Following the request from the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adopted a Code of Practice on the Right to Request Flexible Working and Remote Working, as per the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.
WRC consulted with various stakeholders, including trade unions, employer representative bodies, and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, aiming to provide a practical guide for employers and employees on implementing flexible and remote working arrangements, fostering a more inclusive, adaptable, and satisfying work environment.
On 8 February 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on whistleblower protections under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
The case clarifies the standards for proving retaliation against whistleblowers in publicly traded companies.
The Supreme Court clarified that whistleblowers are required to show that their protected activity contributed to the adverse employment action without the need to demonstrate retaliatory intent on the employer's part.
On 25 September 2023, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) rejected an employee claim, stating that employers who offer employees more favourable sick leave benefits are not obliged to pay statutory sick leave.
It is the first decision rendered on the issue after the Sick Leave Act 2022 (the Act) which came into force on 1 January 2023.
On 17 March 2023, the Irish Labour Court overturned a €7,500 award to a former Aldi employee dismissed for gross misconduct, as he had taken products without paying for them from the employer's store on seven different dates from 25 November 2020 to 14 January 2021.
In 2021, the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland and the Diligent Institute conducted the first research to understand how boards address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and integrate ESG-related risks and opportunities into their strategies.
In 2022 followed, a second research initiative, described in the 2022 report launched last November, covers the importance of ESG, including board oversight and structure, strategy, risk, and boardroom practices, skills, and EU legislation.
On 3 June 2022, the Government published the gender pay gap reporting regulations, setting out the details of the reporting obligations under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021.
The report, published on 7 March 2022, aims to collect information about NDAs in order to provide a resource for policy-makers in their deliberations about any future regulation of the use of NDAs.