Feeling hard done by?
Are you being treated unfairly or unlawfully?
Thinking about bringing a claim to the WRC?
There are 3 important things you need to think about before lodging your claim.
Are you interested in knowing what they are?
Let’s take a look.
1. The Chances of Success
The most important thing you need to think about is how strong your claim is, and what is the likelihood of winning.
It can be a stressful enough course of action to embark upon, and many people try to avoid conflict at all costs. Throw into the mix the fact that your employer or former employer will be there to defend your claim and perhaps give a different version of events from yours, and it will deter many people from bringing the claim.
This should not be enough to prevent you, although this is entirely a decision for you.
But what you do need is an objective, professional assessment of your case before making any difficult decision to plough ahead for put the matter behind you and forget about it.
2. The Cost of Bringing your Claim
When you bring a clam to the WRC or Labour Court each party pays their own costs. This is unlike going to Court where the loser pays the winning side’s costs along with his own: “winner takes all”.
You need to factor in this cost if you are getting professional legal representation, which is strongly recommended.
The legal fees will take into account the complexity of your case, the amount of time it will take to prepare for the hearing, the amount of time for the hearing itself-which will be heavily influenced by the number of witnesses-, and perhaps an appeal.
You need to weigh up this cost, and the potential payoff.
3. The Potential Payoff
There is a wide range of potential claims you can bring to the WRC, with widely varying compensation and redress if you are successful.
For an unfair dismissal the maximum you can be awarded is 2 years’ salary. However, if your claim is based on the employer’s failure to give you a written contract the maximum that can be awarded is 4 weeks’ remuneration.
So, you need to weigh up this cost/benefit analysis carefully.
Conclusion
Leaving aside the factors discussed above there is another one: the psychological benefit and relief of getting to put your side of the story and stand up for yourself and your rights. For many people this benefit outweighs any financial considerations.
Ultimately, the decision is yours.