Employment
Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act plus the Industrial Disputes Tribunal
Redundancy and notice entitlements come from the Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act, which sets a service-based scale of redundancy pay. Unjustifiable dismissal is not a general statutory claim in the ordinary courts; instead the Minister may refer an industrial dispute to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, whose awards are binding and may order reinstatement. The Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act governs recognition and dispute procedure.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National; Industrial Disputes Tribunal for referred disputes
- Deadline — Notice: from two weeks up to eight weeks depending on length of service
- Deadline — Redundancy pay: two weeks' pay per year for the first ten years, three weeks thereafter
Governing law
- Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act
- Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act
- Minimum Wage Act
- Holidays with Pay Act
In practice
The route to a remedy is the point most often misunderstood: an individual cannot simply file an unfair dismissal claim, because access to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal ordinarily depends on the dispute being reported and then referred by the Minister of Labour. That makes early engagement with the Ministry, and with a union where one is recognised, decisive in dismissal cases.