A total of 5,145 inspection cases were completed by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2025 with more than €1.5m recovered in unpaid wages.
Of these cases 1,755 were found to have breaches of employment law.
In total these cases involved 5,596 individual workplace inspection visits which uncovered 6,571 specific violations of legislation.
The WRC annual report found most employers inspected are compliant or become compliant during the inspection process.
While it said employers who fail to become compliant may be subject to enforcement action, including prosecution.
According to the report there was a significant increase in the enforcement of employment legislation falling under the remit of the WRC last year.
223 prosecutions were conducted, of which 183 resulted in successful outcomes, giving rise to an 82% success rate.
This was up from 175 prosecution in 2024 which resulted in 141 successful outcomes and a 81% success rate.
It found overall, there was an increase of 27.5% in the number of prosecutions brought before the Courts by the WRC in 2025.
The WRC said it saw saw a substantial rise in complaint applications for adjudication in the WRC, with 44% increase in applications received, while specific complaints rose by 28% in the year.
Consequently, it said there was a 30% increase in the number of adjudication files created.
This growth in demand occurred against a backdrop of declining hearing throughput, reflecting ongoing capacity pressures within the system, according to the report.
The WRC’s Conciliation Service maintained an 85% success rate in resolving dispute, with over 700,000 workers involved d in the resolution of industrial relations disputes in both the public and private sectors.
The report noted that 64,648 callers were helped by the WRC’s Information and Customer Service staff providing information on employment, equality, or industrial relations matters.
While it also said there were over 4.7m page views of the WRC’s website in 2025, compared with 4.3m in 2024.
Following a review in early 2025 the WRC identified the need for a detailed business process review, for which a request for tender was issued in December 2025.
The Review also affirmed the WRC’s strategic direction, particularly in relation to the development of its three-year Digital Strategy and initiatives to strengthen workforce resilience and organisational culture.
Ms Audrey Cahill, Director General of the WRC, said the work of the WRC throughout last year impacted on the working lives of nearly three quarters of a million workers in Ireland and their employers.
“10 years after the establishment of the WRC, this report demonstrates that the policy objective to deliver a better service for employers and employees, and to deliver savings for the taxpayer, businesses and workers has been met,” she said.
Commenting on the WRC’s role in assisting in the resolution of discrimination complaints, both in and outside the workplace, she said the WRC has never been more relevant.
“As Ireland’s population continues to grow and become more diverse, the WRC is focused on ensuring that everyone can easily access justice,” said Ms Cahill.
“Over the next three years, one of our areas of focus will be both empowering people with knowledge and targeting education and outreach activities to support vulnerable groups in our society,” she said.
