Hiring Employees in Ireland
There are a number of steps you need to take when hiring employees in Ireland. This blog will help you get what you need to start hiring.
Background Checks
Under the Criminal Justice Act 2016, an adult will not have to disclose his or her conviction in respect of a range of minor offenses after seven years.
Data obtained by employers must be processed and held in compliance with data protection legislation. If a third party is conducting the background checks, the employer remains a data controller under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and the third party acts as a processor as it would be processing the personal data of candidates on behalf of the employer.
The employer must ensure that the third party conducts all processing in compliance with the GDPR.
Medical Examinations
Individual offers of employment can be made conditional upon satisfactory health checks, but a prospective employer may be liable under a discrimination claim if the offer is not confirmed based on the information disclosed by the health check.
Drug and Alcohol Testing
- Employers are required to ensure the safety, health, and welfare at work of all employees. This includes ensuring the prevention of improper conduct or behaviour that is likely to put employees at risk. An employer may require an applicant to submit to a drug or alcohol test to the extent that this is required to ensure that the applicant may safely carry out the proposed role. These tests must be necessary and proportionate.
Contract of Employment
Employers are required to provide employees with key terms and conditions of employment within five days of commencing employment, commonly referred to as ‘The 5 Core Terms’. These include:
- The full name of the employer and employee
- Address of the employer
- The expected duration of the contract (temporary or fixed-term)
- The rate or method of calculating pay
- The employers’ expectations of working hours.
Forming a contract can be very complicated. That’s where Bright Contracts steps in. Bright Contracts breaks it all down into a logical series of questions and inputs. All you have to do is provide the answers. The software provides handy tips and guidance where questions might be difficult to understand.
Probationary Period
Although there is no statutory maximum probationary period, an employer will typically provide a probationary period of six months subject to extension at the employer’s discretion. In practice, probationary periods should not be longer than 11 months to ensure that an employee does not accrue service to maintain a claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts.
When hiring employees in Ireland it is important to conduct necessary background checks, medical checks, drug/alcohol tests, and issue a contract of employment within five days of commencing employment.
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Don't Forget About Your Valuable Retention Tool - Stay Interviews
Exit interviews are common amongst many Irish workforces. They are used to determine what prompted an employee to leave and to provide a final chance to persuade them to stay. Stay interviews give an organisation an opportunity to assess what improvements can be made now to avoid further resignations. They provide a more personal platform than what is currently in place from engagement or satisfaction surveys. It also allows for the building of trust between employees and managers, where both parties can discuss ideas.
A stay interview conducted between a manager and an employee can give an overview of what encourages the person to stay, the improvements that can be made, and what caused them to look for external opportunities. Identifying these issues early and acting on them contributes to long-term retention, increased motivation, improved productivity, and overall success for both the business and its people.
What should a stay interview look like?
Interviews don’t need to be long; they can be completed in as little as 20 minutes. Key questions to cover in the meeting could be what employees look forward to and what they dread about work each day, whether they would recommend the company to others, what would make their role more satisfying and how they would like to be recognised and valued.
What happens after a stay interview?
Organisations that decide to conduct stay interviews should remember that their workforce will expect an outcome so be prepared to implement positive changes. Failure to do so can increase frustrations amongst staff and make them feel that their voice is not heard.
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How to Dismiss an Employee
Unfortunately, as an employer or business owner, you need to know how to dismiss an employee. No matter what the reason is there is a process that you should always adhere to.
The most important thing to consider is the reason for the termination and if you have taken any steps to try and assist your employee. If you are dealing with an underperforming employee, you shouldn’t automatically think of dismissing them. You should instead understand why the employee is underperforming and assist them in any way to help them improve.
Investigate the situation
The first thing that needs to be done if you are considering dismissing an employee is to formally investigate the situation. Be sure that the documentation clearly outlines the initial complaint or disciplinary issue with the employee as well as the relevant details of the investigation itself. A full list of participants, including what was said in any of the interviews.
After completing the investigation, you may discover the complaints or performance issues that were raised in the interviews were a misunderstanding, a false allegation or not a fault of the employee in question. In most cases, the situation can be resolved with a conversation.
