Dismissed for gross misconduct in Ireland: your rights and next steps

You have 6 months from the date of dismissal to lodge an unfair dismissal complaint with the WRC; an adjudication officer can extend this to 12 months only where the delay was due to reasonable cause (s. 8(2) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977). Where you were dismissed without notice, the "date of dismissal" under section 1 of the 1977 Act is the date on which the notice due under your contract or the 1973 Act would have expired. That can add between one and eight weeks (more if your contract gives longer notice) and may carry you over the 12-month service threshold. Separate claims for minimum notice, unpaid wages and holiday pay must also be presented within 6 months of each contravention under section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. An appeal from the adjudication officer to the Labour Court must be lodged within 42 days of the decision.

1. Do not resign, and get the decision in writing. If you are called into a meeting and told you are dismissed for gross misconduct, listen, take notes of who said what, and do not sign anything presented to you there and then. Ask for a letter confirming the decision, the date it takes effect and the reasons. Under section 14(4) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 the employer must, if you ask, give you written particulars of the principal grounds for dismissal within 14 days of the request, so send that request by email the same day. Resist any suggestion that you resign "to keep your record clean". A resignation turns the case into a constructive dismissal claim, where you carry the burden of proof instead of the employer.
2. If you are suspended pending an investigation, use the time well. The Code of Practice (S.I. No. 146 of 2000, para. 4.12) envisages suspension on full pay while an alleged breach of discipline is investigated. A precautionary suspension is a holding measure, not a finding against you. Check your contract: unless it clearly allows unpaid suspension, stopping your pay may be an unlawful deduction under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 (see our guide to unpaid wages). While suspended, write your own account of the events while they are fresh, list potential witnesses, and keep copies of messages and rosters you are entitled to hold. Do not download confidential company files or contact witnesses to influence them; either can become a fresh disciplinary charge.
3. Ask for the procedure and the evidence. Section 14(1) of the 1977 Act required your employer to give you, within 28 days of starting, a written statement of the procedure it will follow before dismissing you. Ask for that procedure, the staff handbook, the terms of reference of any investigation, the investigation report, witness statements, CCTV and meeting notes. Paragraphs 4.6 and 4.7 of the Code say the details of the allegations must be put to you, you must have the chance to respond fully, and fairness may require the allegations in writing, the source identified and an opportunity to question witnesses. A subject access request under the GDPR is a useful parallel route; the employer must normally answer within one month.
4. Prepare for the disciplinary hearing. Bring a representative: the Code defines an employee representative as a colleague of your choice or a registered trade union (para. 4.4). Legal representation at an internal hearing is permitted only in exceptional cases, so ask in writing and give reasons if the allegations are complex or could lead to criminal charges. Answer each allegation in turn and raise anything that bears on the sanction: length of service, clean record, provocation, health problems, unclear rules, and how colleagues who did the same thing were treated. Ask that the person who investigated is not also the person who decides. If you are on certified sick leave, ask in writing for a postponement with a medical certificate, but do not simply refuse to engage.
5. Use the internal appeal. Paragraph 4.1 of the Code treats an internal appeal mechanism as an essential element of any fair procedure. Lodge your appeal in writing within the time set by the employer's procedure, which is often five or ten working days, and set out clear grounds: procedural flaws, evidence you never saw, a predetermined outcome, inconsistency with how others were treated, or a sanction out of proportion to what was proved. Ask that the appeal be heard by someone senior who had no part in the decision. Not appealing does not bar a WRC claim, but adjudication officers often regard a failure to use an available appeal as weakening the employee's case on procedure.
6. Collect what is still owed to you. A gross misconduct finding does not cancel pay already earned. You are entitled to wages up to your last day, any contractual bonus or commission already accrued, and compensation for untaken annual leave and public holidays under section 23 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (see our guide to annual leave and public holidays). Minimum notice is different: if the misconduct is established, section 8 of the 1973 Act lets the employer end the contract without notice; if it is not, you are owed notice under section 4 of that Act, which runs from one week (13 weeks to 2 years' service) to eight weeks (15 years or more). Apply for Jobseeker's Benefit or Allowance immediately.
7. Lodge your WRC complaint. Complaints are made online through the WRC's single complaint form at workplacerelations.ie. Select the complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Acts and add, as separate complaints on the same form, any claim under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973, the Payment of Wages Act 1991 or the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. There is no fee. Give the employer's correct legal name, your dates of employment, pay, date of dismissal, and a short statement of why the dismissal was unfair: no proper investigation, evidence withheld, no representation, predetermined outcome, or a sanction out of proportion to the conduct. You generally need 12 months' continuous service (s. 2 of the 1977 Act), unless the dismissal falls into an automatically unfair category such as pregnancy or a protected disclosure.
8. Prepare for the hearing and know what is at stake. Because section 6(6) puts the burden on the employer, its witnesses usually give evidence first. The adjudication officer does not decide whether you were guilty as a criminal court would. The questions are whether the employer genuinely believed, on reasonable grounds and after a fair investigation, that the misconduct occurred, and whether dismissal was a proportionate response (s. 6(7)(a)). Hearings are generally in public (s. 8(6)). Redress under section 7 is reinstatement, re-engagement or compensation of up to 104 weeks' remuneration for proven financial loss (4 weeks if you had none), reduced to reflect your own contribution to the dismissal and any failure to look for work. Either side may appeal to the Labour Court within 42 days.

• Resigning during the disciplinary process, or accepting an offer to "resign instead of being dismissed", usually leaves you with a constructive dismissal claim that is much harder to win, because the burden of proof shifts to you.
• Refusing to attend investigation or disciplinary meetings can itself be treated as misconduct. In Nowak ([2026] IEHC 382) the employee was dismissed with immediate effect for, among other things, failing to attend a disciplinary hearing and a meeting with HR.
• Your own conduct reduces compensation even where the procedure was flawed. Section 7(2)(f) of the 1977 Act requires the adjudication officer to have regard to the extent to which your conduct contributed to the dismissal, and awards in gross misconduct cases are often cut substantially on that basis.
• Signing a settlement agreement or waiver at the exit meeting will usually end your statutory claims. Take the document away and get independent advice before signing anything, however attractive the ex gratia sum appears.
• Missing the 6-month limit is fatal unless you can show reasonable cause, and waiting for the internal appeal to finish is not normally accepted as reasonable cause. Lodge the WRC complaint in time even if the appeal is still running.
• If the same facts are under investigation by An Garda Síochána, anything you say in the disciplinary process may be relevant to the criminal case. Take legal advice before giving a detailed written statement.
• Pursuing a wrongful dismissal action in court and an unfair dismissal claim at the WRC for the same dismissal is not possible: under section 15 of the 1977 Act a WRC decision bars the court action, and once a court hearing begins you lose the statutory claim.

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Last updated: 04/11/2026 · Sources: Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, s. 6 – unfair dismissal, conduct (s. 6(4)(b)), burden of proof and reasonableness (s. 6(6), s. 6(7)), Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 (s. 4 – minimum notice, s. 8 – termination without notice for misconduct), S.I. No. 146/2000 – Industrial Relations Act 1990 (Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures) (Declaration) Order 2000, Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, s. 14 – written dismissal procedure and written grounds for dismissal, irishstatutebook.ie, EUR-Lex

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