace: A risk every employer should know about
7. Remote & hybrid work
8. Mandatory retirement ages
9. Recent changes to Ireland’s employment permit system
10. What is the law for working in extreme hot weather?
11. Just In Case You Missed It....
12. HR Developments
13. Employment News in the Media
14. Free Webinars This Month 

Gary Rooney x X Internet Unlimited Company PWD269

Summary: The Labour Court held that a discretionary 2022 bonus was not "properly payable" within the cognisable period under the Payment of Wages Act, as the bonus pool was never funded and any payment would in any event have fallen due after that period.

Practical Guidance for Employers:

Employers should:

1. Ensure that bonus schemes are drafted with precision. If a bonus is discretionary, the contract and scheme rules should say so clearly, identifying who has discretion, what conditions apply, whether performance metrics must be met, whether a bonus pool must be funded, and when any payment falls due.
2. Note that where a bonus is not being paid, employers should preserve the decision-making trail. This includes Compensation Committee minutes, performance metrics, financial rationale, communications to staff, and any parent-company decision not to fund a pool. The employer should be able to show that the decision was made in accordance with the scheme and not as an unlawful deduction from wages already earned and payable.
3. Remember that Payment of Wages claims turn on whether the sum was “properly payable” during the cognisable period. Timing can be decisive. If a bonus would only become payable after the relevant period, or if no entitlement arose because scheme conditions were unmet, the claim may fail.

Read the full Review here.

Emanuela Byrne v Parfums Christian Dior (Ireland) Limited 

Summary: The WRC upheld the dismissal of a retail employee for gross misconduct, finding that unauthorised removal of company products justified dismissal and that the disciplinary process, including the use of CCTV evidence, was fair.

Practical Guidance for Employers: 

Employers should:

1. Ensure that disciplinary rules clearly identify theft, dishonesty, unauthorised possession of property and misuse of stock as potential gross misconduct. This is particularly important in retail environments, where trust is central to the employment relationship. Promotional stock, samples and gifts-with-purchase should be treated expressly as company or client property.
2. Ensure that employees are aware of the CCTV policy and the purposes for which footage may be reviewed. CCTV should be used proportionately, for a legitimate purpose, and in accordance with the employer’s policy. If footage is relied on in a disciplinary process, the employee should be told what it shows and given a fair opportunity to respond.
3. Keep misconduct processes separate from grievances, pay queries or protected complaints. Where an employee alleges retaliation, the employer must be able to show that the dismissal resulted wholly or mainly from misconduct. 
   

 
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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AI Act Amendments Approved: What the Revised Timelines Mean for Businesses

Byrne Wallace Shields LLP reports that on 16 June 2026, the European Parliament approved agreed amendments to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act as part of the wider Digital Omnibus on AI package. The measure forms part of the EU’s broader effort to simplify parts of its digital regulatory framework while maintaining the core architecture of the AI Act.

Natwest boss says AI will cut banking jobs

Natwest boss Paul Thwaite is the latest banking chief to say AI will take over some jobs in the sector, reports Business Plus. He said he did not know whether the lender's 60,000-strong workforce would shrink over the next decade but said it "is definitely going to change". The bank already employs increasing numbers of people in software and AI-related roles. And Thwaite told a business summit hosted by The Times: “In effect there will be roles that currently exist that absolutely to all intents and purposes will be delivered by AI.” 

AI law firm wins first court case after landmark trial

An AI-powered law firm has secured its first courtroom victory, in what is believed to be a world first for a regulated legal practice operating through artificial intelligence. Garfield AI, which became the first AI law firm authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in May 2025, successfully assisted a freelancer in recovering £7,000 in unpaid fees following a trial at Wandsworth County Court. Irish Legal News 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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More than a quarter of women who took maternity leave in 2024 did not receive any top-up to from their employer, leaving them reliant on the €274 weekly State maternity benefit, according to a new report. Figures published by the Central Statistics Office highlight the stark difference between the treatment of women working in the public and private sectors, and the proportions of men and women who take the time off they are entitled to around the birth of a child. More than half of women (53 per cent) working in the private sector when they took maternity leave suffered some loss of income, the CSO found, with almost 20 per cent losing more than half for the time they were off work. You can read more on this from the Irish Times.

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Ireland’s Budget 2027 should be about competitiveness

To drive innovation, energy and homegrown growth, PwC has called on the Irish Government to use Budget 2027 as a platform for long-term strategy. Measures include tax reforms, housing delivery and clean energy investment. Think Business has more on this.

ESRI: Escaping in-work poverty in Ireland

Around 5 per cent of workers are at risk of poverty (AROP), and around 64 per cent of these are part-time workers. This ESRI report examines in-work poverty (IWP) in Ireland and assesses the extent to which two distinct policy levers – increased working hours and reforms to in-work benefits – could lift workers out of poverty.

And…

Union calls for change to part-time contract laws

RTÉ reports the Mandate trade union has called for changes to be made to employment laws so that employers are legally obliged to offer more contracted working hours to part-time workers. According to the union, the latest CSO data shows that the average retail worker in Ireland earns half of the average industrial wage and less than the living wage:

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The Government has now made the Gender Pay Gap Portal (the “Portal”) publicly available. The Portal enables users to view, compare and review employer gender pay gap data, with filters available by reporting year, sector and company size. Its introduction is intended to centralise and standardise employer reporting, improve transparency and comparability, and support behavioural change by making gender pay disparities more visible. Niamh Fennelly from Arthur Cox explains here.

And you can find the link to the portal here.

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When businesses think about defamation, the instinct is to think of newspaper headlines or social media controversies involving public figures. In practice, some of the most damaging and costly claims arise far closer to home - inside the workplace itself. From a carelessly worded reference letter to an ill-judged message sent over Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp, Irish employers face a real and frequently underestimated exposure in this area. It is worth understanding where that exposure arises and what can be done about it. More from the team at RDJ.

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Remote work has ‘substantially’ contributed to mental health crisis, study claims

Despite the popularity of remote work, it may have “substantially” increased isolation and worsened mental health since the pandemic, research has claimed. One third of the increase in mental distress since the pandemic could be traced back to a rise in remote employment, according to a study by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the University of Virginia and Harvard University. People Management has more.

Office-based positions receiving 40% fewer applications than hybrid roles, says recruiter

Positions that require employees to attend the office on a full-time basis are receiving up to 40 per cent fewer applications than comparable roles offering hybrid working arrangements, according to Matrix Recruitment. It is one of several trends noticed by the recruitment firm so far in 2026, alongside artificial intelligence (AI) “reshaping” the jobs market, reports the Irish Times.

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Mandatory Retirement – update your procedures - it's still with us but gets a bit more complicated

Key takeaways under the new Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 are:

1. Employers face stricter obligations to justify and document mandatory retirement decisions where challenged by employees.
2. The legal framework increasingly encourages flexible, longer working arrangements and proactive engagement with older employees.

Read Freshfields article here. 

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On 28 May 2026, Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) published its biennial review of occupations, recommending 32 changes to employment permit eligibility. These changes expand access to global talent across the construction, healthcare, transport, and agri-food sectors. Key developments include six new Critical Skills occupations, nine occupations removed from the Ineligible Occupations List (IOL), and proposed flexibility in the 50:50 workforce rule for healthcare roles. Deloitte Legal has more in Lexology here. 

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Ireland could have record-breaking temperatures this week, with Met Éireann forecasting 28 degrees for parts of the country. Damien McCarthy, the managing director at HR consultancy firm HR Buddy, said there is a noticeable spike in workplace absences and a drop in productivity during periods of good weather. You can read more from Breaking News.

Q&A: How to work (or get out of work) during the heatwave

With more sizzling heat expected to come from the continent, many workers may be tempted to join beachgoers. But, perhaps, not even the most liberal work-from-home policy would allow them to take company calls between dips in the sea. The Irish Times provides guidance.

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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.....

How to: To Suspend or Not to Suspend?

Suspensions at work have long been a source of contention, often finding their way to the WRC, the Labour Court and eventually to the superior courts. Indeed, the topic recently returned to the headlines, when both of the representative bodies for the majority of the State’s serving Gardai demanded a review of their organisation’s practices in this area. Dr Gerry McMahon has more on this here. 

