Protection of Employment Act 1977 (Rep. of Ireland)

Overview

The Protection of Employment Act 1977 is Irish legislation which implements an EU Directive relating to collective redundancies, offering greater protections for employees. The Act defines ‘collective redundancy’ and sets out the advance consultation requirements employers must meet before making workforce reductions. The Act also sets out record keeping requirements for employers, investigatory powers for examining business practices and the sanctions for when standards are not met.

Collective redundancies are dismissals in a period of 30 days where:

• At least 5 employees are laid off in an establishment employing between 20-50 employees;
• At least 10 employees in an establishment employing between 50-100;
• 10% of employees in an establishment employing between 100-200; and
• At least 30 employees in an establishment of 300+.

An 'establishment' is: 

• Any location where an employer carries out business; 
• Each business location will be considered a separate location for this act: “each workplace, factory, mine, quarry, dockyard, wharf, quay, warehouse, building site, engineering construction site, electricity station, gas works, water works, sewage disposal works, office, wholesale or retail shop, hotel, restaurant, café, farm, garden or forest plantation”.