How to enforce a decision made by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or Labour Court
Attending court

1 - About this application

This application can be applied for when an employer fails to carry out a decision of an Adjudication Officer of the WRC or a decision of the Labour Court arising from an appeal of an Adjudication Officer's decision.

You can make an application if you wish to enforce a decision made by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or the Labour Court where either party has not taken the action as specified in the decision. This is called an Enforcement Order. 

WRC decisions become binding if not appealed within forty two days and WRC decisions can be enforced through the District Court if they have not been implemented within fifty six days.

The application must be made in the District Court district where the employer resides or carries on business. 

Who can help

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) or the Labour Court can assist you process.

The application can be made by the following:

• The employee or claimant or their legal representative.
• A trade union, with consent of employee.
• An excepted body of which the employee or complainant is a member. 

Enforcement cases can be complicated. You should consider getting legal advice to better understand the options available to you.

2 - How to make your application

You can download your application form Form No. 40C.01 Notice of Statutory Application or contact your localcourt office and they can send a application form to you by post. The person making the application it the claimant and the person you are making the application against is the respondent .

You will need to include the following information to complete your application:

• District Court number and area please see our map, this can be found here:
• A record number which will be inserted by the court office,
• Enter the enactment which is the section of the legislation that is relevant to your application - Section 43 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015,
• Your full name and address,
• the respondent's full name and address,
• the date and time of court which the court office will give you,
• details of what you are asking the judge to do,
• list of documents you intend to rely on or use in court, including the decision of the WRC or Labour court and attach copies also
• the address of the court office where you filed your application

You or your solicitor will be required to complete an affidavit. You can see a template of this here: 

You must pay the appropriate court fee for your application The fee for this application is €80. This civil application fee can be paid at your local court office or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex. You can pay these fees by card or cash. The office will check your application, give it a record number and they will return the form to you.

You will need three copies of the stamped application:

• The original for the court office
• A copy to be served upon the respondent
• A copy for yourself

3 - Serving and submitting your appeal

Serving your application

You must then send a copy of your application to the respondent - The Chief Superintendent of an Garda Síochana from your district. This is called serving the application Please see our serving and proof of service page for more information.

The Respondent must be notified at least fourteen days prior to the court date by registered post. Your post office will give you a certificate of postage. You should retain a copy of this for your records.

Submitting your application

A copy of the stamped application with the declaration of service attached must be lodged in your local District Court office at least seven days prior to the court date.

Please see our preparing for civil court pages for more information on what to expect in court.

Read more about preparing for court >