Yes. A limited number of rooms have been reserved at the venue and will be available at a discounted rate for attendees. To book, please contact the Radisson Blu directly and reference the Employer Excellence Awards when enquiring.
Consistent with Fáilte Ireland’s commitment to sustainable tourism practices, attendees are encouraged to use public transport where possible. The venue is well served by a range of bus, tram, and rail services, making it accessible via sustainable travel options. The closest car park is the Q Park at Christchurch, which is open 24 hours a day.
Two representatives from each Employer Excellence business are invited to attend. An event registration fee will apply for any additional guests. For further information, please contact the Employer Excellence team at employerexcellence@failteireland.ie.
If you are unable to attend the event, you may send a colleague or representative in your place. Please ensure that the Employer Excellence team is informed of any name changes in advance, where possible.
If you have registered and can no longer attend, please let us know as early as possible to help minimise food waste and allow us to manage attendance effectively.
The awards process has been developed and validated in collaboration with an independent third‑party expert to ensure it is robust, fair and aligned with best practice.
Now in their fourth year, the Employer Excellence Awards have been refreshed to better showcase excellence across the Employer Excellence Programme (EEP) community and to ensure wider recognition of high performing employers.
Awards are assessed using a hybrid model: Category Awards include a qualitative written submission as part of the assessment process, while Pillar Awards are determined solely on quantitative EEP data.
Category Awards
The category awards for 2026 are:
Category awards will now use a hybrid, two stage assessment model:
Pillar Awards
The pillar awards for 2026 are:
The five Pillar Awards are determined solely on quantitative EEP data.
Pillar award rules:
Yes. A business may win a maximum of two awards in total:
A business cannot win more than one Pillar Award or more than one Category Award in a single awards cycle.
No. Written submissions are only required for certain Category Awards. Pillar Awards are assessed entirely on quantitative EEP survey data.
Businesses that are shortlisted for an Employer Excellence Award will be contacted directly by the Employer Excellence team.
Shortlisted businesses will receive:
Due to the volume of applications, businesses that are not shortlisted will not be contacted individually.
In the event of a tied qualifying score at the shortlisting stage, both businesses may be shortlisted and progress to the next stage of assessment, where applicable.
To ensure transparency while protecting the integrity of the awards, high level assessment principles are published publicly.
A full set of detailed scoring guidelines is available on request.
If you have questions about the awards, eligibility, or methodology, you can contact a member of the Employer Excellence Programme team, who can also provide access to the full scoring and assessment guidelines.