27 Irish Employment Law Cases: Priceless Lessons for Employers and Employees from Decided Cases of the EAT, Equality Tribunal, and High Court

Are you an employer worried about employment related claims by employees?

Or an employee who s not sure whether you have a reasonable chance of succeeding with a claim?

Are you confused about what constitutes gross misconduct?

Are you clear on how to ensure fair selection for redundancy, and what the EAT will look at if there is an unfair dismissal claim?

Do you know what questions the High Court looks at when deciding whether you have suffered a personal injury as a result of workplace stress and/or bullying?

Are you aware of the tests the EAT apply when deciding a constructive dismissal claim?

Do you realise the significance of the difference between being an employee and an independent contractor? And how the Court will decide?

Did you know that a settlement agreement may not be as full and final as you thought?

Employment law can be confusing for both employers and employees alike.

There is a huge amount of rules, regulations, laws, directives, case law concerning employment law in Ireland.Even with the best will in the world, it is easy to do the wrong thing. To make a mistake.

It s perfectly understandable why you could not keep on top of it all. Especially if you are running a business, or working in a busy job.

That s why this book will help.

Because it looks at actual decided cases, from 2010 to 2014, from the bodies who decide the winners and losers of employment cases: the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT), the Equality Authority, and the Courts (the High Court).

I take a look at 27 actual cases-17 from the EAT, 2 from the Equality Tribunal, and 3 from the High Court-and look at the lessons to be learned from them. I also provide a link to the original full decision of 24 of them.

The cases cover a wide range of topics, and involve real people in real workplace situations.

Cases such as

• the Stale Chicken Wrap case,
• the Missing Jam Tarts case,
• the case of the public transport employee who spat at a customer who was abusing her,
• the Special Needs Assistant in a Kildare primary school awarded over 250,000 in the High Court for bullying/personal injuries,
• the fast food restaurant manager who forgot to pay for his food',
• the security guard at a shopping centre fired for taking money from shopping centre parking pay station
• and more are explained in easy to understand language.

So, this book is not a dry statement of what the law states.

No, it takes the decisions from the actual decision makers and sees what they have to say about their decisions, how they arrived at those decisions, and the lessons you can learn from them.

It's written by a practicing solicitor who has been an employer in Ireland since 1986 in a variety of industries.

By the end of this book, you will have a clear idea of what you can, and cannot, do as an employer. You will learn how to deal with employees on long term sick leave, and the best way to terminate those contracts on the grounds of incapacity.

Because I take a look at how the Equality Tribunal views such situations, and what the employer needs to do before he terminates.

Are you an employee?

If you are an employee you will

• get a good idea of the types of awards made for unfair dismissal, and personal injuries caused by bullying,
• what a court will look for when you bring a claim for personal injuries arising from workplace bullying,
• the tests applied by the Employment Appeals Tribunal in constructive dismissal cases,