Paul Murphy Criticises WorkHuman Over Redundancies
Paul Murphy criticised the company WorkHuman for its handling of planned redundancies and alleged breaches of employment law. He said the tech firm is attempting to lay off 60 of its 600 staff in Ireland while paying large dividends to investors.
Allegations against WorkHuman
Murphy described the company's behaviour as disgraceful and inhumane, saying it issued redundancy notices during the statutory consultation period and was proceeding to dismiss 60 of 600 employees in Ireland.
Financial context
He noted WorkHuman is a so-called tech unicorn with a turnover of $1 billion a year and that last year the company issued $90 million in dividends to investors, partners and board directors.
Redundancy terms and legal costs
Murphy criticised the redundancy offer as relatively meagre — three months pay followed by only two weeks per year of service, which he said is below what other tech companies have offered. He also said the company refused to contribute €250 per employee toward legal fees incurred by staff during the process.
Legal concerns and follow-up
Murphy warned the company appears to be in breach of the Protection of Employment Act 1977, arguing it is an offence to issue redundancy notices during the 30-day consultation with employee representatives and that WorkHuman did so. He indicated he would alert the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the matter for further answers.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I want to raise the disgraceful behaviour of the company WorkHuman. It is a major so-called tech unicorn with a turnover of $1 billion a year. Last year it issued $90 million in dividends to investors, partners and board directors, and yet, perhaps ironically given its name, it is treating its workers in a very inhumane manner. It is attempting to lay off 60 of its 600 staff employed in Ireland. It is offering a relatively meagre redundancy package of three months pay and then only two weeks per year of service, below what has been offered at other tech companies. The company has refused to even contribute €250 per employee for the legal fees incurred by staff as part of the process. Perhaps worst, they appear to be in breach of the Protection of Employment Act 1977, which says it is an offence for an employer to issue notices of redundancy to any employees during the 30-day period of consultation with employee representatives when they did precisely that. The Deputy has mentioned a number of individual companies. I do not know enough about those individual companies to get into giving detailed answers. They do seem to be employment law matters and industrialization matters in the range. I do not see the information the deputies are looking for, but I will alert the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the fact that it was raised here, and perhaps he can come back with better answers.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
