Completing the application form to the workplace relations commission can take a bit of work and attention to detail is required.

Firstly, you can find the complaint form here https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/e-complaint_form/ and you can complete this online and submit the Workplace Relations Commission once competed.

You can email it to the WRC at submissions@workplacerelations.ie You will get an automated response via email which includes a very important reference number.

You can also post it to the following address:

 The Director General, Workplace Relations Commission, O’Brien Road, Carlow.

The complaint form is thirty pages long in total and you will firstly be asked to fill in the complainants particulars, such as name/address, employment details and pay details. It is very important to put in the correct employment details such as commencement date, date of notice of termination, and end date.

The next section requires the complainant to complete the Respondent/Employer’s full ‘Legal Details’.

This is page 4 of the application form. It is imperative that the correct legal name is specified on the form.

If this is incorrect, it is very unlikely the other side will inform you of this. Necessary checks such as reviewing the contract, payslip review, and checks conducted with the Companies Registration Office must be done.

There are strict deadlines in employment law cases, so this checking process must be done with haste.

If the wrong name of the employer is specified on the form, and it becomes out of time, ones claim could be what is termed statute barred.

Pages 5 – 29 of the complaint form require the applicant to specify the relevant complaint they have to the facts.

There is a huge body of employment law in Ireland and employees generally speaking will come to a solicitor with one complaint in their mind that they want resolved.

What occurs often after examining the facts is that more than one complaint can be made against the employer arising from the various legislative rules.

Each complaint then can be specified on the complaint form to be dealt with by the appropriate person.

If an employee’s complaint relates to Discrimination-Equality in the workplace, which is Section G, an employee not only has to tick the box complaint type, but then has to give the circumstances surrounding the discrimination.

The complainant must then provide a full statement to the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission, which details the facts, details of the link between the grounds and the alleged discrimination, the dates of the alleged discrimination, the details of the allegations, the parties names, the date of dismissal and any other information that is needed to set out the full facts of the complaint.

You should also include any legal points you may wish to make.

This is a very important part of the application process and it is this statement which the mediator or adjudicator will first review to gather an understanding of the facts and case presented.

This document is also furnished by the Workplace Relations Commission to the respondent being the employer, who will then prepare its defence based on the statement previously provided by the complainant.

On Page 30 of the application form, the employee must choose whether they will engage in the WRCs mediation service.

Mediation can be affective mechanism for the resolution of disputes and should be chosen as a preliminary mechanism for the resolution of disputes, in our opinion. 

A solicitor can assist you completing the WRC complaint form, should you wish to engage one.

Cleary & Co. Solicitors, Litigation Law Firm 

Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary Employment Law Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding employment law matters and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or  (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com

Employment Law Articles