Frequently Asked Questions

At Athrú Solutions, we find that we frequently get asked the same questions about HR policies and procedures, employment law and training.

We offer here answers to some of these questions, for your use. If you have a question that is not answered here please contact us and we will do our best to help you.

Q. Do I need to give employees a contract of employment?

A. There is no legal requirement that an employment contract has to be in writing although the advantage of having a contract in writing is that it sets out the terms agreed between the employer and the employee providing a level of certainty in the relationship.

In the absence of a contractual agreement there are minimum requirements set by law of which an employer must give to his/her employees in writing:

The Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994-2001

The Terms of Employment (Information) Act imposes an obligation on employers to provide employees with the following terms and conditions in writing:

the names of employer and employee
the address (or principal place of business) of the employer
the place of work
the title of the job or nature of the work for which the employee is employed
the date of commencement of employment
the duration of any temporary or fixed term contract
the rate or method of calculation of remuneration and pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wages Act 2000
that the employee may request from the employer a written statement of the employee’s average hourly rate of pay for any reference period
whether remuneration is payable weekly, monthly or otherwise
any terms or conditions as to hours of work including overtime
any terms or conditions relating to paid leave (other than sick leave)
any terms or conditions relating to:

incapacity for work due to sickness or injury
paid sick leave
pensions and pension schemes

the period of notice which the employee must give or receive to terminate the employment
Details of any collective agreements affecting the terms and conditions of employment.

The employer is required to provide the employee with this statement no later than two months after the employee starts work. Whenever a change is made, the employer is obliged to notify the employee in writing of the change as soon as possible but no later than one month after the change takes effect.

Q. What is considered a collective redundancy?

A. Protection of Employment Acts 1977 to 2007 impose a number of obligations in relation to information and consultation on an employer where it is effecting a ‘collective redundancy’. A collective redundancy is one that involves making a specified number of employees redundant within a 30-day period.

The specified number of employees varies depending on the size of the employer’s workforce. The statutory thresholds are set out in the table below.

Total Workforce	Threshold Number of Redundancies
20 to 49	5 or more
50 to 99	10 or more
100 to 299	10% or more of the workforce
300 or more	30 or more