Provide a warning
If after investigating and you conclude that the employee is at fault, you will need to provide them with an official warning. Where the complaint is minor or does not require further action no other disciplinary action needs to be taken.
For more serious incidents, make sure that the employee understands that you are giving them a warning and what the next steps will be if they fail to improve.
Be Professional
If you have conducted your investigations, issued a warning, and have proof of the breach of contract, then you have no option left but to dismiss your employee. For the protection of the company, it is vital that you have the right reasons and supporting evidence for the dismissal. When it comes to delivering the news, you must do this face to face with the employee.
You should adhere to the following points:
- Be prepared, and calmly explain the reasons for the dismissal
- Reiterate the previous warning that has been given and refer to the documentation
- Ensure that the process is short and does not linger for longer than necessary
For legal reasons, you should document and issue the dismissal in written format.
Honour existing agreements
Just because the employee has left does not mean that you can ignore any post dismissal laws that are in place. You must continue to follow both the company policy and legal protocols, including the payments for all hours worked up until the moment of dismissal. If you are required to give your employee two weeks’ notice you may dismiss them immediately, but you will need to provide them with the equivalent of two weeks’ pay.
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Unfair Dismissal Claims & How to avoid them
An unfair dismissal can occur when your employer terminates your contract of employment with or without notice or the employee terminates their contract of employment with or without notice due to the conduct of your employer.
A dismissal is automatically considered to be unfair if you are dismissed for any of the following reasons:
- Membership or proposed membership of a trade union or engaging in trade union activities
- Religious or political opinions
- Legal proceedings against an employer where you are a party or a witness
- Race, colour, sexual orientation, age, or member of the Traveller community
- Pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected with pregnancy or birth
- Availing of rights under legislation to maternity leave, adoptive leave, parental leave, carer’s leave, parental leave, or force majeure leave
- Unfair selection for redundancy
Steps to avoid Unfair Dismissal
Have clear policies
It is important to ensure that all new and current employees have access to the companies’ policies regarding harassment, dress code and attendance policies. The policies must be easy to read for the employee and available to them at any stage during their employment. These policies are not only to keep employees informed but they are used as important reference points to use as the employer during the disciplinary process. Failing to follow these policies can result in an unfair dismissal claim.
HR & Equality training
Employers need to make sure that the dismissal is thoroughly thought through beforehand and is not an impulsive retaliation to an employee’s actions. By providing training for all staff members involved in the dismissal process you will know that the process is being conducted legally.
Keep track of employee conduct
Terminating an employee can sometimes devolve into a he-said she-sad argument with no clear winner. Without proper documentation, it can be difficult to terminate an employee without fearing an unfair dismissal claim. When you begin to see that an employee might not be suitable for your company, start keeping track of their misconduct. Use a word document or journal to keep track of any problems the employee encounters. For example, take note of any time they showed up late or were not dressed appropriately.
Implement a performance management plan
When you first discuss with the employee about potentially dismissing them, you will need to set up a performance management plan to give your employee a chance to improve. If you still need to terminate this employee, the document plan shows that you tried to help your employee. Employers can do this by setting up parameters and goals for their improvement.
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Let's Talk Redundancy
Redundancy occurs when an employee loses their job due to circumstances such as the closure of the business or a reduction in the number of staff. There are many reasons why an employee could be made redundant, such as the financial position of the company, lack of work, reorganisation with another organisation, or the company closing completely. Being made redundant can be an extremely tough situation for the employee, it is important as an employer to understand how the employee may feel at this time and make them aware of the support that is available to them.
Who is eligible for redundancy?
An employee is entitled to a redundancy payment after they have two years’ service. To be eligible for a redundancy payment:
- The employee must be over the age of 16,
- Be in employment that is insurable under the Social Welfare Acts,
- Have worked continuously for their employer for at least 104 weeks over the age of 16
- Your role has been made redundant
Part-time workers cannot be treated any different to the full-time workers but still must meet the requirement of the two years’ continuous service.
