Foreign Employer - am I governed by Irish law?

FiveFingers

Hi,

My Terms of Employment states that my Employer is XXX Inc, with their Canadian address. I'm Irish, I work in Ireland, I get paid in Euros, I pay Irish taxes, etc. My employer is telling me that because my Terms of Employment states that my employer is Canadian that I am governed by Canadian law in matters concerning redundancy/termination of employment. Is this correct? Surely I'm governed by Irish law? (They are trying everything to get out of paying me redundancy after over 5 years of employment.)

Thanks
FiveFingers

duploelabs

Absolutely not, you're governed by Irish employment law. Speak to NERA

Stheno

As you were advised in your last thread you need to seek legal advice

racso1975

Nope. Sure if that was the case there would be employment rights bedlam. Every company would register in North Korea.

You are protected under Irish employment laws

Check out https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/

Jawgap

Nope - if you're place of employment is here then you are covered by Irish employment law.

Even if you're contract states your place of employment is somewhere in Canada, your circumstances, rather than the contract, will determine where your place of employment actually is.

So, unless you're spending a good proportion of your time in Canada and only coming over here for occasional periods, you are covered by Irish employment law and practices.

FiveFingers

Thanks a lot folks! I did seek legal advice but it looks like I now need to follow up with a solicitor's letter.

Thanks again
FiveFingers

Speedwell

We just went over this in a thread I participated in. I work at home in Ireland as the sole employee of the wholly-owned Irish subsidiary of my employer, a small IT firm in London. They did the proper thing and registered in Ireland to employ me because I am an American and do not have the proper visa to work in the UK. If they had neglected to register as an Irish business and attempted to employ me anyway as a UK employee in Ireland, I would have fallen foul of UK immigration rules, even if I never set foot in the UK.

If Canadian law is similar to US and UK law with which I am familiar, and you are not a Canadian citizen, there were procedures that your employer had to go through before employing you in Canada, such as proving to the satisfaction of the government that no Canadian citizen was available to do the work (except for exempt jobs), applying for any applicable work permits or visas, and essentially making sure you were eligible from an immigration standpoint to be a Canadian employee in Canada. Did they do this? If not, and they insist on you being employed directly under Canadian law, they are in danger of bringing trouble down on themselves. If you went to Canada only as a "business visitor", for short trips, you're not in trouble (the UK rules are much stricter for non-EU people like me). And as Jawgap says, the circumstances of your employment make your case for you.

Definitely rely on a solicitor for this, but I think the facts are likely to be on your side.

FiveFingers

Thanks Speedwell. I was employed to work in Ireland, there was never a requirement for me to go to Canada. This is very useful information, thank you!