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Expertise

Geraldine is a partner in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group. She provides strategic, practical and commercially focussed advice to international and domestic clients on all aspects of employment law. Her practice spans a variety of sectors, including technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals.

Geraldine has extensive experience advising in relation to the management of employees on a day to day basis, including the drafting and implementation of contractual documentation and employment policies and procedures, as well as guiding employers through crisis management issues in the context of workplace investigations, misconduct allegations, grievances, bullying, harassment, and performance management procedures.

Geraldine has particular expertise in advising clients on senior executive appointments and terminations, particularly in regulated industries, as well as case managing employment injunctions and defending claims before the Workplace Relations Commission, the Circuit Court and the High Court.

She provides pragmatic advice on the employment law aspects of corporate restructurings, outsourcings, and individual and collective redundancy situations.

Geraldine worked with Matheson’s US client base from the firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices for six months in 2017 / 18.  As a result, Geraldine has a deep understanding of the key distinctions between employment law in Ireland as compared with other jurisdictions.

She frequently provides bespoke employment law workshops to clients. She is a regular speaker at conferences and a tutor at the Law Society’s professional practice course for trainee solicitors. She also regularly publishes articles on employment law matters. Topics on which she has recently written and spoken on include: “Fair Procedures and the Right to Cross Examination during Workplace Investigations”, “US Employers in Ireland: Key Distinctions Between the Employment Law Landscape in the US and Ireland”, “Recent Developments in Employment Injunctions”, “Common Pitfalls and Developing Trends in Employment Law in Ireland’, “Important Ruling Extends the WRC’s Powers to Disregard National Law that is Contrary to EU Law”, and various articles on Ireland’s workplace relations system.

Geraldine is an active committee member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland (ELAI) and the Law Society of Ireland’s Employment and Equality Law Committee. She is also an active member of the American Bar Association’s International Labor and Employment Law section and the European Employment Law Association of Ireland.  Geraldine originally qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser.

Experience Highlights
  • Strategic advice to a financial institution in relation to a restructuring of its senior leadership team in Ireland, having regard to complex financial regulatory issues.
  • Representing a financial institution in relation to a creditor business on the successful defence of multiple related claims before the Labour Court under the transfer of undertakings legislation, resulting in a highly publicised decision clarifying the law in favour of transferor employers in Ireland.
  • Advising an international manufacturing corporation on highly sensitive employment and industrial relations issues in relation to a restructuring of its workforce and the implementation of collective redundancies.
  • Advising a leading financial services provider on establishing operations in Ireland as part of its post-Brexit strategy from an employment law perspective, including advice in relation to the application of the cross border merger regulations,  relocation of employees, restructuring of its senior management team and complex issues arising under the transfer of undertakings regulations.
  • Advising employers on gender pay gap audits and preparations for proposed mandatory gender pay gap reporting obligations in Ireland.
  • Advising a technology company in relation to the successful resolution of discrimination and victimisation claims.
  • Representing clients on the defence of claims before the employment fora regarding the misclassification of workers and atypical working arrangements.
  • Advising numerous international companies on the establishment of operations in Ireland, including advice on employee compensation and benefits, immigration issues, compliance and ongoing management issues.
  • Advising on a number of high value private equity investments and acquisitions from an employment law perspective, including advising a leading financial institution on employment issues arising in the context of an acquisition, which involved the negotiation of detailed employment indemnities and warranties.
Accolades

“Bryan Dunne and Geraldine Carr have provided informative, timely updates on navigating the pitfalls/challenges presented by the pandemic in the workplace. These updates have supported me in enabling the business to respond to these challenges in an informed and agile way.”
The Legal 500 2022

"She is just fantastic, practical, and a proactive lawyer."
Chambers Europe 2022

"Geraldine Carr is exceptional. She is so responsive and has been a great resource to our legal and people operations team as we have grown in EMEA over the last year".
The Legal 500 2021 

Geraldine Carr "gives me the confidence that when we are dealing with an employment issue we will be able to work through it and will incur limited risk".
Chambers Europe 2021 

