Are you thinking about bringing a claim for unfair dismissal? Maybe you are thinking about leaving your job and claiming for constructive dismissal?
Before you do you would be well advised to consider the findings of research carried out by a solicitor colleague, Barry Crushell, of Crushell & Co., who reviewed the outcomes of 200 unfair dismissal cases taken to the Workplace Relations Commission.
Preliminary findings
A mere 76 complaints were upheld of the 200 cases reviewed. This is a success rate of 38%.
Even though you might read of interesting or juicy cases that have led to significant compensation for the employee, and you may have concluded that the deck was stacked against the employer, you can deduce from these figures that there are many cases quietly failing, and you will simply never hear of them as they are not newsworthy.
The odds are even worse in constructive dismissal cases. Of 63 constructive dismissal cases-where the employee resigns the employment-only 9 succeeded.
This is a success rate of 14%.
Barry Crushell cautions that his research is at an early, preliminary stage. Nevertheless, these statistics will be of some comfort to employers and might cause employees to think again if considering a claim.
Learn more about the law surrounding unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal in Ireland.
You can contact Barry Crushell about his research here: For further information please email bcrushell@crushell.ie.