Employers

As an employer you may need advice from a specialist employment law solicitor at any stage of employment. At the initial stage you may need advice on drafting employee contracts, hiring and company handbook’s to cover your procedures. A number of issues can arise during the employment relationship such as how to run disciplinary procedures. Later, you may need specialist employment law solicitor advice on settlement agreements and Workplace Relations Commission claims such as unfair dismissal.  

What Obligations to Employers have?

• Employers must keep records of the number of hours employees work on a daily and weekly basis, the amount of leave granted to employees in each week as annual leave or as public holidays and details of the payments in respect of this leave. Employers must also keep weekly records of employees starting and finishing times.
• Where a business is transferred from one entity to another, resulting in a change of employer (e.g. a merger, acquisition or outsourcing), the rights and obligations of the transferor in relation to the contracts of employment of its staff are transferred to the new owner. The new owner must continue to observe the terms and conditions of the contracts of employment that have been transferred.
• Job advertisements must comply with legislation governing equality in employment, including access to employment. They should be carefully worded as applicants will rely on that wording and it may form part of a contract of employment.
• The conduct of job interviews is important. Questions which breach the statutory code of equality cannot be asked.
• An employer is obliged to provide an employee with a statement confirming the basic terms of the contract of employment no later than two months after commencement of employment. This includes stating the place of work, job title, date of commencement, pay details, terms and conditions relating to hours of work, time of breaks and the period of notice which the employer and employee are required to give to terminate their contract.
• It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate on any one of nine grounds in any area of employment.
• Every employer must prepare a written Risk Assessment and Safety Statement identifying all potential hazards in the workplace, setting out how those hazards are controlled and managed. Employers must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the work place and work systems are safe.
• It is advisable to ensure that the contract of employment contains provisions to protect employer’s interests. For example, matters such as non-disclosure of confidential information by employees.
• You must only hire people who have permission to work in Ireland.

If you need guidance on any of the issues above or others that are not mentioned, you can contact us to speak with a specialist employment law solicitor.

Employers Solicitors

Gary O’Sullivan

Head of Department