Minister English officially opens the new WRC Southern Region Office

The Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English, today officially opened the new Cork Southern Region office of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Speaking at the event, Minister English said:

"The Workplace Relations Commission plays a vital role in delivering fair and compliant workplaces and the non-discriminatory delivery of services for our people across the country. I am proud of the work carried out by the WRC and I am delighted that this new office can offer the full range of services to the people from across the Southern Region. I know that the WRC is keen to ensure accessibility of its services and the location of this office in Cork city centre certainly makes services more within reach for those who may have had to travel long distances or engage remotely."

The WRC has five regional offices, Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Ennis and Sligo and its mission is to deliver a quality customer service throughout Ireland, which is speedy, user-friendly, independent, effective, impartial and cost-effective. The WRC provides various means of dispute resolution, redress and effective enforcement, and improves workplace relations, all of which are delivered fee free.

The Director General, Liam Kelly said:

"I am delighted that we have a centrally located and accessible office in Cork city. It is the final piece of the jigsaw in establishing a fully functioning office in each region - where our users can experience the same range and quality of service as they would receive in any of our offices."

The Chairperson of the Board, Dr David Begg said:

"In a small open economy the quality of its institutions can be a source of stability and comparative advantage. As a key labour market institution, the WRC is constantly seeking to improve our services and this new Cork office will help to make the WRC more conveniently accessible to our stakeholders in the Region."

Notes

Workplace Relations Commission

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) 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 in relation to the application of, and compliance with, relevant legislation
provide information to the public in relation to employment legislation (other than the Employment Equality Act)[1]

The WRC has five regional offices; Dublin, Carlow, Cork, Ennis and Sligo and has a staffing complement of just over 200 civil servants and the work is supplemented by a further 44 Adjudication Officers who are contracted to assist Adjudication Service on a case-by-case basis. The organisation plays a vital role in Irish society and the economy generally.

The mission of the WRC is to deliver a quality customer service throughout Ireland, which is speedy, user-friendly, independent, effective, impartial and cost-effective. The WRC provides various means of dispute resolution, redress and effective enforcement, and improves workplace relations, all of which are delivered fee free.

By the end of September 2022, the WRC has seen:

almost 50,000 calls dealt with by the Information and Customer Service Unit
approx 5,050 complaint applications received for Adjudication which encompasses over 10,000 individual complaints
over 3,060 Adjudication in-person and virtual hearings held
almost 2,800 inspections carried out
€977,000 recovered in unpaid wages and entitlements
almost 800 conciliation and facilitation meetings to date with resolution rates at conciliation at over 80%
Mediation Services has engaged with parties in almost 2,000 cases
over 563,000 visits to the WRC website
various outreach programmes developed using social media and the website to raise awareness around employment rights generally and in specific sectors

[1] EEA information provided by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

Minister English officially opens the new WRC Southern Region Office

Notes

Workplace Relations Commission

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