WRC Harassment Claims: The Time Limits

The harshest fact in Irish harassment law has nothing to do with definitions or defences: it is that strong cases die on the calendar. The WRC limits are short, strictly applied, and — the recurring tragedy — not paused by the internal processes people engage in good faith. This page exists so the clock never surprises you.

The Rules

Six months from the most recent act of harassment or victimisation to present the WRC complaint; twelve months where reasonable cause for the delay is shown — a real but never-guaranteed extension whose realistic grounds (the effects of what happened, medical circumstances, being actively misled) explain and excuse rather than merely describe the delay. In continuing situations, connected acts can run as a continuum from the latest incident — but “connected” is legal analysis, not assumption, and victimisation is its own act with its own clock. Never self-calculate from the incident you remember best.

The Mistake That Loses Cases

The internal grievance does not stop the statutory clock — and grievance processes routinely outlast six months. The pattern repeats constantly: the complaint made in good faith, the investigation that stretches, the outcome that disappoints, and the WRC door discovered closed. The discipline that prevents it: map the clock the day you consider any process, run internal engagement in parallel awareness, and lodge in time where needed — lodging protects the claim without forcing the fight, and settlements happen after lodgment every week. The routes themselves, mapped without pressure: your options.

What the Limits Don’t Govern

The WRC clocks bind the employment claims only. Where the conduct was assault, the civil claim runs on years (with real extensions in abuse cases — that framework here), and the criminal route carries no limitation for serious sexual offences. A missed employment window narrows the map, never closes it — the parallel worlds are distinguished with care at workplace sexual assault. The one universal: whichever routes interest you, the clocks get mapped first — it is the cheapest insurance in this field, and it commits you to nothing.