Glossary

Checked 13 Oct 2026the employment Acts as amended.

The acronyms and terms that come up at work and at the WRC, each in a sentence or two, with the page to read next.

WRC (Workplace Relations Commission): The State body that hears employment-rights complaints in Ireland through adjudication officers, offers mediation, inspects workplaces and publishes codes of practice. It replaced the Rights Commissioners, the Equality Tribunal and the Employment Appeals Tribunal's first-instance role in 2015. The WRC explained →
Labour Court: The body that hears appeals from WRC adjudication decisions, within 42 days, and industrial relations disputes. Its employment-rights determinations are binding and enforceable through the District Court. Appealing to the Labour Court →
Adjudication officer: The WRC official who hears a complaint and issues a written decision. Not a judge, but the decision is legally binding unless appealed.
EAT (Employment Appeals Tribunal): The tribunal that heard unfair dismissal and redundancy cases until 2015. It no longer takes new cases; its role passed to the WRC and the Labour Court under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The 2015 change explained →
PIP (performance improvement plan): A written plan an employer puts in place where it says performance is below standard: targets, support, a review period. It is not a statutory process; it is usually the step before a formal capability procedure, so what it records matters. Performance improvement plans →
Constructive dismissal: Where you resign because of your employer's conduct and the conduct was so unreasonable, or such a breach of the contract, that you were entitled to leave. The burden is on you, and the grievance procedure is normally expected to have been used first. Constructive dismissal →
Gross misconduct: Conduct so serious that it justifies dismissal without notice: theft, violence, serious breach of trust. Whether conduct reaches that level is a question of fact, and a fair procedure is still expected. Gross misconduct →
Pay in lieu of notice (PILON): Payment of the notice period instead of working it. Allowed where the contract provides for it or you agree; taxed as normal pay. Notice calculator →
Ex gratia payment: A payment the employer is not legally obliged to make, usually on top of statutory redundancy. Unlike the statutory sum it can be taxed, above the Basic Exemption, the Increased Exemption or the SCSB. Redundancy and tax →
SCSB (Standard Capital Superannuation Benefit): One of Revenue's three ways of working out the tax-free part of an ex gratia payment: average annual pay over the last three years, times complete years of service, divided by 15, less any tax-free pension lump sum. Redundancy calculator →
RP9: The form used in a lay-off or short-time situation: the employer's notice of lay-off or short time, and the employee's notice of intention to claim redundancy after four consecutive weeks or six in thirteen. Lay-off and short time →
SSP (statutory sick pay): Five days a year at 70% of normal pay capped at €110 a day, after 13 weeks' service, with a medical certificate, under the Sick Leave Act 2022. Sick pay calculator →
Illness Benefit: A weekly social-insurance payment from the Department of Social Protection for people unable to work through illness, subject to PRSI conditions, after three waiting days. Separate from statutory sick pay from the employer. Illness Benefit after sick pay →
USC (Universal Social Charge): A tax on gross income above a threshold, deducted through payroll alongside income tax and PRSI. Statutory redundancy is exempt from it.
PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance): The social-insurance contribution deducted from pay that builds entitlement to Illness, Maternity, Paternity, Parent's and Jobseeker's Benefit and the State pension.
ERO (Employment Regulation Order): A statutory order, made on the recommendation of a Joint Labour Committee, that sets minimum pay and conditions above the national minimum for a sector: security, contract cleaning, childcare, hairdressing. Security: the ERO →
SEO (Sectoral Employment Order): A statutory order, made on the recommendation of the Labour Court, that sets minimum pay, pensions and sick pay for a sector: construction, mechanical engineering, electrical contracting. Construction: the SEO →
JLC (Joint Labour Committee): A body of employer and worker representatives for a sector that proposes the terms an Employment Regulation Order then makes law.
TUPE (transfer of undertakings): The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 2003: when a business or part of it transfers, employees transfer with it on the same terms, and a dismissal because of the transfer is unfair. TUPE →
CID (contract of indefinite duration): What a series of fixed-term contracts becomes after four years' continuous service under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, unless the employer has objective grounds for a further fixed term. Fixed-term contracts →
ES1 form: The notification you must send to the respondent within two months of an incident before an Equal Status Acts complaint (discrimination by a service, shop, landlord or school, not at work) can go to the WRC. WRC deadline checker →
Protected disclosure (whistleblowing): A report of relevant wrongdoing made by a worker under the Protected Disclosures Acts 2014–2022, which protects the worker from penalisation and dismissal, with no minimum service and compensation of up to five years' pay. Whistleblowing →
Reasonable accommodation: The appropriate measures an employer must take to enable a person with a disability to do the job, unless they would impose a disproportionate burden, under the Employment Equality Acts. Discrimination: the nine grounds →
Banded hours: The right, after twelve months, to be placed in a band of hours that matches what you actually worked, so that your contract reflects your real hours. Zero-hours and banded hours →
Auto-enrolment (My Future Fund): The State retirement savings scheme that enrols employees aged 23 to 60 earning €20,000 or more who are not in a qualifying pension, from 1 January 2026, with employee, employer and State contributions. Auto-enrolment explained →
CSEP (Critical Skills Employment Permit): An employment permit for occupations on the Critical Skills list, or any eligible occupation above a salary threshold, leading to Stamp 4 after two years. The permit is StampWise's subject; your employment rights on it are the same as an Irish worker's. Rights on a work permit →
GEP (General Employment Permit): An employment permit for most eligible occupations, usually after a labour-market needs test. StampWise covers the permit; this site covers the job.
Stamp 1G: The immigration permission for graduates on the Third Level Graduate Programme, allowing work without a permit for a limited period. Employment rights on it are the full set. Rights on a work permit →
Stamp 4: An immigration permission that allows work without an employment permit. Employment rights are the same as for any employee.
Reckonable service: The service that counts for a statutory entitlement: for redundancy, continuous service from 16, with some absences counted and others not; for notice, complete years at the date notice is given.
Employment detail summary: The Revenue record that replaced the P45 and P60 in 2019: your pay and deductions for each employment, available in myAccount. An employer no longer issues a P45. Resigning, letters and references →
ICTU (Irish Congress of Trade Unions): The umbrella body for trade unions in Ireland, whose directory tells you which union covers your job. Which union covers your job →
FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres): An independent charity offering free basic legal information and advice clinics, including on employment matters.