by HRHQ Editorial Team
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) today published its Annual Report for 2024.
In welcoming the report, Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment said:
“The Annual Report for 2024 highlights the WRC’s strong delivery across all services provided to the public including inspection, the provision of information, conciliation, adjudication, mediation and other advisory services. In the Programme for Government, there is a firm commitment to support the central role played by the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court in industrial relations and employment matters.”
Alan Dillon, Minister of State for Small Business and Retail at the department also welcomed the report, adding:
“The importance of the WRC is evident in the demand for its services with 59,400 calls to its information services, and over 4 million website views.”
Commenting on the WRC’s digitisation initiatives, Minister Dillon added:
“I welcome that the WRC continued with its digitisation ambitions, introducing the second phase of its Robotic Process Automation in 2024 along with launching its eComplaint form.”
WRC’s key performance indicators in 2024
Information Services
Over 59,400 callers were helped by the WRC’s Information and Customer Service staff providing information on employment, equality, or industrial relations matters. There were over 4.3 million pageviews of the WRC’s website.
Inspections
A total of 5,156 inspections were completed in 2024 with €2.15 million recovered in unpaid wages. Successful prosecutions were up 27% on 2023.
Adjudications
The WRC saw an increase of 6% in Adjudication Hearings offered in 2024 compared to 2023. In total, 9,054 Adjudication files were offered a hearing in 2024, an average of 180 per week.
Conciliation Service
The WRC’s Conciliation Service was involved in the resolution/prevention of a number of high-profile disputes. Its success rates remain high and continues to be above 85%.
The new Public Service Agreement 2024-2026 was agreed as a successor agreement to Building Momentum. This followed two months of intense negotiations between the government and the Public Sector Trade Unions/Associations at the WRC.
Mediations
The WRC pre-adjudication mediation service delivered a total of 894 mediations in 2024, which is a 14% increase compared to 2023.
Code of Practice
The Code of Practice on the Right to Request Remote and/or Flexible Working was published on 7 March 2024.
Outreach
WRC staff across all Divisions, attended over 60 outreach events involving a range of schools and colleges, enterprise bodies, business and employee representative bodies and state bodies. These events are a very useful and important method of engaging with the public to provide information on WRC services.
Digital Strategy
The new online complaint form provides greater flexibility and was made available to the public in September 2024. This complaint portal replaces the old technology of the previous application form which many found difficult to use and was inaccessible for many service users.
The report is available at the following link on the WRC website: Workplace Relations Commission Annual Report 2024 (PDF, 6.4MB)
