Workplace Relations Commission publishes 2024 Annual Report
- Published on: 29 April 2025
- Last updated on: 29 April 2025
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."
Minister Burke added:
"The WRC continues to play a critical role in ensuring that employment rights are upheld for all, recovering over €2 million in unpaid wages on foot of 5,156 inspections completed during 2024. The WRC plays a leading role in contributing to the harmonious industrial relations climate we enjoy, with data for conciliation services showing an 85% success rate.
"Strong and well-functioning industrial relations institutions are an important and very valued element of our economy, supporting and promoting fair wages, particularly in low paid sectors. Collectively bargained agreements also play a positive role in increasing productivity for businesses."
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."
Dr David Begg, Chairperson of the Board of the WRC commented:
"The WRC continued to perform strongly in 2024, and its Annual Report for the year demonstrates the effectiveness of the WRC across the entire range of services it provides.
"Our aim is to continuously improve our offering to our stakeholders, and we are very grateful for the trust and confidence they repose in us."
Audrey Cahill, Director General of the WRC, said:
"The Annual Report 2024 offers a reflective overview of the year, highlighting our key achievements and milestones throughout 2024. It also provides a glimpse into the strategic planning currently underway, which is designed to propel the organisation forward and ensure the effective delivery of our vision—all while meeting the statutory obligations set out in our purpose.
"We remain responsive to the evolving demands placed on our services across all divisions. By closely monitoring socioeconomic trends and the ongoing expansion of employment rights, we continue to adapt and align our efforts to meet the changing needs of those we serve."
Ms Cahill concluded by thanking the Minister, our parent department, the Workplace Regulation and Economic Migration (WREM) Division and all WRC stakeholders for their support throughout the year.
An infographic from the report summarising the WRC’s key performance indicators in 2024, is included below, indicating:
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)
Notes
Workplace Relations Commission
The Workplace Relations Commission was established on 1 October 2015.
The main functions of the WRC are to:
- promote the improvement of workplace relations and the maintenance of good workplace relations
- promote and encourage compliance with relevant employment legislation
- provide guidance in relation to compliance with Codes of Practice
- conduct reviews of, and monitor developments in, workplace relations generally
- conduct or commission relevant research and provide advice, information and the findings of research to Joint Labour Committees and Joint Industrial Councils
- advise the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the application of, and compliance with, relevant legislation
- provide information to the public in relation to employment legislation, (other than the Employment Equality Act)
With a wide workforce of just over 235 staff, supplemented by 36 external adjudicators, and with offices in Dublin, Carlow, Cork, Ennis and Sligo, the WRC’s mission is to deliver high-quality service nationally, free of charge, which is:
- speedy, user-friendly, independent, effective, impartial, and cost-effective
- provides variable means of dispute resolution, redress, and effective enforcement, and improves workplace relations generally
- improves workplace relations generally
