{"id":387870,"date":"2026-04-08T09:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387870\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T09:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:45:09","slug":"i-was-injured-during-a-company-trip-and-no-longer-receive-a-salary-due-to-absence-what-rights-do-i-have-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387870\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was injured during a company trip and no longer receive a salary due to absence. What rights do I have?\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

I began working<\/a> for a company based outside Ireland several years ago while living abroad. I continue to work for this company from Ireland under an employer-of-record arrangement.<\/p>\n

Last year, I was invited, along with colleagues, to attend a company-organised trip to the company\u2019s main location in recognition of our work performance. The company arranged and funded all flights, accommodation, meals, transport and planned activities associated with the trip.<\/p>\n

During one of the organised group activities, I was involved in an accident and sustained injuries. These were diagnosed shortly after my return to Ireland, and I remain certified unfit for work and under ongoing medical care.<\/p>\n

My salary continued to be paid via my employer of record for a period following the incident, but this has ceased. I was informed this was due to the length of my absence. As a result, I am now unable to fund ongoing medical treatment.<\/p>\n

I have received conflicting information from both the company directing my day-to-day work and my employer of record, who is my legal employer in Ireland, with each referring me to the other. Navigating this situation has been extremely distressing.<\/p>\n

Would an accident occurring during a trip organised and funded by the company generally be considered to have arisen \u201cin the course of employment\u201d?<\/p>\n

Where an employer-of-record arrangement is in place, how is responsibility typically determined between the company directing the employee\u2019s day-to-day work and the legal employer in Ireland? Do I have any recourse in relation to the loss of income in this situation?<\/p>\n

Employer-of-record arrangements have seen a boost in popularity in Ireland in recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

However, they remain somewhat uncommon and, crucially, largely untested in the courts.<\/p>\n

The arrangement allows a foreign company to avail of Ireland\u2019s talent without setting up a legal entity here.<\/p>\n

In exchange for a fee, the employer of record, which is based in Ireland, becomes the worker\u2019s legal employer, handling all employer-related responsibilities such as contracts, payroll and HR, while the employee works for and is directed by the foreign company.<\/p>\n

Although it appears the employer of record and the foreign company are playing hardball with one another, responsibility for a workplace accident would typically be shared between the two, according to Damien McCarthy, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm HR Buddy.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018HR are adamant my three in-office days are required. Do I need to comply?\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

McCarthy, whose firm provides employer-of-record services, says the reader has been \u201cleft in the lurch\u201d and it is \u201cprofessionally substandard to have created this situation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The employer of record usually holds the primary legal and statutory liability as the official employer, he says, but the client company often holds direct responsibility for day-to-day safety, supervision and environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the client exercises a high level of control, they may be held responsible for negligence leading to an accident,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Noting the incident happened abroad, and was organised and paid for by the foreign company directly, he believes it is \u201cdoubtful that they even informed the employer of record of the event\u201d.<\/p>\n

McCarthy adds that employer-of-record agreements often include indemnities whereby the client company agrees to hold the employer of record harmless for accidents due to unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be interesting to know if this is a clause in the employee\u2019s employer of record agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy opinion and my argument would be that the client company deals with the matter as it is their responsibility and that the employer of record would facilitate that as the legal employer in Ireland,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Regarding the loss of income, McCarthy says the reader may be entitled to injury benefit or illness benefit if they have sufficient PRSI contributions.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018I worked \u2018cash in hand\u2019 for years. Will I qualify for the full State pension?\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Moira Grassick, chief operations officer at employment law and HR firm Peninsula Ireland, says employer-of-record arrangements remain somewhat unusual, though they are increasing in popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge that you have is that it hasn\u2019t really been tested in the courts on who would essentially be seen as the employer because it is pretty new to the Irish market,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

However, it is \u201cjust a matter of time\u201d before the issue is aired out in the courts, the Workplace Relations Commission or the Labour Court.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Grassick says the activity referenced by the reader would be considered an extension of the workplace.<\/p>\n

She advises the reader to deal directly with the employer set out in her contract of employment.<\/p>\n

Liability, including for lost wages and medical costs, could fall to a personal injury claim, which could test the issue at hand in terms of who is liable, and add to a dearth of case law on what might constitute the \u201creal employer\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you have work-related questions, from how to deal with burnout to running your own business, The Irish Times Work Q&A column is here to help. You can use the form below to submit your question. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details will be confidential and only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I began working for a company based outside Ireland several years ago while living abroad. I continue to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60,1962,143483],"class_list":{"0":"post-387870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-work","12":"tag-work-q-a"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}