Redundancy Procedures
Employers must follow certain procedures when making an employee redundant. They must be fair and reasonable upon the selection of choosing people to be made redundant.
Some examples of fair selection include:
- Last in, first out - The newest staff is the first to go
- Voluntary redundancy
- Point system - Employees doing the same job are ranked by objective criteria such as attendance record, the standard of work done, skills and qualifications.
If employees feel they have been unfairly selected for redundancy you can bring a claim of unfair dismissal.
Notice of redundancy
The notice period (time given to employees before they are made redundant) goes up depending on how long the employee has worked for the employer.
- Between 2-5 years – 2 weeks’ notice
- Between 5-10 years – 4 weeks’ notice
- Between 10-15 years – 6 weeks’ notice
- Over 15 years – 8 weeks’ notice
Offering alternative work
Before the role can be made redundant, the employer may offer the employee another job in the business. This is known as alternative work. This alternative work should be given to the employee in writing and provide full information about the offer.
If the employee accepts the alternative role, they may take it up on a trial basis for up to four weeks. However, the employee will not be entitled to claim redundancy if:
- They accept a new contract with immediate effect, and the terms of employment are the same as their previous contract
- They accept an offer in writing for a new and different contract which will start within four weeks of their previous contract ending.
If the employee refuses a reasonable offer of alternative work from the employer, they may lose their entitlement to a redundancy payment.
If the employee loses status, have worse terms and conditions of employment or must travel an unreasonable distance to work this will not be considered as a reasonable alternative.
10 Tips for Employee Retention
For employers, the pandemic was a test like no other. It may have been the biggest challenge faced in the world of HR. Unexpected changes to the lifestyle of the workplace meant that employees found themselves working in the comfort of their homes.
Facing challenges tends to make teams stronger. Employees learned new skills, employers invested to make remote work successful and found ways to work together no matter the circumstance. How you handle these challenges reflects the company culture and future growth of the company and having employees want to stick around.
If you are struggling to retain employees here are some tips on how to retain employees.
1. Positive onboarding experience.
Just because you have employed a new employee does not mean the hiring process is over as soon as they start. Month two is the exact same as day one. Ensuring that your employees have a positive and engaging starting experience is important to making sure your recruiting process is going well.
2. Highlight the benefits
Nowadays perks and benefits are the icings on the cake when you are attracting applicants. Whether you offer a competitive salary, hybrid working models or wellness programmes make sure to outline benefits that are suitable for everyone. Having the right benefits in the workplace can improve employee engagement.
3. Promote Flexible/ Hybrid working
Realistically the traditional office 9-to-5, five days a week is becoming a bit old fashioned and not appropriate for most people’s lifestyles. By incorporating flexible working schedules and telecommuting you may find that employees appear more productive and satisfied. It is important to detail flexible/hybrid working arrangements in the employee contracts, so no conflict arises. Bright Contracts now has a hybrid working policy in the handbook section of the software as well as a hybrid tick the box section in the contract section. A sample document detailing the hybrid arrangements is available on the Bright Contracts Ireland website.
4. Recognition
Every employee likes to be appreciated and thanked for all their hard work. Giving employees recognition for a job well done is an important part of ensuring that there is continued employee engagement. Ways of recognising employees could be appreciation at company meetings, giving out regular promotions or employee appreciation events.
5. Highlight Development
Ensure you allow your employees to further enhance their skills to become even better employees. By you supporting employee development will lead to the best employees sticking around.
6. Reward Employees
As well as offering salary incentives why not add other reward programmes to help retain employees. Rewards like offering gift cards, bonuses and additional annual leave will not only attract employees to the company but help retain employees.
7. Provide up to date equipment and software
A huge complaint at many companies is how outdated the equipment and software is within an organisation. Not only does this make employees inefficient but it also indicates that your company does not have any interest in staying up to date with the latest tools and technology.
8. Communication
There is nothing more frustrating than a company with bad communication with its employees. Make sure your company is creating channels for honest and specific feedback to and from employees. Try to focus on direct communication, one-on-one conversations when it is possible. Furthermore, provide employees with digital spaces to allow workers to come together and solve issues without having to go through management.
