Geraldine
Carr
Partner
Geraldine is a partner in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group.
She provides strategic, practical and commercially focussed advice to international and domestic clients on all aspects of employment law. Her practice spans a variety of sectors, including technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals.
Areas of Expertise
Geraldine has extensive experience advising in relation to the management of employees on a day to day basis, including performance management, remote and hybrid working arrangements, compensation plans and gender pay gap analysis, as well as guiding employers through crisis management issues in the context of workplace investigations, whistleblowing, misconduct allegations, grievances, bullying, harassment and the enforcement of restrictive covenants.
Geraldine has particular expertise in advising clients on senior executive appointments and terminations, particularly in regulated industries, as well as case managing employment injunctions and defending claims before the Workplace Relations Commission, the Circuit Court and the High Court.
She provides pragmatic advice on the employment law aspects of corporate restructurings, outsourcings, individual and collective redundancy situations, transfer of undertakings, as well as post-acquisition workforce harmonisation.
Geraldine worked with Matheson’s US client base from the firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices for six months in 2017 / 2018. She has vast experience advising US-headquartered businesses expanding into Ireland on their workforce planning.
She has been recognised by clients for her responsiveness, “practical approach” (Chambers Europe) and her “amazing business acumen” (The European Legal 500).
She frequently speaks at both internal and external seminars and hosts bespoke employment law workshops for HR practitioners and employment lawyers. She regularly publishes articles on employment law matters and contributes to the Matheson Employment Law Podcast Series which has been running for over 11 years.
Geraldine is a member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland (ELAI), the American Bar Association’s International Labor and Employment Law section and the European Employment Law Association of Ireland. Geraldine originally qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser.
Experience and Education
- Strategic advice to a financial institution in relation to a restructuring of its senior leadership team in Ireland, having regard to complex financial regulatory issues.
- Advising a technology company in relation to a highly sensitive, cross-border workplace conduct investigation.
- Representing a financial institution in relation to a creditor business on the successful defence of multiple related claims before the Labour Court under the transfer of undertakings legislation, resulting in a highly publicised decision clarifying the law in favour of transferor employers in Ireland.
- Advising an international manufacturing corporation on highly sensitive employment and industrial relations issues in relation to a restructuring of its workforce and the implementation of collective redundancies.
- Advising a leading financial services provider on establishing operations in Ireland from an employment law perspective, including advice in relation to the application of the cross border merger regulations, relocation of employees, restructuring of its senior management team and complex issues arising under the transfer of undertakings regulations.
- Advising employers on their pay equity analysis and mandatory gender pay gap reporting obligations in Ireland.
- Representing clients on the defence of claims before the employment fora regarding the misclassification of workers and atypical working arrangements.
- Advising numerous international companies on the establishment of operations in Ireland, including advice on employee compensation and benefits, immigration issues, compliance and ongoing management issues.
- Advising on a number of high value private equity investments and acquisitions from an employment law perspective, including advising Assicurazioni Generali SpA on the employment aspects of its acquisition of Liberty Seguros in a deal worth €2.3 billion.
- University of Limerick (Bachelor of Arts in Law and Accounting)
- University College Cork (Master of Laws, LL.M)
- Admitted as a solicitor in Ireland
- Law Society of Ireland (Diploma in Employment Law)
- Irish Taxation Institute (Chartered Tax Adviser qualification)
