WRC Complaint Time Limit in Ireland — The 6-Month Deadline Explained

Of all the questions people have about bringing a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), the time limit is the one with the least room for error. Miss it, and in most cases your complaint cannot be heard at all — no matter how strong it is on the facts.

How the 6 months is counted

The clock starts on the date of the contravention itself — not the date you found out it was unlawful, not the date you got advice, and not the date you decided to act. For most disputes over pay, notice, or working time, this is the date the specific breach occurred. For dismissal, it is the date your employment ended.

Where a contravention is ongoing — for example, a pattern of unpaid overtime over several months — the time limit generally runs from the most recent instance, but earlier instances within a continuing course of conduct may still be considered. This is a nuanced area; if your situation involves an ongoing pattern rather than a single event, it's worth getting the date question right before you calculate your deadline.

The 12-month extension — and why it's hard to get

Section 41(8) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 allows the WRC to extend the time limit to a maximum of 12 months, but only "where the Director General is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint... within the period specified... was due to reasonable cause."

"Reasonable cause" is a legal test, and it has been interpreted narrowly and consistently across WRC decisions and the case law that shaped it (originating in Labour Court and EAT precedent on the equivalent test elsewhere in Irish employment law). In broad terms, what tends to be accepted involves a credible, evidenced explanation that is directly connected to why the complaint could not be brought in time — for example:

• Documented serious illness that genuinely prevented action
• Being actively and specifically misled by the employer about the process or the correct deadline
• A short, explained, and evidenced administrative or representational delay

What does not tend to succeed:

• Simply not knowing there was a deadline
• General inconvenience, being busy, or not prioritising it
• Waiting to see if the situation would resolve itself before complaining

A worked example

Why acting early matters beyond the deadline itself

Even within the 6-month window, earlier is better. Evidence is fresher, witnesses are easier to reach, and you give yourself time to get your submission right rather than rushing it in the final days before the deadline. A submission that clearly sets out the facts, the correct governing Act for each ground, and confirms it is within time gives the WRC everything it needs to accept your complaint without procedural back-and-forth.