EXPERTISE 

Edel advises employers in the public and private sector on all aspects of the employment relationship and with respect to equality law, in contentious and non-contentious matters. She handles a multitude of complex and commercially sensitive matters for both international and domestic employers, particularly in the retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, financial services and ICT sectors. Edel provides practical and commercially focused employment law advice to HR managers and in house counsel to help them navigate through complex and commercially sensitive employment law matters.

Edel has particular experience in assisting employers on the employment law aspects of setting up operations in Ireland, and provides advice on compliance with Irish employment legislation, which includes drafting contractual employment documentation and various employment policies. She also has significant experience advising on employment issues arising from internal investigations and processes, whistleblowing allegations, unfair dismissal claims, corporate restructurings and redundancies. She has been involved in many commercial transactions and has considerable experience of employment law issues arising in that context.

Edel has successfully represented employers before the civil courts and the Workplace Relations Commission and also negotiated a number of high profile exits of senior employees.

Recent Experience includes advising: 

• Edel is a trusted advisor to the HR specialists in an insurance company and supporting the HR team in relation to a wide range of employment matters to include internal investigations, disciplinaries, grievances and other processes, absence management, terminations and performance management processes. 
• A manufacturing company who entered into an asset purchase agreement. Edel provided advice on the obligations under the Irish transfer regulations, carried out a due diligence exercise, advised with respect to the transaction documents and heavily negotiated with the transferor’s lawyers throughout the process. 
• An IT company with respect to numerous claims that were lodged by an employee in the Workplace Relations Commission. The claims lodged were with respect to alleged breaches of working time legislation, record keeping obligations, unfair dismissal, penalisation, payment of wages and other employment law claims. Edel advised the client with respect to all their obligations under these various statutes, provided the client with a detailed risk analysis on each of the various claims and lead the matter to a successful resolution.
• Multiple clients on terminations which are either mutual, by way of redundancy or as a result of an employment process and has worked on some very high profile exits, redundancies and lay off’s which have increased significantly in the current economic climate. 
• Multiple start-up companies and FDI clients setting up in Ireland or expanding their global operations. This includes drafting employment contracts, consultancy agreements, policies, secondment agreements and handbooks.