Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

House Manager

Disability Support Services

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-00023367-001

20/11/2018

The Complainant who was employed as a Residential House Manager, was demoted to Social Care Worker following a disciplinary process. The background to this was that she organised a short holiday break for the residents of the house she supervised.   One on the Service Users absconded from the premises they were staying in. The Service user was found safe and well shortly after and it is submitted, this type of situation is not uncommon. However, the situation gave rise to a disciplinary process at the end of which the complainant was demoted. The other staff involved were issued with written warnings, then reduced to verbal warnings on appeal. It is argued that the imposition of such a serious sanction as demotion is disproportionate and issue is taken with various components of the charges levelled against the Complainant.   Specifically, as there were works being carried out in the house, it was necessary to arrange the trip away at relatively short notice. The trip plan was given to two Managers prior to departure. It is not accurate to say that the Complainant failed to report a missing person.  It is argued that the process was unfair, involving the same HR Personnel being involved in the preliminary stages of the investigation, the commissioning of the terms of reference and the disciplinary. It is argued that the sanction imposed in perpetuity is far too excessive particularly taking into account the Complainant’s exemplary record.      

The Complainant was House Manager for service users with mild, moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. During the Summer of 2017, the Complainant organised a holiday for the service users which occurs every year. The holiday was arranged for 8th to 10th August 2017 the detail of which was not signed off by the PIC or Service Manager. The Service was made aware that a service user absconded on 9th August 2017. An investigation and disciplinary process followed.

The investigation found a number of highly concerning issues including: unsuitable accommodation and sleeping arrangements, safety issues, lack of communication /consultation with PIC, lack of records around purchase and consumption of alcohol and failure to follow missing persons policy.   The investigation found no evidence of any form of leadership from the Complainant in following any policy in the situation. The investigation found that the Complainant was in breach of significant policies including Incident Reporting, Medication Management, Protection of Vulnerable Adults and Fire Safety Policies.     Following on from the findings of the Investigation, the Complainant attended a disciplinary hearing accompanied by her trade union official. The decision was that having considered the findings, while the serious breach of policies and procedures merited dismissal, the Complainant was demoted to Social Care Worker. The Complainant appealed the decision but the outcome was upheld. The Company position is that the sanction applied was appropriate and lenient given the seriousness of the breaches involved.  

The serious transgressions for which the Complainant was responsible are issues which the Respondent correctly identified and dealt with in a thorough and fair process.     The Complainant herself accepted that she had some significant learning points from the experience. I note the Respondent has assured the Complainant that she is welcome to apply for future positions as House Manager.   Therefore it would appear that the door is not entirely closed on her. I note that other members of the team were sanctioned as a result of the incident. However, these sanctions were a lesser penalty, resulting in verbal warnings. The sanction of demotion on the Complainant was a particularly harsh one, considering the Complainant’s remorse and willingness to learn from the experience. The sanction has been imposed on her at this point for the period of a year. I recommend that in the circumstances, the Complainant should be restored to her grade as House Manager from the date of this recommendation and that the demotion for the period of one year is sufficient penalty.