Speaking at the recent IRN conference, Jennifer Cashman, Head of Employment Law at Ronan Daly Jermyn stated that there are some key issues of serious concern for Irish employers:

• Social media- issues included the disclosure of confidential information, defamation, bullying and harassment of other employees leading to possible legal action, disciplinary issues and PR issues.
• Two thirds of employees admit to checking out Facebook and other Social network sites  during work while 73% admit to bad mouthing their employer
• Retirement – from January 1st 2014, the standard State pension age will rise to 66, to 67 from 2021 and to 68 from 2028. This will lead to a major review of company pensions, and employers are being presented with a serious challenge as employees plan to work longer, well past existing retirement dates. A recent case heard by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (Molloy vs Connacht Gold) has given a helpful decision, as the Tribunal ruled that the company was entitled to enforce a normal retirement age of 65 despite the lack of any reference to a retirement age in any contract entered into by the clamant.

For further information, advice and support on any of the above issues, contact us at Voltedge, contact@voltedge.ie and 01 5252914.