Limerick is the centre of the Mid-West industrial base, and an unfair dismissal solicitor in Limerick deals with a labour market that runs across county lines: the aviation cluster at Shannon, which sits in Clare but draws its workforce from Limerick city and county; the pharmaceutical and manufacturing plants of the city’s industrial estates, Raheen, Castletroy and the county towns from Newcastle West to Kilmallock; the university and the hospitals; the public sector; and the retail and hospitality trade of the city. The Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015 apply the same whichever side of the Shannon the job was on, and every claim goes to the Workplace Relations Commission. Most WRC hearings are listed at Lansdowne House, Lansdowne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, the WRC also sits regionally, and remote hearings are available unless the interests of justice require otherwise. Limerick clients are served by Zoom and phone from both our offices, in Dublin and in Kilkenny.
Unfair Dismissal Claims in Limerick
The aviation and pharmaceutical workplaces of the Mid-West are regulated, shift-based and heavily documented, and their dismissals tend to cite conduct or competence against a written safety or quality standard. The employer still has to show substantial grounds under section 6(1), the ground still has to be one of those in section 6(4), capability, competence or qualifications, conduct, redundancy or contravention of statute, and the process still has to match the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. 146/2000): the allegation put in writing, representation allowed, a hearing held and an appeal offered. A safety rule does not make a summary dismissal fair by itself; notice under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973-2005 can be forfeited only where summary dismissal for gross misconduct is justified. In manufacturing the recurring issue is redundancy, where the ground is fair under section 6(4) but the selection may not be: under section 6(3) a dismissal is deemed unfair where the employee was selected in breach of an agreed procedure or custom without special reason, or where the selection resulted wholly or mainly from one of the section 6(2) grounds. In the city’s retail and hospitality trade the dismissals are quicker and the service shorter, and the first question is whether the one-year service requirement in section 2(1)(a) is met or waived by one of the section 6(2A) exceptions.
Wherever in the Mid-West the job was, the complaint goes in through the WRC eComplaint portal within six months of the date of dismissal, which section 1 fixes as the date notice expired or should have expired; section 8(2) allows an extension to twelve months only where reasonable cause prevented an earlier complaint. Mediation is offered first, free, voluntary and confidential, and most claims settle there. If the case goes to hearing it may be listed at Lansdowne House, at a regional sitting or remotely, which for a Limerick employee usually means giving evidence by video rather than a day on the M7. Hearings are in public, the parties are named in the published decision unless special circumstances exist, evidence may be taken on oath, written submissions are due 15 working days beforehand, and the WRC does not award legal costs, so each side pays its own. Either party may appeal to the Labour Court within 42 days of the decision, the appeal being a full re-hearing, and an unappealed decision must be carried out within 56 days, after which the District Court can enforce it.
Limerick clients are served by Zoom and phone from our Dublin office at The Ormond Building, 31-36 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7, D07 EE37, and our Kilkenny office at 2 Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny, R95 W58D, with in-person appointments at either by arrangement. Employers in Limerick and Shannon defending a claim get the same analysis from the other side: whether the stated reason fits section 6(4), whether the record shows a procedure that matched S.I. 146/2000, whether a redundancy selection would survive section 6(3), and whether free WRC mediation or an early settlement makes more commercial sense than a public hearing. We never act for both sides of the same dispute.
How We Work With Limerick Clients
Dismissal claims run on documents, phone, Zoom and email — the contract, the dismissal letter, the disciplinary correspondence, the payslips — so distance costs nothing: we act for clients in every county from our Dublin and Kilkenny offices, and WRC hearings themselves are increasingly held remotely. The first consultation is the same wherever you are: your position on the documents, the realistic routes, and the six-month clock running on you. Start with the Dismissal Claim Route Finder, and check your own deadline on the WRC Deadline Calculator.
Mary Molloy Solicitors advise on employment law. Nothing on this page is advice on tax or on social welfare entitlements — take that advice separately. WRC procedure and time limits are strictly applied, and a late complaint is usually a lost complaint. Take advice before resigning, before signing anything, and before any deadline passes.
Dismissed or Forced Out in Limerick?
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