Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Shop Worker

A Charity

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

CA-00038423-001

23/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969

CA-00038423-002

23/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 62(2) of the Charities Act 2009

CA-00038423-003

23/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Schedule  2 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011

CA-00038423-004

23/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 6(1) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2010

CA-00038423-005

23/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 67(5) of the Property Services (Regulation)  Act 2011

CA-00038423-006

23/06/2020

The Worker commenced employment as a part-time Retail Assistant in one of the charity’s shops on 17 June 2016. She made a number of very serious allegations against the manager of the shop both in December 2019 and early 2020 which she believes were not taken seriously or acted upon.

The Worker commenced employment as a part-time Retail Assistant in one of the charity’s shops on 17 June 2016. On 6 December 2019, she had a meeting with the Employer’s CEO, and his PA where she laid out the ongoing issues she had with the manager in the shop where she worked

These included inter alia

·       She stated that the manager bullied her and other members of staff

·       She alleged that the manager appointed herself as the only person in the shop to go through the bags of donations. She further alleged that the most expensive items did not make it to the floor and that the manager operates a very busy and lucrative online shop where high-end goods are sold.

·       She alleged that the manager humiliates her and other staff members on the floor in front of customers.

·       She also stated that the manager gaslights her and other staff members on a continual basis.

·       She alleged that the manager shows up for work late regularly and does nothing outside of going through the donations and treating everyone poorly

·        She stated that the manager made it clear that she would do everything possible to ensure that the Worker would be sacked

During the meeting with the CEO she also made it clear that she was terrified that the

bullying might escalate but told him that her main goal was to help save the shop from being destroyed.

She stated that the CEO handed her a complaint form and informed her that even if she filled it in, there was a good chance that the allegations would go nowhere and that she would simply find herself back in the shop, where the Manager would now know that she informed on her, thereby putting her in an even more vulnerable position. Instead of investigating the bullying allegations, the CEO told her that he would focus solely on proving theft was taking place as he thought this would be the best and fastest way to resolve all of the issues at once.

Further to this meeting there were a number of other thefts from the shop and despite the Worker having emailed photos to the CEO’s PA, nothing was done about the matter. As a result, the Worker sought a further meeting with the CEO. This meeting took place on 5 March 2020 and the Worker offered to fill out a complaint form but was told by the CEO that it would be of no use because his focus was on catching the thieves red handed.

On the following day, 6 March 2020, the Worker arranged to meet the CEO at the shop where he downloaded 24 hours of footage. Despite informing him to change the access code for the CCTV footage so that the manager would not see them together, the CEO refused to do so and the worker believed that she was subsequently seen by the manager on the footage with the CEO in the shop because her attitude towards her deteriorated even further.

Specifically, on 13 March 2020 she attempted to frame the Worker for theft by putting her on the till for the first time ever and then accused her of stealing money. Despite having subsequently found the money that she accused the Worker of stealing, the manager’s negative attitude to her continued and she failed to inform her that the shop was being closed due to the Covid lockdown. In addition, her Social Welfare forms were not completed correctly by the manager and her payment was not made. The Worker also stated that the CEO had arranged for her to have a conversation with an External Mediator/Investigator in June 2020 but claimed that the Investigator reduced all of the issues down to one and informed her that she could only pursue the bullying complaint.

The Worker stated that she has not attended work since June 2020 as a result of the concerns she raised not being addressed.

The Employer stated that a number of actions were initially taken following the allegations of theft made by the Worker but highlighted that the Worker has failed to engage with the investigation process despite being requested and given an opportunity to do so by the person appointed by the Employer to carry it out.

Specifically, the External Investigator contacted the Worker and explained the process and options to her. It was then agreed that the Worker would submit her complaint to the CEO and that the Investigator would be available via phone should she have any queries for support during the process. No grievance or complaint paperwork was submitted by the Worker however despite her having been prompted to do so by the Investigator and the CEO on a few occasions.

CA-00038423-001:

Dismissal was initially in dispute as the Respondent stated that the Complainant had not been dismissed. Both parties then gave evidence in relation to this complaint and the Complainant alleged that she was constructively dismissed. Following a request for a break to reflect on the matter, which was afforded to her during the hearing, the Complainant decided to withdraw this complaint and asserted that she had not in fact been dismissed.

CA-00038423-002:

Having reviewed the evidence provided to me, it is clear that the dispute was submitted to the WRC before either a mediation process or an investigation commenced despite the Worker having been given the opportunity to engage in same.

It has been a long-held principle that the referral of disputes under the Industrial Relations Act should only take place after local established procedures for dealing with grievances have been exhausted.  The Labour Court stated in INT 1014:

“The Court is not prepared to insert itself into the procedural process in a situation where the dispute resolution procedures have been bypassed.”

I therefore cannot make a recommendation that is favourable to the Worker in regard to this dispute

CA-00038423-003: Despite having been asked on a number of occasions to present relevant evidence in relation to this complaint the Complainant was unable to do so. Following a request for a break to reflect on the matter which was afforded to her during the hearing, the Complainant decided to withdraw this complaint.

CA-00038423-004: Despite having been asked on a number of occasions to present relevant evidence in relation to this complaint the Complainant was unable to do so. Following a request for a break to reflect on the matter, which was afforded to her during the hearing, the Complainant decided to withdraw this complaint.

CA-00038423-005: Despite having been asked on a number of occasions to present relevant evidence in relation to this complaint the Complainant was unable to do so. Following a request for a break to reflect on the matter, which was afforded to her during the hearing, the Complainant decided to withdraw her complaint.

CA-00038423-006: Despite having been asked on a number of occasions to present relevant evidence in relation to this complaint, the Complainant was unable to do so. Following a request for a break to reflect on the matter, which was afforded to her during the hearing, the Complainant decided to withdraw her complaint.

CA-00038423-001: This complaint was withdrawn

CA-00038423-002: I cannot make a recommendation that is favourable to the Worker in relation to this dispute for the reasons outlined above

CA-00038423-003: This complaint was withdrawn

CA-00038423-004: This complaint was withdrawn

CA-00038423-005: This complaint was withdrawn

CA-00038423-006: This complaint was withdrawn

No investigation process;