Waterford is the city of the South East, and an unfair dismissal solicitor in Waterford works across a county that runs from the pharmaceutical and manufacturing plants of the city’s industrial parks, through the port, the university and the hospital, to the tourism and hospitality trade of Tramore, Dungarvan and the Copper Coast and the agri-food employment of the Blackwater valley around Lismore. Every dismissal in that county is governed by the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015 and goes to the Workplace Relations Commission. Most WRC hearings are listed at Lansdowne House, Lansdowne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, but the WRC also sits regionally and remote hearings are available unless the interests of justice require otherwise. Waterford clients are served in person from our Kilkenny office at 2 Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny, R95 W58D, a short drive up the N10 or a direct train from Plunkett station, and by Zoom and phone.
Unfair Dismissal Claims in Waterford
The pharmaceutical plants produce the most documented dismissals in the county and a recurring question about capability. Capability, including ill-health, is a fair ground under section 6(4), but an employer relying on it needs up-to-date medical evidence, consultation with the employee about the prognosis and the alternatives, and a fair process under the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. 146/2000) before it dismisses, and where the absence relates to a disability the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 require reasonable accommodation under section 16 unless it imposes a disproportionate burden, with a discriminatory dismissal claim available regardless of length of service. Conduct dismissals in the same plants turn on whether the process matched the Code and whether the sanction was proportionate. In hospitality and tourism along the coast the work is seasonal and the service short, so the first questions are the one-year requirement in section 2(1)(a), the probation exclusion in section 3 and the section 6(2A) exceptions for pregnancy and family leave, union activity, protected disclosures and minimum wage rights, which waive the service requirement; outside those, a section 20(1) referral under the Industrial Relations Act 1969 and the notice owed under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973-2005 remain. In the public sector the typical claim is constructive dismissal after a grievance that went nowhere, where the WRC expects the internal procedure to have been exhausted and the burden rests on the employee.
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, where no proper notice was given, the date it 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 is heard, it is listed at Lansdowne House, at a regional sitting or remotely, which for a Waterford employee usually means evidence by video. Hearings are in public, the parties are named in the published decision unless special circumstances exist, 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.
Waterford clients who want to meet in person come to 2 Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny, R95 W58D, by appointment, with out of hours appointments available; everyone else deals with the office by Zoom and phone, and the Dublin office at The Ormond Building, 31-36 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7, D07 EE37, serves anyone whose job was in the capital. Employers in Waterford defending a claim get the same analysis from the other side: whether the stated reason fits section 6(4), whether the medical evidence and consultation would support a capability dismissal, whether the record shows a procedure that matched S.I. 146/2000, 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 Waterford 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 Waterford?
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