Employment
CHANGES TO GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING SIGNED INTO LAW
The Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 have been signed into law. As expected, these Regulations bring into the scope of gender pay reporting for the first time employers with 50 or more employees (reduced from a threshold of 150 or more employees). Employers must now also report within five months (previously six months) of the snapshot date in June, bringing forward the reporting deadline from December to November each year.
For more information, see our Insights Blog post here: Changes to gender pay gap reporting signed into law
PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT ON REVISED EWC DIRECTIVE REACHED
On 21 May 2025, the European Council and European Parliament reached a long-anticipated provisional agreement to revise the European Works Councils Directive (Directive 2009/38/EC). This agreement marks a significant step towards the EU’s stated intention of strengthening the role of European Works Councils within multinational corporations operating across EU and EEA Member States. Building on the European Commission’s 2024 proposals and shaped by extensive negotiations, the revised framework, if passed into law, would introduce a number of substantial reforms designed to reinforce workers’ rights to information and consultation at the transnational level.
The provisional agreement must now be formally adopted by both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. Once adopted, Member States will be required to transpose the Directive into national law within two years of the publication of the revised Directive in the Official Journal. The new rules will apply one year after this.
AMENDMENTS TO LEGISLATION PROTECTING EMPLOYEES IN INSOLVENCY SITUATIONS
The Government published the General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Amendment Bill 2024. The General Scheme proposes amendments to the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act 1984, including in relation to the proposed Employer Deemed Insolvent Application, Historical Employer Deemed Insolvent Application and where an employer is insolvent because they enter into an insolvency arrangement within the meaning of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012.
REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING GENDER BALANCE ON BOARDS DIRECTIVE PUBLISHED
The European Union (Gender Balance on Boards of Certain Companies) Regulations 2025 transpose EU Directive 2022/2381 (the “Gender Balance” or “Women on Boards” Directive) into Irish law. The Regulations apply to “applicable listed companies” (large Irish incorporated companies listed on an EU regulated market) which are subject to the objective of having at least 40% of non-executive directors being members of the “underrepresented sex” by 30 June 2026.
For more information on the Regulations, please see our Insights Blog post here: New Board Gender Balance Objectives for Large EU Listed Companies