9. Familiarity with Senior Management
Making sure senior management know that an employee exists will help make employees feel acknowledged and results in employees being loyal and committed to the job. One of the most common complaints voiced during an exit interview is that employees do not feel acknowledged by senior management. The employee should be introduced to senior management on their first day and employees should have the chance to partake in company discussions and have their ideas listened to.
10. Allow the employee to use their talents and skills
A motivated employee wants to contribute work to areas outside of their job description. You should allow your employees to use experiences from the past to their current role to result in an overall positive employee engagement. For example, if an employee has a skill in video editing and they work in the marketing department, allowing them help or have input in the production of a company video, will overall have a positive impact on their role in the company.
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What you Need to Know About the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021
The Gender Pay Gap Information Act was signed into law on the 13th of July 2021. It will amend the Employment Equality Act 1998. This legislation introduced gender pay gap reporting to Ireland. The technical elements to this Bill have not been published yet but, The Act promotes the making of regulations through which reporting requirements will be specified. It is unclear what the specific reporting responsibilities for employers will be.
What is it?
The Gender Pay Gap is the difference in the average gross hourly pay of women compared with men in an organisation. It should not be confused with the concept of equal pay for equal work. The existence of the gender pay gap does not indicate discrimination by employers or that women are not receiving equal pay for equal work. Employers are required to pay employees on the same terms when they do “like work” which is defined as work that is the same, similar, or work of equal value.
What does the employer have to do?
The Act will require organisations to report on the gender pay differences between male and female employees. For the initial first two years of The Act, it will only apply to employers with 250 or more employees.
What information needs to be reported?
- Mean and median hourly remuneration for full time and part time employees
- Mean and median bonus remuneration
- Percentage of all employees who have received a bonus or benefits in kind.
The act also indicates further regulations that may be proposed to provide further clarity on:
- The class of employer, employee and pay to which the regulations apply
- How the remuneration of employees is to be calculated
- The form, manner and frequency in which information is to be published
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Public Holidays: What Employers Need to Know
What is a public holiday?
A public holiday is nationally recognised day when most businesses and other institutions are closed. They usually occur on a special day or event. For example, St Patricks Day and Christmas Day.
In 2022 we were introduced to a new once off public holiday that will take place on Friday, 18th of March. From 2023 there will be a new annual public holiday in February to celebrate St Brigid’s Day, it will happen on the first Monday in February.
When are the public holidays?
• New Year’s Day
• First Monday in February, or 1st of February if the date falls on a Friday (2023 onwards)
• Saint Patrick’s Day
• Once off public holiday (18th March 2022 only)
• Easter Monday
• First Monday in May
• First Monday in June
• First Monday in August
• Last Monday in October
• Christmas Day
• St Stephens Day
What are employees entitled to?
Most employees are entitled to a day paid leave on public holidays. There is an exception for certain part-time employees.
If you qualify for public holiday benefit, you are entitled to:
• A paid day off on the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An additional day’s pay
• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
Part time employees are entitled to a day’s pay for the public holiday if they meet the following requirements:
• You have worked for your employer at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday
• The public holiday falls on the day you normally work
If you are required to work on the day the public holiday falls you are entitled to an additional day’s pay. If you do not work on the day, you should get one fifth of your weekly pay.
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Look What's Coming: Statutory Sick Pay for 2022
With 2021 drawing to a close businesses must now look forward as to what is to come in 2022 and one change that is likely yo come in 2022 which will affect all employers is the introduction of a compulsory sick pay scheme.
Unlike many European jurisdictions, Ireland has never had a scheme like this. Currently an Irish employer is not, at the moment, obliged to pay employees while they are sick which is about to change due to the Sick Leave Bill 2021 which was published recently and provides for a comprehensive Statutory Sick Pay scheme (SSP).
The key points for employers to note in relation to this scheme are as follows:
1. While the number of eligible days per year will start at a low level, the Government intends that this will increase to two working weeks by the year 2025.
