Social media & pension age among main employment law concerns

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.