Contracts that protect
Are your contracts actually protecting you, or quietly leaving you exposed?
Get ahead of the problem
WRC compliance that closes the gaps early
Most employment disputes don't come out of nowhere, the warning signs were there long before a WRC complaint landed in your inbox. The real question is: did you spot them in time? PurpleTree helps you get ahead of the problem. We review your contracts, policies, and employment practices to find the gaps before they become grievances, claims, or headlines.
Catch problems while they are still small.
Think of It as a Health Check for Your Business
A WRC compliance review is a health check for your business, the kind that costs a fraction of the claim it prevents. Most disputes do not arrive out of nowhere. The warning signs sit in an out-of-date contract, a policy that no longer matches the law, or a record that was never kept, long before a complaint reaches the Workplace Relations Commission.
We look at your employment practices the way an adjudicator or an inspector would, find the gaps, and help you close them. If a complaint has already been filed, that is a different job, handled by our WRC representation team.
Claim ready
Could an employee build a credible case against you right now?
Up to date
Are your policies current with Irish employment law as it stands today?
Nothing left unchecked across your operation.
What We Review
We carry out a thorough review of every part of your employment framework and identify the gaps that lead to WRC complaints, fines or reputational damage. We look at your business through the eyes of an inspector, so problems are found and fixed before anyone else finds them.
The review covers your employment contracts and statements of terms, your HR policies and handbook, the way disciplinary and grievance issues are handled, your working time and leave records, and how employee data is held.
Outdated contracts are one of the most common findings, and our guide to contract mistakes that lead to WRC claims sets out the ones that catch employers most often.
- Employment contracts and terms of employment compliance
- HR policies, procedures, and employee handbook review
- Disciplinary, grievance, and dismissal process audit
- Working time records and leave management practices
- GDPR and employee data handling compliance
Find the weak spots before anyone else.
Where Compliance Gaps Usually Hide
Most WRC complaints trace back to a handful of recurring failures, and each one is a routine obligation rather than an exotic point of law. These are the areas where a review most often finds something, and where closing the gap quietly removes a future claim. The detail behind several of them is set out in our employer guides to the Organisation of Working Time Act, the Payment of Wages Act and statutory sick leave.
Written terms out of date
Contracts that predate recent legislation, or were never issued within the five-day and one-month deadlines the law sets.
Working time records
Hours, rest breaks, annual leave and public holidays recorded poorly or not at all, the first thing an inspector asks to see.
Pay and deductions
Deductions made without a lawful basis, unpaid entitlements, or payslips that do not stand up under the Payment of Wages Act.
Sick leave and absence
Policies that have not kept pace with statutory sick pay or the rules on managing long-term absence fairly.
Disciplinary and grievance
Procedures that fall short of fair process, the single most common reason employers lose at the WRC.
Equality and data
Handbooks missing the dignity-at-work and GDPR obligations that apply from the very first employee.
Stay current as the rules shift.
Irish Employment Law Is Always Changing
New legislation, WRC and Labour Court decisions, and updated codes of practice mean what was compliant last year may not be this year. Statutory sick pay, the right to request remote and flexible working, gender pay gap reporting and tighter rules on written terms have all changed what an employer has to do in the last few years alone.
PurpleTree keeps you ahead of each change, updating your contracts, policies and practices so a new requirement does not catch you out. Larger employers should also factor in gender pay gap reporting and the broader move toward pay transparency, both of which are widening in scope.
- Continuous monitoring of legislation, with proactive updates to your documents
- Guidance on new codes of practice and significant WRC and Labour Court rulings
- Contract and policy updates aligned to the law as it stands today
- Practical advice you can actually act on, not a memo telling you to take legal advice
Kept right all year, not just once.
Compliance Is a Continuing Job, Not a One-Off
A single review fixes the gaps you have today. Staying compliant as the law shifts and your headcount grows is a continuing job, which is why most employers handle it through ongoing support rather than a one-off audit.
On an outsourced HR retainer, compliance review is built into your monthly cover: contracts and policies are kept current, advice is on hand before you act, and your records live on the HR:Duo platform so they are organised and ready if an inspector or an employee ever asks for them.
