Breda O'Malley - Partner
Breda practises in Employment law and leads the Employment Law team at Hayes solicitors. She advises both employers and employees on all aspects of the employment relationship. Breda adopts a commercially pragmatic approach to dispute issues, avoiding litigation for her clients where appropriate, and using her skills as an accredited commercial mediator.
Breda is a prominent adviser in the area of the Transfer Regulations (TUPE), where she has advised employers outsourcing and changing service providers. Her previous legal practice in commercial law work strongly influences her pragmatic business focused approach to the clients she advises. Breda acts for a broad spectrum of clients from multinational corporations, large public entities and European Works Councils to indigenous Irish businesses, charities and private clients on the employer side. She also acts for C-suite executives in PLCs and multinationals.
Repeatedly, she is praised by clients for ‘digging deep’ on their behalf, and going the extra mile. A Partner in a large law firm whose client engaged Breda as a mediator has described Breda as ‘sensational’, gave her top marks and highly recommended Breda to his legal team for future mediations.
Breda regularly features on Irish national public broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1 to provide insights on a range of employment law issues:
Expertise
Breda practises in Employment law and leads the Employment Law team at Hayes solicitors. She advises both employers and employees on all aspects of the employment relationship. Breda adopts a commercially pragmatic approach to dispute issues, avoiding litigation for her clients where appropriate, and using her skills as an accredited commercial mediator.
Breda is a prominent adviser in the area of the Transfer Regulations (TUPE), where she has advised employers outsourcing and changing service providers. Her previous legal practice in commercial law work strongly influences her pragmatic business focused approach to the clients she advises. Breda acts for a broad spectrum of clients from multinational corporations and large public entities to indigenous Irish businesses, charities and private clients on the employer side. She also acts for C-suite executives in PLCs and multinationals.
Repeatedly, she is praised by clients for ‘digging deep’ on their behalf, and going the extra mile. A Partner in a large law firm whose client engaged Breda as a mediator has described Breda as ‘sensational’, gave her top marks and highly recommended Breda to his legal team for future mediations.
Breda regularly features on Irish national public broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1 to provide insights on a range of employment law issues:
- Employment Law challenges and the Return to Office - link
- Where are the rights for the vaccinated?’ - HR Advice for a Listener - link
- Employer & Office Problems - Expert Advice - link
- Close Contact & Isolation Rules to Change - link
- Back to the office protocol - link
Experience
- Mediation – Breda is an accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and has been a Council member of the Irish Commercial Mediation Association for several years and continues to be a passionate ambassador for matters mediation-concerned. She has participated in mediations both prior to litigation, and during the course of litigation, involving several parties including employers/employees, insurers, public bodies, charities and multinational corporations, concerning commercial, boardroom, charity trustee and shareholder disputes. For more information, please click here.
- Providing best practice executive and employment contracts of employment, and employment related policy documents.
- Providing an emergency “help desk” type support to clients, to deal with crisis issues that arise on a day to day basis in a business, where Breda and her team bring a pragmatic, commercial solution based approach to our clients.
- Guiding employers through collective industrial relations and employee relations issues and challenges that arise.
- Litigation - Representing employers at the Workplace Relations Commission, Labour Court, Circuit Court and High Court, in relation to employment litigation.
- Outsourcing – Breda advises on a range of issues involved in outsourcing, contractual arrangements, TUPE, exit management and other business considerations.
- Key staff – Breda advises on a range of issues affecting the employment relationship between employers and their key staff, including enforcement of restrictive covenants, share option arrangements and partnership issues.
- Partnership law - Breda frequently advises shareholders and business partners as they invest in, develop, or extricate themselves from their business relationships. She has applied her skills in partnership law in many sectors including legal, accountancy, medical, dental and architectural practices.
- Breda provided a workshop to the senior management team in nursing home chains, on employment and regulatory issues relevant to the care sector.
- Freedom of Information and Data Protection – Breda has experience in the area of Freedom of Information and Data Protection so as to enable clients to rely on specific limitations and exemptions where strategically appropriate.
Qualifications/Education
- Bachelor of Laws Degree, Trinity College Dublin
- Professional qualification as a solicitor, Law Society of Ireland, 1996
- Accredited Mediator, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London
- Diploma in Corporate Governance and Commercial Law, Law Society of Ireland,
- Certificate in Commercial Contracts, Law Society of Ireland
- Master Class in Law Firm Management, Outsource
- Certificate in Data Protection Law and Practice, Law Society of Ireland, 2016
- Advanced Leadership Course, Timoney Leadership Institute, 2018
Memberships
- Law Society of Ireland Employment and Equality Committee
- Timoney Leadership Institute
- Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (Mediation), Irish Commercial Mediation Association
- Mediators Institute of Ireland
- Law Society of Ireland
- Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
- One Resolve Mediators Panel
- European Employment Lawyers Association
Other
Breda regularly gives workshops and seminars to professional and trade associations and client organisations on employment and commercial law issues. Her public presentations include:
- Shared Services in the Irish Public Service – presentation on legal issues at a major Public Affairs Ireland event
- Understanding Transfer Regulations in Ireland - to senior HR and legal practitioners, a joint presentation with Professor John McMullen from the UK
- Working Time Directive Regulations - presentation at the annual delegate conference of the Freight Transport Association, Ireland on the legal topics of working time regulations for transport workers and agency workers
- A presentation to NAMA on employment issues in an insolvency/debt restructuring context
- A workshop to the Irish Midlands Solicitors and Bar Association on mediation
Breda has also recently been appointed as a supervisor for a Law Society researching on its LLM Employment Law in Practice
Testimonials
"She always provides clear and incisive advice."
"Extremely experienced and emotionally intelligent in dealing with clients"
"Breda has outstanding knowledge of our organisation and applies this to her employment law knowledge. Breda can disseminate complex matters very clearly and applies a practical approach in doing so. This is so important in the nature of our work when dealing with complex employee relations issues. She is highly responsive and this again is important to us as often times we have very little turnaround time on employee relations matters and we need to act fast. Breda’s straightforward and practical approach also puts you at ease when dealing with complex matters. I would highly recommend Breda."
"Common-sense approach and good commercial understanding."
Breda O'Malley offers “no-nonsense advice"
Breda O’Malley is very practical. You can tell that she has synthesised the personal issue, the legal analysis and strategy to provide advice that you can action. She sees the relationship, rather than seeing the person in a transactional manner. Other employment lawyers I know are fixated with the deal or their win. For this reason, I have recommended Breda to other colleagues
Breda O’Malley and her employment law team are a positive group to work with. Breda provides her knowledge and expertise with balance and confidence, which is reassuring, and where a clear rationale is provided with approaches and solutions to challenging issues. Business-like and friendly.
Breda O’Malley is just fantastic, I have over 25 years of HR experience and have dealt with many employment legal professionals in that time and Breda is by far the best. Her advice is practical, she understands issues quickly, has an amazing memory for historical events and is highly experienced.
I work closely with Breda O’Malley on HR and employment matters. She provides expert advice and guidance on all aspects of the employment relationship from pre-employment matters to termination. She swiftly analyses the issue and her assessment of the steps to take are clearly defined and unambiguous. She is direct and her advice is always excellent!
Breda O’Malley leads the team, and is a role model for accessibility, rigour, practicality – and also compassion and empathy for professionals, in a range of different situations, needing employment law advice.