| You can also visit our "About Adjudication" section for a detailed look at the complaints and hearing process in relation to Adjudication Services. |
Adjudication Officers of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) are statutorily independent in their decision making function as they relate to adjudicating on complaints and disputes referred to them by the WRC Director General.
The Adjudication Officer’s role is to hold a hearing where both parties are given an opportunity to be heard by the Adjudication Officer and to present any evidence relevant to the complaint. However, complaints may, in certain instances, be disposed of by means of written procedure (i.e. without hearing). The Adjudication Officer will not attempt to mediate or conciliate the case. Parties may be accompanied and represented at hearings by a trade union official, an official of a body that, in the opinion of the Adjudication Officer, represents the interests of employers, a practicing barrister or practicing solicitor or any other person, if the Adjudication Officer so permits.
Please note: If parties/representatives are unavailable to attend hearings during the summer months, please email pru@workplacerelations.ie advising of same. Advance notice will lessen the prospect of a hearing being scheduled during periods when the parties are unavailable and reduce the necessity to seek postponements, with all of the additional work that entails.
Following the hearing, the Adjudication Officer will decide the matter and issue a written recommendation in industrial relations disputes or a written decision in all other cases.
The decision, which will be communicated to both parties in writing and published, may, in general
- declare whether the complainant’s complaint was or was not well founded,
- require the respondent to comply with the relevant provision(s),
- require the respondent to make such redress as is just and equitable in the circumstances, including the award of compensation.
The recommendation may direct the parties to take an appropriate course of action depending on the circumstances of the dispute.
A party to a complaint may appeal from a decision of an Adjudication Officer to the Labour Court or to the Circuit Court, depending on the legislation under which the claim was referred.