In our Blog dated 31st October last titled “Employment Law Reforms in the Republic of Ireland”, we advised on major reforms to be introduced by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton, one of which was the introduction of a single point of entry for all Employment Law Claims.
We have now seen the establishment of a single website to support information provision and the State’s services across the employment, equality, equal status and industrial relations areas as promised by Minister Bruton.
The website is now up and running as an interim measure whilst the websites of the Labour Relations Commission, National Employment Rights Authority, Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Labour Court and the Equality Tribunal will ultimately be replaced by a final single website for Workplace Relations – http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/ .
The new website covers publications such as:
* Codes of Practice
* Complaints Guidelines
* Appeals & Enforcement Forms
* Information Guides and Booklets
* General Forms
* Annual Reports
The Employment Relations website also has information on a large range of employment rights and obligations.
This development has also resulted in the amalgamation of the complaint forms from the Labour Relations Commission, Equality Tribunal, National Employment Rights Authority, Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court into one, single Complaint Form, which must be used for all Employment complaints in the Republic of Ireland from 30 December 2011. This form can be accessed on this new website and, when completed, must be delivered to Workplace Relations Customer Services, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, O’Brien Road, Carlow.
This is a welcome development where previously many different forms existed for the resolution of Employment Law disputes and claimant ran the risk of submitting Claims to the wrong Tribunal.