Defending an unfair dismissal claim in Ireland starts from the wrong end of the burden of proof. Under section 6(1) of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015 the dismissal is deemed unfair unless the employer shows substantial grounds justifying it. The employee proves that a dismissal happened and that the Acts apply; the employer proves everything else, meaning the reason, that it is one of the fair grounds, that the procedure was fair and that the sanction was proportionate. This page is written for the employer that has received a WRC complaint, or can see one coming, and it is about the record, because the record is what the case will be decided on.
Defending an Unfair Dismissal Claim in Ireland: Substantial Grounds
Section 6(4) lists the grounds that can justify a dismissal: the capability, competence or qualifications of the employee for the work, the employee’s conduct, redundancy, and the fact that continuing the employment would contravene a statute. The first task in any defence is to put the real reason into one of those headings and to check that the documents say the same thing. A dismissal letter that cites performance, an internal email that cites attitude and a WRC submission that cites misconduct is three reasons, and three reasons read as no reason. If the employee asked in writing for the reasons for dismissal, the employer must reply within 14 days under section 14(4), and that reply fixes the employer to its account, so it should be drafted with the hearing in mind. Where the true position is that the role has gone rather than anything about the person, the defence is a redundancy defence with its own requirements, which our sister site at redundancysolicitors.ie covers in depth.
An Employer Unfair Dismissal Defence Is Built on the Procedure Record
A fair ground is necessary and not sufficient. The WRC measures the process against the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. 146/2000) and against the employer’s own handbook, and it expects to see each step on paper: the allegation put to the employee in writing, an investigation that gathered the facts before anyone decided anything, a hearing at which the employee could respond with a representative present, a decision proportionate to what was found, and an appeal to someone who had not already been involved. The defence is assembled from that record, and the first thing we do for an employer is read it in the order the adjudication officer will, from the policy to the appeal outcome. Where the record is complete, the case is about whether the sanction was proportionate. Where it is thin, because the manager who investigated also decided, or the hearing happened before the evidence was shared, or no appeal was offered, the realistic defence shifts to the amount: the employee’s duty to mitigate loss, and whether their own conduct contributed to the dismissal. Our guide to mitigation of loss and reduced compensation explains the levers that remain.
The Employer WRC Claim: Checking the Complaint Before Answering It
Three threshold questions come before the merits. Service: section 2(1)(a) requires one year’s continuous service, and section 3 excludes a dismissal during a written probation or training period of one year or less, but neither applies where the dismissal results from pregnancy or family leave, trade union membership or activity, a protected disclosure or minimum wage rights under section 6(2A). Time: the complaint must be lodged within six months of the date of dismissal under section 8(2), extendable to twelve months only for reasonable cause, and the date of dismissal under section 1 is the date notice expired or would have expired if proper notice had been given, so an employer that dismissed without notice has, in law, a later date of dismissal than the day it acted. Route: an employee with under a year’s service may instead have referred the dispute to the Labour Court under section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1969, which produces a non-binding recommendation, or claimed discriminatory dismissal under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015, which has no service requirement. A protected disclosure claim is different again: the burden shifts to the employer to show the dismissal was not penalisation, the compensation cap is 260 weeks, and the employee may seek interim relief in the Circuit Court within 21 days of the dismissal. Each route has its own defence, and the complaint form tells you which one you are answering.
Mediation and Settlement
The WRC offers mediation before any hearing is listed. It is free, voluntary and confidential; in 2025 the WRC ran 1,034 mediations and 54% resolved. For an employer the arithmetic usually favours taking it, because the hearing it replaces is public, the employer is named in the published decision unless special circumstances exist, and the WRC does not award legal costs, so an employer that wins outright still pays its own fees. A mediated agreement is signed and binds both parties. Richard O’Shea is a Law Society accredited mediator and prepares every mediation on the footing that the hearing is going ahead. Settlement outside the WRC is recorded in a written agreement, and our sister site at settlementagreementsolicitor.ie covers those in depth. One warning about timing: Ireland has no equivalent of the UK protected conversation. Without prejudice privilege attaches only where a dispute already exists, so an exit offer made during a performance process is not protected and can itself support a constructive dismissal claim. Where the dispute is still inside the workplace and nobody has been dismissed, workplace mediation at workplacemediation.ie is often the better first step.
What a Hearing Costs, Even When You Win
The cost of a WRC hearing is measured less in fees than in management time. Written submissions are due 15 working days before the hearing, and preparing them means the managers who investigated, decided and heard the appeal each reconstructing what they did and why. Each of them then attends the hearing and gives evidence on oath in public, with the other side entitled to question them, and the published decision carries the employer’s name. None of that is recovered, because the WRC awards no costs. If the claim succeeds, section 7 adds the redress: reinstatement, re-engagement, or compensation for the employee’s financial loss of up to 104 weeks’ remuneration, or 260 weeks for a protected disclosure dismissal, with a ceiling of four weeks where there is no loss. The Compensation Calculator runs the section 7 formula so that the employer can see the exposure on real figures before deciding between mediation and hearing. Either side may appeal to the Labour Court within 42 days, where the case is heard again, and an unappealed decision must be carried out within 56 days or the District Court can enforce it. The hearing itself is described from the other side of the table in what happens at a WRC hearing.
How We Work for Employers
The firm acts mainly for employees who have been dismissed and also defends claims for employers. We never act on both sides of the same dispute, and a conflict check is the first thing that happens when an employer calls. The work runs on documents: send the complaint, the contract, the handbook, the full disciplinary file and the dismissal letter, and one consultation, at the fixed fee set out on our fees page, establishes whether the stated ground is a section 6(4) ground, whether the record shows an S.I. 146/2000 process, what the section 7 exposure looks like and whether mediation, settlement or hearing makes commercial sense. Any further work is quoted in writing under section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 before it starts. The same analysis, written for the employee, is on our unfair dismissal claims page.
Received a WRC Complaint? Send the File
The complaint, the contract, the handbook and the disciplinary record. One consultation establishes what you must prove, whether the record proves it, and whether to mediate, settle or defend.
Call 01 5827148