The Board’s role in the aftermath: Lessons from the Coldplay concert scandal
When the kiss-cam zoomed-in on a couple at a Coldplay concert, a private “office romance” between the CEO and Chief of People of a US start-up became a matter of public and online debate.
The DEI Divide: How US and Irish multinationals can reconcile diverging DEI requirements
t’s been impossible to escape reporting of the introduction by the new United States Government administration of a series of Executive Orders aimed at scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government and private sector.
The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill is currently progressing through the legislature. The Bill provides that an employee may notify their employer that they do not consent to retire at their contractual retirement age; if they do so, their employer may not enforce their retirement if it’s less than the state pension age (currently 66), unless such retirement is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. Read more here.
The Equality and Family Leaves (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has finished pre-legislative scrutiny and, according to the Irish government’s Autumn Legislation Programme, revised Heads of Bill are in preparation. It will provide for amendments to the Employment Equality Acts and Equal Status Acts, arising from a review of equality legislation. This Bill will also provide for surrogacy leave and leave for pregnancy loss. It may also include some provisions to transpose elements of the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
The Gender Pay Gap (Information) Amendment Bill is currently being drafted in order to clarify the legislative basis for employers to report their gender pay gap via a central online portal. Although a portal was expected to be in place for the 2025 reporting cycle, it does not appear that this will be the case and employers should publish their reports on their website, or if they do not have a website, make the information available for inspection by their employees and the public at their registered office or principal place of business during normal business hours.
The Heads of a Pay Transparency Bill to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive are in preparation.
Auto-Enrolment into My Future Fund to begin on 1 January 2026. The State’s automatic retirement savings system called “My Future Fund” will now begin on 1 January 2026 instead of the planned commencement date of 30 September 2025.
Lifting the veil – WRC willing to look behind a corporate structure to determine a contractor is in fact an employee. On 14 February 2025, the Workplace Relations Commission issued a significant decision in Paul Lingard v Randridge International Ltd (In Examinership) concerning the employment status of a construction / civil works manager.
Major compensation for maternity discrimination at work
A recent WRC decision saw an award equal to 24 months’ remuneration made to a former employee for discriminatory treatment in connection with her pregnancy, as well as coverage in the national media.
The employee, who resigned her role on foot of the discriminatory treatment, was treated inappropriately before and after giving birth.
During her pregnancy she experienced difficulties with her manager – who made sarcastic comments, including about the employee still living at home. Her pay was also impacted – she was not afforded time off to attend ante-natal appointments (provided for in the Company policy) and this had a knock-on effect on her bonus. She made requests for reasonable accommodation from her employer on foot of medical issues, before and after her pregnancy, which were largely ignored and no meaningful or tangible efforts to accommodate her were made.
At the end of her maternity leave, the employee was denied part-time work when returning to the office and was told no one else in the Company was facilitated with part-time work. However, that assertion turned out to be false – as the daughters of the CEO were permitted to work on a part-time basis. The employee was also told that part-time work would only be granted on medical grounds, but, when she indicated her health issues to the employer no action was taken.
The WRC determined that the employer displayed a lack of knowledge of maternity protections. The Adjudication Officer wrote “In view of this finding the [employee] is entitled to redress that is effective; that has a genuine dissuasive effect with regard to the employer; and that is commensurate with the injury suffered by her”.
The decision reinforces that care must be taken to ensure that line managers and decision makers at all levels are appropriately aware of their obligations to employees.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting and Pay Transparency Hub
Keep track of all the latest developments on gender pay gap (GPG) reporting and pay transparency. Our hub contains lots of information and guidance on how your organisation and comply with GPG reporting can prepare for the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
Webinar | Ahead of the curve: preparing for Pay Transparency
In this webinar, our experts outline in detail what the EU Pay Transparency Directive will mean for your business and discuss the challenges employers are experiencing in preparing for its implementation. If you are an ALG client with access to KnowledgePlus, watch the webinar by clicking below. If you are an ALG client but have not yet registered for KnowledgePlus, please get in touch with your ALG contact to request access.
Earlier this month, our Employment team had the pleasure of welcoming clients and colleagues to our newly refurbished offices for our annual Employment Law Forum.
Over the course of a dynamic half-day program, we explored some of the most pressing and complex issues currently facing employers and HR professionals. The sessions were designed to deliver practical insights and foster meaningful discussion, and we were delighted by the level of engagement and thoughtful debate throughout.
We were proud to feature a distinguished lineup of speakers and panellists, including our own ALG experts—Michael Doyle, Duncan Inverarity, Noeleen Meehan, Aisling Muldowney, Bríd Nic Suibhne, Jeff Greene, Tríona Sugrue, Evan Doyle, John O’Leary, and Aoife Clarke—alongside special guests: High Court Judge Eileen Roberts, Lorna Lynch SC, Adam Harris (AsIAm), Tom O'Halloran, Sharon Dillon-Lyons BL, Anne Phelan (Aon), Joanne Redmond (Pinterest), and Joanna O'Dowd (Mercer).
