Irish Employment Law

This Inbrief provides a whistle-stop tour of the most important Irish employment law issues, from the beginning of the employment relationship through to its conclusion.

Commencing employment

Recruitment: Prospective employees are protected against discrimination in accessing employment. The nine protected characteristics are gender, age, race, religion, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, disability and membership of the Traveller Community. Employers need to be cautious when advertising vacancies and conducting interviews. Interview questions should be carefully considered and the reasons for rejecting each candidate should be non-discriminatory.

Contract of employment: The contract of employment is the bedrock of the relationship between the employer and the employee. While employers have extensive freedom to decide on the terms of an employment contract, all employees must be given written confirmation of the core terms of employment no later