Unfair dismissal in Ireland starts from a presumption most employees never hear about: under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015, every dismissal is deemed unfair unless the employer proves otherwise. The employer carries the burden, the Workplace Relations Commission hears the claim, and the whole case turns on three things that already exist before anyone calls a solicitor — the reason given, the procedure followed, and the date the clock started.
Law as at 4 October 2026: The Employment Law Review Group is reviewing the Unfair Dismissals Acts and the minimum notice periods in its 2025-26 programme. No Bill has been published, and the law described on this page is the law as it stands. Confirm the current position before acting on it.
Unfair Dismissal Ireland: The Presumption of Unfairness
Section 6(1) of the Acts provides that a dismissal is deemed to be unfair unless, having regard to all the circumstances, there were substantial grounds justifying it. That single sentence sets the shape of every WRC unfair dismissal claim: the employee proves the dismissal happened and that the Acts apply; the employer proves everything else. Section 6(4) lists the grounds that can justify a dismissal — the capability, competence or qualifications of the employee, the employee’s conduct, redundancy, and the fact that continuing the employment would contravene a statute. An employer that cannot fit its reason into one of those headings has already lost. Where the real reason is that the job is going rather than anything about you, the case is a redundancy case, which our sister site at redundancysolicitors.ie covers in depth.
Fair Grounds Versus Fair Procedures
A fair ground is necessary but it is not sufficient. The employer must also show that it reached the decision fairly, and the measure of fairness is the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. 146/2000): the allegation put to the employee in writing, an investigation, a hearing with the right to representation, a decision proportionate to the finding, and an appeal. The recurring way employers lose unfair dismissal claims is not a bad reason but a good reason handled badly — the hearing that was a formality, the investigator who was also the decision-maker, the appeal that nobody offered. The employee is entitled to ask for a written statement of the reasons for dismissal, due within 14 days under section 14(4), and that statement fixes the employer to its story. Our page on disciplinary hearings, investigations and suspension sets out each step and what to insist on while the process is still running.
Who Can Claim: The One-Year Rule and Its Exceptions
Section 2(1)(a) requires one year’s continuous service with the employer. That rule has real exceptions in section 6(2A), and they matter because they are also the grounds on which a dismissal is deemed unfair outright: a dismissal resulting from pregnancy, giving birth, breastfeeding or related matters; from availing of maternity, adoptive, paternity, parental, carer’s, parent’s or force majeure leave; from trade union membership or activity; from a protected disclosure; or from exercising rights under the National Minimum Wage Act. None of those requires a year of service. For everyone else inside the first year, the Acts generally do not apply, but the probation and short-service page explains the Labour Court section 20 route, the Employment Equality Acts and the notice claim that remain open. The full list of grounds that waive the service rule is in our guide to automatically unfair dismissals.
The Six-Month Clock
A WRC complaint must be lodged within six months of the date of dismissal, extendable to twelve months only where reasonable cause prevented an earlier complaint (section 8(2)). Everything depends on what the date of dismissal is, and section 1 answers that: it is the date your notice expired or, where no proper notice was given, the date on which proper contractual or statutory notice would have expired. An employee sacked on the spot with five years’ service was owed four weeks’ notice, so the date of dismissal is four weeks after the day they were told. That later date is the employee’s friend when the deadline is close, but employers argue for the earliest reading, so the safe course is to lodge within six months of the day you were told. The WRC Deadline Calculator works your own dates through, and the guide to the six-month time limit and reasonable cause explains how narrow the extension is.
The Three Forms of Redress
- Reinstatement: the employee returns to the same job as if never dismissed, with back pay — rare, and ordered where the dismissal was egregious and the relationship can survive;
- Re-engagement: the employee returns to a comparable role on terms the WRC sets, often without full back pay;
- Compensation: financial loss attributable to the dismissal, up to 104 weeks’ remuneration, or up to 4 weeks’ remuneration where there is no financial loss; 260 weeks for a protected disclosure dismissal.
Compensation is the usual outcome, and it is measured by loss, not by unfairness: there is nothing for stress or injury to feelings, and the employee must mitigate by seeking work and proving it. The Compensation Calculator runs the section 7 formula on your own figures, and the guide to how unfair dismissal compensation is calculated explains why no official average award exists.
What Happens at the WRC
Complaints go in through the WRC eComplaint portal. The WRC then offers mediation, which is free, voluntary and confidential; 1,034 mediations ran in 2025 and 54% resolved. If the case proceeds, written submissions are due 15 working days before the hearing, the hearing is in public and the parties are named in the published decision unless special circumstances exist, evidence may be taken on oath, and remote hearings are available unless the interests of justice require otherwise. The WRC does not award legal costs, so each side pays its own whatever the result. Either party may appeal to the Labour Court within 42 days. The full sequence is on the WRC process page.
First Steps After a Dismissal
Ask in writing for the reasons for dismissal under section 14(4). Gather the contract, the handbook, the dismissal letter and every piece of disciplinary correspondence. Note the date you were told and the notice, if any, you were given. Do not sign an exit document without advice — a settlement agreement usually waives the whole claim, and our sister site at settlementagreementsolicitor.ie reviews them. Start the job search and keep a record of it from day one, because mitigation is measured from the dismissal, not from the hearing. Then take advice while the internal appeal is running rather than after it, because the internal appeal does not pause the six-month clock.
Dismissed? The Clock Is Already Running
Bring the letter, the contract and the dates. One consultation establishes whether the Acts apply, what the employer must prove, and the date you must file by.
Call 01 5827148