Geraldine Carr is recommended.
European Legal 500 2020

Geraldine Carr is named a next generation partner.
European Legal 500 2020

Geraldine Carr is "first class".
European Legal 500 2020

Geraldine is "very highly regarded by clients for her very pleasant manner" .
Chambers Europe 2020

Geraldine Carr is "very experienced".
European Legal 500 2019

Geraldine Carr is recommended.
European Legal 500 2019

Geraldine Carr is "technically strong, commercial and highly personable".
Chambers Europe 2019

Geraldine Carr has "very strong judgment and also strong negotiation skills when dealing with opposing counsel on our behalf."
Chambers Europe 2019

Geraldine Carr is recommended.
European Legal 500 2018

Education

University of Limerick (Bachelor of Arts in Law and Accounting)

University College Cork (Master of Laws, LL.M)

Admitted as a solicitor in Ireland

Law Society of Ireland (Diploma in Employment Law)

Irish Taxation Institute (Chartered Tax Adviser qualification)

Matheson COVID-19 Employer Return-to-Work Survey Results

Sep 8, 2020, 21:33 PM
As businesses turn their attention to reopening their workplaces, we asked 250 in-house counsel and HR professionals who participated in our recent COVID-19: Returning to the Workplace webinar for their perspectives on the reopening of their organisations.
Title : Matheson COVID-19 Employer Return-to-Work Survey Results
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Insight Type : Article
Insight Date : Jun 5, 2020, 12:10 PM
As businesses turn their attention to reopening their workplaces, we asked 250 in-house counsel and HR professionals who participated in our recent COVID-19: Returning to the Workplace webinar for their perspectives on the reopening of their organisations.  Participants came from a wide range of businesses in Ireland across various industries.

In our webinar, we considered the various measures set out in the Return to Work Safely Protocol published by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation on 8 May 2020 and the extensive employment law, health and safety and data privacy issues for organisations to take note of.  The results indicate a cautious approach is being taken by organisations in reopening their workplaces. 

The majority of respondents (62%) believe that less than 50% of their workforce will be back in the workplace by October 2020, indicating that for those workplaces where employees can work from home, many employees will be continuing to do so for the next number of months. Only 38% of respondents believe that more than 50% of their workforce will be back in the workplace by October 2020.

The response is in line with the Roadmap to Reopening Business and Society (the “Roadmap”), published by the Irish government on 1 May 2020.  While the Roadmap is subject to review, it gives us a sense, for now, of what the timetable for reopening workplaces will look like if all goes according to plan. Up until phase 5 (currently scheduled for 10 August 2020), organisations are required to maintain remote working for all employees and workers that are in a position to do so. Even in phase 5, the government’s summary of the Roadmap provides for continued remote working for all that can do so. Indeed, many large technology companies have announced that they have extended their work from home policies until 2021.

52% of respondents confirmed that their organisations do intend to carry out temperature testing of employees when employees return to the workplace.  The current advice on temperature testing set out in the Return to Work Safely Protocol (the “Protocol”), published on 8 May 2020, is that employers must implement temperature testing “in line with public health advice”.  Mandatory temperature testing in workplaces is not part of the public health advice issued by the Health Service Executive (“HSE”) in Ireland at this time, with the exception of certain healthcare settings. That is not to say employers cannot implement temperature testing of employees as part of their health and safety protocols. However, before doing so, employers should carefully consider the associated data privacy and employment law issues.

While the vast majority of respondents (80%) said that they do not intend to carry out other forms of COVID-19 testing of employees when employees return to the workplace, 20% of respondents said that they do plan to carry out such testing.  COVID-19 testing will involve a novel type of processing of sensitive employee health data for most organisations and it can present a myriad of issues and associated risks for employers.  Employers must be able to identify a legal basis under Article 6 of the GDPR, and an exemption under Article 9 of the GDPR in order to legally carry out such processing. A data protection impact assessment should be carried out in advance of any such testing to review the probable risks to employees’ data privacy rights and the safeguards in place to mitigate these risks.

Visit our COVID-19 Insights Centre page for further legal updates and insights regarding COVID-19.

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