Unfair dismissal in Ireland: who can claim, what the WRC looks at and what it awards

Being let go is a shock, and the first thing most people type into a search bar is "unfair dismissal ireland". This guide sets out what the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 actually do: who can claim, what your employer has to show, what the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC, see the glossary) can award, and how long you have.

It is written for the employee. Nothing here decides your case. It tells you how the Acts and the WRC approach a dismissal so that you can judge where you stand.

What unfair dismissal means

Under the Acts, a dismissal is presumed to be unfair unless the employer shows that there were substantial grounds for it. That is the single most important point: once you show that you were dismissed, the burden shifts to your employer.

"Dismissal" is wider than being told to go. It includes:

• being let go with or without notice
• a fixed-term contract that ends and is not renewed, in some circumstances (see fixed-term contract not renewed)
• resigning because of your employer's conduct, which is constructive dismissal

A dismissal with the right notice can still be unfair, and a dismissal without notice may be both unfair and a breach of contract. The breach of contract side is wrongful dismissal, and it runs on separate rules.

Who can claim: the 12 months and the exceptions

You generally need 12 months' continuous service with the employer on the date of dismissal. Service is counted up to the day your notice would have ended, had you been given the statutory minimum, so a dismissal in week 51 may still get you over the line.

No minimum service applies where the dismissal is wholly or mainly for one of these reasons:

This list is drawn from the WRC's guidance and law-firm commentary; the Act itself sets it out in section 6 and the amending Acts. If one of these reasons fits your situation, service length is not the barrier.

If you have under 12 months' service and none of the exceptions applies, the Acts are not open to you. You may still have a claim for notice pay, for unpaid wages or for discrimination, and the dismissed on probation guide walks through those routes.

The reasons an employer can rely on

The Act lists the grounds on which a dismissal can be fair:

1. Your capability, competence or qualifications for the work
2. Your conduct
3. Redundancy
4. A statutory restriction that stops you doing the job, such as the loss of a licence
5. Other substantial grounds

The employer picks the reason and has to prove it. A reason given for the first time at the hearing, or a reason that shifts between the letter and the hearing, tends to fare badly.

Redundancy is a fair reason only where the job really has gone and selection was fair. Where an employer calls a dismissal a redundancy but a replacement is hired, the WRC may look behind the label. The redundancy chapter covers what a genuine redundancy looks like and what you are owed.

The procedure the WRC expects

Even where there is a fair reason, the way the dismissal was done matters. The WRC measures the employer against its own disciplinary procedure and against the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. No. 146/2000). In practice an adjudicator asks:

• Were you told the allegation and given the evidence before any hearing?
• Could you bring someone with you, and could you reply before a decision was made?
• Were warnings given, where the issue was performance or conduct short of gross misconduct?
• Was the sanction proportionate, and was an appeal offered?
• Where the reason was redundancy, was it genuine, was selection fair and were alternatives considered?

A dismissal with no procedure at all, or a procedure that was really a formality after the decision had been made, may be unfair even where the underlying problem was real. The guides on dismissal without warning or notice and gross misconduct show how this plays out.

You can ask your employer in writing for a statement of the reasons for your dismissal. The Act requires the employer to give it within 14 days. Ask for it early: it fixes the employer's reason before any hearing.

What the WRC can award

There are three remedies:

Compensation is by far the most common. The adjudicator can also take account of your own contribution to the dismissal and reduce the award.

How much compensation for unfair dismissal

The honest answer is: it depends on your loss, not on how badly you were treated. The 104 weeks is a ceiling, not a tariff.

The WRC works out compensation from what the dismissal cost you: wages lost between the dismissal and the hearing, any ongoing loss where you are still out of work or earning less, and loss of statutory rights. You are expected to mitigate that loss by looking for work and to keep a record of your applications. Someone who found an equivalent job within six weeks has a loss of about six weeks' pay, whatever the employer did. Someone with a long gap in a specialised field has a larger loss.

Where you had no financial loss at all, because you walked into a better-paid job, the award is capped at four weeks' pay.

The WRC does not publish an average award and this site does not calculate one. Our register of reported awards lists published decisions with their ADJ references so you can see what adjudicators have done in situations like yours. The unfair dismissal tool asks about your service, your reason and your gap in earnings and gives a range built on the same rules.

The six-month clock

A complaint must reach the WRC within six months of the date of dismissal. The period begins on the date of dismissal, so it ends the day before the six-month anniversary. The date of dismissal is the day your notice ended, or, if you were let go without notice, the day you were let go.

An adjudicator can extend the six months to 12 where you show reasonable cause for the delay. Not knowing the law, or hoping the matter would be sorted internally, are rarely enough on their own. Nothing can be extended beyond 12 months. An internal appeal does not stop the clock, so lodge the complaint while the appeal runs if the six months are close.

How a claim runs

The complaint goes in on the WRC's online form. There is no fee. The WRC offers free mediation first, and many complaints settle there. If mediation is refused or fails, the complaint goes to an adjudication hearing, generally held in public since the Supreme Court's decision in Zalewski in 2021, with the decision published.

Either side can appeal to the Labour Court within 42 days. The appeal is free unless the appellant did not attend the WRC hearing without good cause, in which case a €300 fee applies. The Labour Court hears the case afresh.

The WRC does not award costs either way. You can represent yourself, and many people do; a union represents members at no charge. In 2025 the WRC received 10,559 applications, 44% more than the year before, and unfair dismissal made up 17% of the 19,068 complaints. The median wait to a first hearing rose from 133 days in January 2025 to 174 by December, so expect several months. The WRC's Infoline is 0818 80 80 90.

If your employer offers a sum to settle before or after you complain, the settlement agreements guide sets out what to check before you sign.

Where this leaves you

Run the unfair dismissal tool with your start date, your date of dismissal and the reason you were given. It tells you whether the 12 months are met or an exception applies, works out your six-month deadline, and gives a loss-based range rather than a number pulled from the air.

If you are in a union, ring them first: a union official will know the employer, the procedure and the WRC, and represents you at no cost. See union. If you are not in a union and the loss is significant, or the employer has already instructed solicitors, a solicitor can tell you in one conversation whether the claim is worth running and how to present the loss.