Richard Grogan dishes out employment law advice to 100k+ followers
With over half a million likes and over 100,000 followers, “plain speaking straight talking” solicitor Richard Grogan has become an unexpected TikTok star, sharing insights into Irish workers’ rights.
In his videos Grogan, an employment and personal injury lawyer, breaks down complex Irish laws into straightforward advice. He covers employment law topics such as working hours, pay and holidays to often hundreds of thousands of viewers.
In one of his most popular videos, Grogan responds to a message from one of his viewers who works 55 hours a week. Grogan is quick to inform them that this is not legal in Irish law and “the maximum in Ireland is 48 hours and that’s an average over a four-month period of time”.
@richardgrogansolicitors Maximum Working Hours in Ireland Its 48 averaged over 4 months #maximumworkinghours #thatsthelawandthatsafact ♬ original sound – richardgrogansolicitors
This video proved popular with TikTok viewers, amassing almost one million views and over 70,000 likes, with one viewer commenting that Grogan’s promotion of workers’ rights is “probably going to save a lot of young people from being exploited”.
Despite the heavy nature of the topics covered, Grogan, who is head of the employment practice at his eponymous firm, keeps his videos light. In a video about carry over of holidays from the year-end, he begins with “I’m about to scream with some of the messages I’m getting”. He informs his audience that in Irish law there is only one annual leave year from 1 April to 31 March. After explaining this, he jokes that if anyone tries to contradict this he’s “happy to see them in the WRC [Workplace Relations Commission] if they want to go on with that stupidity”.
@richardgrogansolicitors Holidsy Carry Ovef #thatsthelawandthatsafact ♬ original sound – richardgrogansolicitors
Though the Dublin-based lawyer has been a qualified solicitor for over 30 years, the earliest TikTok on his page was only posted last month. In the video, after informing Irish workers of their right to 20 days holiday each year including two full weeks at the same time, he reveals his aim through his videos is for workers to be “getting their head in their game”. He wraps up the video with the catchphrase used in almost all of his videos, “that’s the law and that’s a fact”.
@richardgrogansolicitors Holidays You must get 20 days every year in Irish Law and 2 weeks of that have to be at the same time #thatsthelawandthatsafact ♬ original sound – richardgrogansolicitors
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