Annual Employment Law Update

In conjunction with the Midlands Region of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) , we recently hosted the 'Annual Employment Law Update' at a breakfast event on Thursday, 22nd of January 2026. This was the first event of 2026, with 6 more events to follow in Galway, Dublin City Centre, Sligo, Limerick, Cork and Dublin Citywestin the following months.

Mary Mullin, Associate Director, Collins McNicholas

Following a networking opportunity for attendees, there was an introduction from Emma Woods, Chairperson of the CIPD Midlands Committee, who then introduced Mary Mullin, Associate Director in Collins McNicholas and the key speakers Robin Hyde, Caitriona Montague and Éinde O’Donnell from business law first and employment law experts, Alastair Purdy LLP.

Mary Mullin welcomed all in attendance and provided a detailed overview of our Workforce Insights Research. The Employment Law Events have grown in capacity each year and are heavily attended by HR practitioners, general & plant managers, team leaders and supervisors from a range of sectors.

Alastair Purdy is recognised as one of Ireland’s leading employment law specialists, and through Alastair Purdy LLP, they advise a substantial number of both indigenous and multinational companies. Alastair Purdy LLP provide assistance to employers by managing a range of services, including employment, corporate, property and litigation in a practical and efficient manner.

Collins McNicholas, CIPD, Alastair Purdy LLP - Employment Law Event in the Midlands — Speakers from Alastair Purdy LLP; Robin Hyde - Partner, Caitriona Montague - Solicitor, Éinde O'Donnell - Partner

The Employment Law update focused on a number of key areas, including Employment trends for 2025, Legislation changes, WRC preparation and Case Law review. Robin Hyde began by providing a 2025 recap on the areas of remote working, gender pay gap reporting, DSARs and AI in the workplace. Caitriona then provided an update on legislation changes for 2026 and highlighted changes regarding minimal wages, sick pay, etc. Alongside this, she touched on big reforms employers cannot ignore, such as auto-enrolment, retirement, and pay transparency. Éinde then went into detail on steps to be taken when preparing for the WRC and discussed the key insights from the annual report. Following this, Robin provided a breakdown of protected disclosures and interim relief. He then finished out the morning with an outline of key cases that took place in 2025.

Attendees were provided with insights on how these changes in employment law would impact employers and were given advice on how they could be managed in a practical and efficient manner. The talk concluded with an interactive Q&A segment from the floor with many of the attendees’ asking questions to the three speakers on current Employment Law topics.