ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00004489

Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 23/11/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Shay Henry

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 79 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

The complainant applied for a job in the public service through the appropriate recruitment body (Body A). As part of the process he underwent a psychometric test. He sought to re sit the test as he was ill at the time of the test. His application to re sit was unfairly refused by the Body A. The respondent, a statutory body with responsibility for overseeing standards under which Body A operates, on appeal confirmed the refusal and in doing so treated him unfairly. The complainant sought information from respondent under S76 of the Employment Equality Act but did not receive any. In the absence of this information and as a result he was unable to provide full details on all the specifics of his complaint.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

The statutory body did not attend the hearing. By letter dated 29^th August 2016 it stated that it was not the correct respondent in this case. The role of the statutory body was to oversee standards in the conduct of recruitment and selection processes for certain bodies by prescribing standards in codes of practice. It also examines complaints from individuals dissatisfied with the manner in which the process was conducted. The statutory body examined such a complaint from the complainant on how Body A complied with the code of practice. The complaint was not upheld. The statutory body was not involved in either employing or recruiting the complainant and therefore is not the correct respondent in this case.

Decision:

Section 79(6) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 82 of the Act.

The Statutory Body produced a code of practice prescribing standards to which Body A must adhere. Section 8.1 of that code of practice states that the body ‘has no remit to investigate complaints relating to non-selection or non- appointment unless it appears reasonable to conclude from the information provided to it that the selection process may have breached the code of practice….’

Under this provision the Statutory Body did investigate the complaint made and concluded that Body A did not breach the code of practice. It had no further role in the matter. If the complainant wished to pursue a case under the Employment Equality Act, the correct respondent would have been Body A.

Decision:

I have investigated the above complainant and make the following decision in accordance with section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts and section 41 (5) (a) (iii) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015; that the complainant is unable to establish a prima facie case of discrimination in relation to conditions of employment on the disability ground as the statutory body named is not the correct respondent.

Dated:   05/04/2017