The Workplace Relations Act 2015: A New Structure For Dealing With Employment Claims

The Workplace Relations Act 2015 (the "Act") was signed into law on 20 May 2015 and is due to commence on 1 October 2015.  

The Act introduces long-awaited root-and-branch reforms for resolving workplace disputes and enforcing employment law in Ireland. Employees and employers will no longer have to navigate through a maze of various tribunals and courts, appeals procedures, time limits and enforcement procedures. The current system will be simplified by providing one single point of entry for employment disputes and one sole route of appeal.

Under the current system, there are essentially five different bodies to which an employment claim can be brought; the Rights Commissioner, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (the "EAT"), the Labour Court, the Equality Tribunal and the National Employment Rights Authority ("NERA"). The fact that different bodies can process separate claims arising from the same set of circumstances and the same claim form, is