2. SSP will be capped and an employer will only be obliged to pay up to 70% of wages, subject to a cap of €110/day.
3. The Government will not “top up” the employer’s contribution to 100%.
4. Employees will have to have at least 13 weeks of continuous service in order to be eligible.
5. Employees will be obliged to provide a medical certificate in respect of each day of Statutory Sick Leave.
6. If an employer maintains it cannot afford to discharge its SSP obligations, an exemption can be granted by the Labour Court.
7. If an employer already provides more favourable sick leave benefits to an employee, they will not be obliged to comply with the SSP rules.
So what should employers do now? It would be prudent for employers , especially smaller employers, to start financial planning now in order to ensure that they are ready for when the SSP is introduced. Employers should also review any existing sick pay schemes/ policies to check whether the new rules will affect/ change these.
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Don't Get Caught Out: The 5 Core Terms
Throughout the pandemic some businesses were lucky enough to be able to hire new employees which is why it is important for employers to know their legal obligations in the first few days of an employees employment. The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to 2014 clarifes at the outset what the terms of employment are, in order to avoid problems which may arise at a later date.
Under the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 to 2014:
- The employer must give an employee a written statement contains the five core terms of employment within 5 days of commencing employment.
- The employer must give an employee a full written statement of their terms of employment within 2 months of starting employment.
- The employer must notify the employee of any changes in the particulars of the statement within 1 month of the change taking effect.
Written Statement of Terms of Employment
The purpose of the written statement of terms of employment is to clarify the terms of a person's employment and to avoid uncertainty or misunderstandings, which can often lead to a dispute at a later date e.g. rates of pay for overtime hours not specified in advance.
It is important to note that a written statement of terms of employment is not necessarily the same as a contract of employment, although the two often overlap.An employer is obliged to issue a written statement of terms of employment to the employee which must be signed and dated by the employer however there is no requirement for an employee to sign a written statement of terms of employment.
The 5 core terms of employment which an employer must provide to an employee in writing within 5 days of commencement of employment are as follows:
1. Full names of the employer and the employee
2. Address of the registered office of the employer/ in the state/ the principal place of the relevant business
3. If it is a temporary contract, the expected duration of that temporary contract should be stated and if it is a fixed term contract, the date when that contract expires should be stated.
4. The rate or method of calculation of the employee's pay and the pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Acts 2000 and 2015.
5. The number pf hours which the employer reasonably expects the employee to work per normal working dat and per normal working week.
To avoid issuing two versions of a written statement of terms of employment (one version with the 5 core terms and the second version with the remaining terms0 it would be prudent for an employer to issue one version containing all terms within 5 days, or indeed before the employment commences so the employee is fully aware of the terms prior to commencement.
Additional Terms to Include in the Written Statement
The whole purpose of the written statement is to make absolutely clear to an employee what the terms of their employment are. An employer could add additional terms to avoid any confusion or uncertainty that might arise at a later date. Issues which may arise might include:
- Appearance/ Dress Code - Formal or Casual
- Compassionate Leave - Whether paid leave is granted for the death of a family member
- Confidentiality Clause
- Alcohol & Drugs Misuse Policy
- Study Leave
- Lay-Off & Short Time
- Data Protection Policy
- Business Travel Arrangements
- Health & Safety
This is not an exhaustive list. Where additional clauses or policies are included, the employer should also specify what disciplinary action will be taken against an employee who breaches any of these clauses.
The written statement must be given tot he employee even if the employee's employment ends before the end of the period in which the statement is required to be given. Where the employee leaves within 5 days of commencement, they should still be issued with a written statement containing the 5 core terms. Where an employee leaves within 2 months of commencement, the employer must still give the ex-employee a written statement, provided the employee has been in the continuous service fo the employer for at least one month.
The Act also specifies that an employer is required to retain the written statement for the duration of the employee's employment and for at least 1 year after the employment has ceased. The Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 states that an employer is required to retain a copy of the written statement for 2 years from the date on which the statement was issued for inspection by a social welfare inspector. The employer should ensure that a copy of the written statement is held for the longer of these durations.
Bright Contracts' contracts within the software not only cover the 5 core terms but also the additional terms. You can view a demo of the software and its contracts here. You can download a trial of the software here.
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