Contractual retirement ages in Ireland: New employee rights and employer obligations effective from 29 June 2026

Jacqueline Ho, Managing Knowledge Lawyer at Lewis Silkin LLP looks at the new Contractual Retirement Ages Act 2025 and how it addresses the growing proportion of older workers who wish to continue in employment beyond 65. With commencement now imminent, employers should implement revised policies reflecting the updated statutory framework. Read her piece here. 

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Does HR faces ‘extinction’ and has it ‘lost the plot’ on the future of work?

SHRM President and CEO Johnny Taylor says HR is in need of a revolution that will reshape it into a function that organises how work is done, whether by humans, artificial intelligence or other technologies. Taylor also referenced recent headlines made by Ryan Breslow, CEO of financial tech company Bolt, who said the company laid off its entire HR team for “creating problems that didn’t exist.” At Uber, he continued, the company slashed 23% of its people team just a few weeks prior. More from HR Dive.

Meme of 'JPMorgan's HR Department in 2026' has people in stitches amid sex scandal and Knicks bin incident

The Wall Street giant is fighting an explosive lawsuit involving a former banker who alleges sexual abuse, and has just sacked a diversity executive after she was filmed walking off with a Knicks-themed rubbish bin at a championship parade. Separately, both stories are headline-worthy. Together, they have handed the internet one of its neatest punchlines of 2026. The International Business Times has more.

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Sport’s highest court has delivered a landmark legal victory for female footballers, ordering Italian club Lazio Women to pay compensation to Maja Göthberg after contract talks ended upon learning of her pregnancy. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has instructed Lazio to pay the former Sweden youth international more than 70,000 euros (£60,000) in salary compensation, alongside damages for "infringement of her personality rights”, plus 5 per cent interest accrued over the past two years. Read more.

Dublin Live reports An Aer Lingus flight attendant who was fired for gross misconduct over an incident on a delayed flight from Marseilles to Dublin when he allegedly refused to let a passenger use the bathroom for up to 45 minutes was not unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled. The WRC found that Aer Lingus had not breached the Unfair Dismissals Act in terminating the employment of senior cabin crew member, Alan O'Neill, in October 2024.

RTÉ reports a veteran Coast Guard rescue helicopter crewman who spent five months out of work after hurting his shoulder despite being repeatedly cleared for duty has won €50,000 for disability discrimination. The award was made to winch operator Adrian O'Hara by the Workplace Relations Commission on foot of a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 against CHC Ireland DAC, the former operator of the Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopters.

The vice-principal of a Dublin school has won €40,000 for constructive dismissal after arguing that his position became untenable when he was “caught up in some power struggle” among the administrators of the Clonskeagh Mosque. Noureldin Abdelgawwad secured the award on foot of a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against the Al Maktoum Foundation CLG, the operator of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland. More here from the Irish Times.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has secured a €58,000 reduction against a High Court award of almost €1 million to a former Limerick senior hurler injured while freeing a work colleague trapped in a machine at their plant in Plassey, Co Limerick. Last April, the High Court made a €944,000 award to Mark Keane for injuries to his right hand, arm and shoulder arising from the 2018 incident. RTÉ has more.

A salesman who said an industry "rumour mill" made him "damaged goods" after he was unfairly dismissed by an international medical devices firm has won nearly €40,000. The WRC has directed Ambu Ltd to pay redress to worker Kevin Joyce after it admitted in May that his dismissal in July 2025 was unfair. Mr Joyce, who said he was earning over €160,000 at Ambu, spent over 10 months out of work after what he called his "unceremonious dismissal" as territory manager for its urology and ear, nose and throat products in Ireland. RTÉ has more.

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Employee Data: What ROI & NI Employers Must Collect, Keep, and Delete

If you missed Crystel Robbins Rynne, CEO of HRLocker's webinar on Wednesday 3 June, you can catch up here.  

Crystel walked us through the full employee journey, from job ads to post‑employment in respect of employee data. She gave real‑world insight into what you can collect, what you shouldn’t keep, and how long each record can stay on file.

Check out previous discussions:
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