We are clear about what the retainer covers and what is scoped separately, and you can compare the levels on our pricing page.
- A standalone compliance review to fix the gaps you have now
- Ongoing review built into an outsourced HR retainer as the law changes
- Contracts, handbook and policies kept current year on year
- Records centralised on HR:Duo and ready for inspection at any time
Someone alongside you the whole year.
Your Compliance Partner
We are a Longford-based team advising Irish employers on Irish employment law and WRC practice, not a UK-headquartered franchise adapting generic guidance to Irish rules. A compliance partner who knows your business is worth more than a template you file and forget, because the gaps that matter are specific to how you actually employ people.
We give you a candid read on where you stand and tell you plainly what needs to change, even when that is something you would rather not hear.
If you want to get ready for a specific inspection, see our WRC inspection readiness service, and if a claim has already arrived, our WRC representation team takes it from there. Either way, it starts with knowing exactly where your business stands. Browse the full employment law scope or see how we price ongoing support.
- Deep, practical knowledge of Irish employment law and WRC procedure
- A dedicated consultant who knows your business and your people
- Proactive risk identification rather than reactive firefighting
Find the gaps before they find you
A clear compliance review tells you where your contracts, policies and records stand against current Irish law, and what to fix before an inspector or an employee does. For employers on an outsourced HR retainer, ongoing compliance review is part of your monthly support. See how we price HR support, then book a review with our Longford team.
Free 5-minute HR Health Check
See where your business stands before the WRC does
Answer 40 straightforward questions on contracts, working time, pay, leave and policies, and get a clear read on where your compliance gaps sit and what to fix first.
Common questions from employers
It means your contracts, policies, records and day-to-day employment practices line up with current Irish employment law, so an employee cannot build a complaint out of a gap and an inspector cannot find one. Most WRC complaints start with a routine obligation being missed rather than a deliberate breach, which is why a regular review of where you stand matters far more than reacting once a letter arrives.
Compliant contracts give every employee their core terms in writing within five days of starting and a full written statement within one month, and they reflect the entitlements that have changed in recent years, from sick pay to working time. If your contracts were drafted years ago, downloaded from a template, or adapted from a UK document, there is a strong chance they are now out of date. We review them against current law as part of a compliance check. See our employment contracts service.
At a minimum you must keep records that show compliance with working time, pay, leave and the right to work. Working time and pay records generally have to be retained for at least three years under Irish law, and an inspector can ask for them at short notice. The practical issue for most SMEs is not the rule but the system: paper or spreadsheet records are hard to produce on demand, which is why we set clients up on the HR:Duo platform to keep everything organised.
At least once a year, and whenever the law changes or your business does. Irish employment law moves regularly, and a contract or handbook that was compliant two years ago can be out of date today. A one-off review fixes the gaps you have now, while ongoing review through a retainer keeps them fixed as legislation and your headcount change.
Missing or outdated written terms of employment, handbooks that have not kept pace with the law, thin or missing working time and leave records, deductions made without a proper basis, and disciplinary or grievance procedures that do not follow fair process. Each of these is avoidable, and each is a frequent starting point for a WRC complaint. Our guide to the biggest HR challenges facing Irish SMEs covers the recurring ones.
They overlap, but they are not the same thing. A compliance review is the ongoing work of keeping your contracts, policies and practices aligned with the law so that you do not generate claims in the first place. Inspection readiness is the specific exercise of getting your records and premises ready for a WRC inspector who may call with little or no notice. If an inspection is your immediate concern, see our WRC inspection readiness service.
If an employee files a complaint, the WRC notifies you, sets a deadline for your written response, and schedules a hearing before an adjudication officer whose decision is legally binding. Strong contracts, current policies and complete records are what your defence is built on, which is why the compliance work done in advance is what protects you on the day. If a claim has already landed, see our WRC representation service.
We scope the review to your headcount, sector and the state of your existing documentation, and agree the fee with you in advance rather than billing open-ended hours. For employers on an outsourced HR retainer, ongoing compliance review is built into the monthly support rather than charged as an extra. See how we price HR support, then talk to us about your business.