ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00021023
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Secondary School Teacher | A Secondary School |
Representatives |
|
|
Dispute:
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-00027700-001 | 12/04/2019 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 01/11/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Louise Boyle
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969following the referral of the dispute to me by the Director General, I inquired into the dispute and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the dispute.
Background:
The complainant detailed that the respondent has not investigated her grievances and allegations of bullying. |
Summary of Worker’s Case:
The worker detailed her frustration that her complaints in relation to bullying and grievances have not been investigated. It was detailed that the policies provided for by the employer to investigate same had not been utilised appropriately by the respondent. In response to the issue raised that the complainant was not a worker, as defined under the act; the complainant detailed she was not aware of the definition of ‘workers’ under the act, and detailed her concerns that the respondent had treated her unfairly in dealing with her dispute. |
Summary of Employer’s Case:
The respondent raised a preliminary issue that the worker does not have locus standi to raise the complaint under the Industrial Relations Act as the worker is a teacher in a secondary school who is not defined as a worker under Section23(1) of the Act. Without prejudice to the above, the employer refuted the dispute. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Section 23(1) sets out the definition of a “worker” under the act as meaning “any person aged 15 years or more who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract with an employer, whether the contract be for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise, whether it be expressed or implied, oral or in writing, and whether it be a contract of service or of apprenticeship or a contract personally to execute any work or labour including, in particular, a psychiatric nurse employed by a health board and any person designated for the time being under subsection (3) but does not include— ( a) a person who is employed by or under the State, ( b) a teacher in a secondary school, ( c) a teacher in a national school, ( ca ) a teacher employed by an education and training board, The complainant confirmed that she is a teacher in a secondary school and as such does not come within the definition of worker as defined under the act. I find that I do not have jurisdiction to investigate the within complaint. |
Decision:
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.
I find that I do not have jurisdiction to investigate the within complaint. |
Dated: 9th December 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Louise Boyle
Key Words:
Secondary school teacher, industrial relations act |