Domestic Violence Leave
Domestic Violence Leave is part of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.
Any employee who has experienced in the past, or is currently experiencing domestic violence will have an entitlement to take paid leave for the following purposes:
• to seek medical attention
• to obtain services from a victim services organisation
• to obtain psychological or other professional counselling
• to relocate temporarily or permanently
• to obtain an order under the Domestic Violence Act 2018
• to seek advice or assistance from a legal practitioner
• to seek assistance from the Garda Síochána
• to seek or obtain any other relevant services
The entitlement is for employees to take up to five days of full paid domestic violence leave in any 12 consecutive months. Where an employee is absent from work for the purposes of domestic violence leave for part of a day, that will be counted as a full day of domestic violence leave.
Domestic violence leave applies to any person of any age who has entered into or works under a contract of employment, including part-time and fixed-term employees. As there is no service requirement specified in the Act, employees will be entitled to take domestic violence leave from their first day of employment should they need to do so.
The entitlement also extends to employees to take domestic violence leave for the purposes of assisting a ‘relevant person’ in the doing of any of the above listed actions.
A ‘relevant person’ is
• the spouse or civil partner of the employee
• the cohabitant of the employee
• a person with whom the employee is in an intimate relationship
• a child of the employee who has not attained full age
• a dependent person to the employee
Domestic violence is defined broadly under the Act to include violence or threat of violence, including sexual violence and acts of coercive control committed against an employee or a relevant person by another person.
Notification to Employers
Employees who take domestic violence leave must, as soon as reasonably practicable after having taken the leave, notify their employer of the fact that they have taken domestic violence leave and the dates on which it was taken.
The Act does not require employees to provide evidence to support their need to take domestic violence leave.
Case Law - Dismissal of Agency Workers
The employment relationship between an employment agency, the agency worker and the "end user" or "hirer" is an interesting one.
A Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) case (ADJ-00032076) demonstrates the importance of understanding which party is responsible for the potential unfairness of any dismissal of an agency worker.
Here, the agency worker (the "Complainant") was dismissed by the hirer / end user (the "Respondent") for alleged breaches of company policy.
The Complainant brought an Unfair Dismissal claim to the WRC against the Respondent and submitted that the Respondent, as end user / hirer, and not the employment agency was his employer for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissal Acts.
WRC decision – Unfair Dismissal Claim
The WRC Adjudication Officer ("AO") was satisfied that a written contract was in place between the Complainant and the employment agency, who could be considered to be the Complainant’s employer in "general terms". However, the AO referred to Section 13 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1993 which states that an agency worker shall be deemed to be an employee of the third person under a contract of employment, i.e. the end user / hirer, not the employment agency.
Consequently, the AO found that the Complainant was employed by (and, in the circumstances, unfairly dismissed by) the Respondent in accordance with the Unfair Dismissals Acts.
In relation to the Complainant's efforts to mitigate his losses, the AO found that the Complainant had not made sufficient efforts in this respect. As a consequence, the AO awarded the Complainant just 4 weeks remuneration (€2,494.44) which he found was just and equitable in all the circumstances.
Notice Pay Claim
The Complainant had also brought a claim for notice pay as he was dismissed for gross misconduct and did not receive his notice.
Interestingly, the AO found that, unlike the Unfair Dismissals Act, under the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Act, the Respondent was not the Complainant's employer. As a result the Complainant's claim for notice pay was not well-founded.
Conclusion
This is a somewhat unusual provision which may come as a surprise to many employers. Organisations who regularly use agency workers or even those who enter into once-off arrangements with employment agencies are urged to be aware of their obligations and the associated risks when it comes to terminating an agency worker's contract of employment. Such organisations are also advised to consider incorporating relevant indemnities into their commercial agreements with employment agencies for further protections in this regard.
The AO's approach to the Complainant's failure to mitigate his loss is interesting and should also be noted.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. As a discipline, DE&I is any policy or practice designed to make people of various backgrounds feel welcome and ensure they have support to perform to the fullest of their abilities in the workplace.
- Diversity refers to differences within a setting; in the workplace, that may mean differences in race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and socioeconomic background.
- Equity is the act of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual.
- Inclusion is the practice of making people feel a sense of belonging at work.
Combining these three elements, DEI is an ethos that recognizes the value of diverse voices and emphasizes inclusivity and employee well-being as central facets of success. To bring those values to life, companies must implement programs and initiatives that actively make their offices more diverse, equitable and inclusive spaces. DEI issues matter to candidates and employees, and initiatives improve the long term health of companies
Diversity in the workplace is important because with different backgrounds come different points of view, which ultimately leads to better ideas and solutions.
In order to ensure equal circumstances for all individuals across the organization, equity requires that employers recognize barriers and advantages. This is the crucial difference between “equity” and “equality.”
While the workplace does require professionalism and etiquette, an inclusive culture should not bar individuals from being themselves.
So how can employers be compliant in regards to DEI? In general:
- Employers can include DEI in the handbook.
- Employers can provide training/education sessions to their employees.
- Employers can set up a DEI committee where the situation is analysed and goals are set to be improved.
- Employers can make sure they balance all three and focusing on one can cause the other two to suffer.
More specifically diversity can be improved by:
- Employers can use a blind hiring process which will allows the hiring team to focus on qualifications and experience. A blind hiring process involves names and other identification factors to be removing before the CV is sent for review.
Equity can be improved by:
- Employers can work with each employee to identify development opportunities.
- Employers can avoid asking for previous salaries and instead provide salary guidelines with pay bands that offer equitable salaries for various positions.
Inclusion can be improved by:
- Employers creating a policy on inclusion for the company. In this, issues that have been known in the past can be addressed in this.
- Employers can provide benefits that are flexible and compatible for a more diverse workforce such as floating holidays so employees can have time off for the holidays they choose to celebrate or health insurance plans that offers benefits for LGBTQ+ employees.
- Employers can support differences. If employers provide food, perhaps have a separate fridge for Kosher food.
