The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has published its strategy statement Fair and Compliant Workplaces and Equal Treatment in Services 2019 to 2022, with improved targets on timelines for dealing with cases.

Pat Breen (Junior Minister at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation) said that the WRC played an “important role” in Irish society and across the Irish economy.

Targets

The minister (pictured) said that the WRC’s challenging targets to improve efficiency, alongside a clear implementation agenda, will build on its successes to date

Chair Dr Paul Duffy said that, since its inception in October 2015, the WRC had dealt with almost 6,500 collective disputes, mediated on 2,500 individual matters, carried out 16,000 inspections, recovered almost €7 million in unpaid wages – all largely without the need for prosecution.

Since its establishment, the WRC has fielded 200,000 calls.

Adjudication

In terms of adjudication, it has received just over 45,000 complaints, and virtually cleared its legacy backlog of 4,000 complaints over the same period, with most cases decided within six months.

The average time in getting a hearing is less than five months, while the average time from receiving a complaint to issuing a decision is less than nine months.