WRC

A webinar on employment law has heard that capacity issues facing the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) are unlikely to abate this year.

The event (24 June) was organised by Law Society Professional Training in collaboration with the Law Society’s Employment and Equality Law Committee.

The webinar included presentations on the latest employment-law trends and a discussion of recent case-law developments.

Discussing the WRC’s annual report for 2025, Éinde O’Donnell (partner, Alastair Purdy LLP) and Susan Battye (partner, Bird & Bird Ireland LLP,) noted that, while complaint applications had risen by 44% to just over 10,500, there was a significant fall in the number of decisions issued.

O’Donnell said that parties were waiting, on average, six months to get a first hearing date, adding that this needed to be factored into the advice given to clients.

Timely submissions

Battye (small picture) told the event that, to free up available hearing dates and help with the backlog, the WRC had encouraged practitioners to make timely submissions and notify it earlier about requesting postponements and unavailability of witnesses.

When solicitors, their counsel, or key witnesses are not going to be available on specific dates, they should let the WRC know before the case is listed for hearing.

She added that the WRC would be scheduling hearings during August this year, but postponements would not be backfilled during that month.

WRC responds ‘decisively’

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