ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00010036

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Housekeeping Assistant	A Care Facility

Complaint(s):

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969	CA-00013111-001	14/08/2017

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 16/11/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Background:

The respondent has employed the complainant as a housekeeping assistant since 3rd of September 2014. She is paid €9.25 per hour and works 22 hours per week. The parties made oral submission to the hearing.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant submits that she was being bullied by her supervisor and that she complained to the director of nursing. The alleged bully was believed. It appears that staff and operational issues are being blamed.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The respondent submits that there was no formal complaint of bullying. There was no report issued or recommendations made. There were operational difficulties. The complainant had requested a reduction in hours to 18 to facilitate her studies. The respondent offered 25 hours.

Findings and Conclusions:

The herein dispute is somewhat opaque, however it seems to me that the lack of formality in both the interpersonal and operational conflicts tend only to exacerbate the situation in both areas. It is incumbent on the respondent to declare its fundamental interest in both and insist on compliance by all staff. A workplace conflict specialist would be appropriate and helpful in this regard. Concerning alleged bullying the complainant should have been advised to make a formal complaint of bullying if she wished to trigger the appropriate process.

Decision/Recommendation:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act. Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.

I recommend that the respondent engage the services of an appropriate person (internal or external) to assist it to address the issues I have referred to above in conjunction with the complainant and other members of staff.

Dated: 4th September 2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes