Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Social Worker

A Public Sector Organisation

Representatives

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

02/12/2020

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

21/03/2021

The Worker has been employed since 12th March 2018 as a social worker.

The Worker says some members of management have engaged in unprofessional behaviour.

The Worker was informed she was required to move office. She objected as she was diagnosed with medical conditions and the new office was unsuitable for her. She requested an ergonomic occupational health assessment in June 2019 which was not carried out. When she was on leave due to a bereavement, her office was moved. She spoke to the General Manager who shouted at her and was abusive. She complained to her manager but nothing was done. She is not supported and suffered from stress. She subsequently went out on sick-leave and lodged a formal complaint.

On 10th April 2020, the Worker was fit to return to work and was redeployed to a Covid Team where she would be one to one with active cases of Covid-19 and Tuberculosis. At the time she was the only person to be redeployed by the organisation who were actively campaigning for a social worker and took on an agency social worker. A manager told her to lodge a grievance so that her complaints could be addressed. On 10th April 2020 the Worker sent a twenty page letter to her line manager. From April to September 2020, she received one letter to say the procedure had been put on hold due to Covid-19.

In September 2020 the Worker was recalled to the organisation and told to work from home due to her medical condition. She was waiting three weeks for her equipment to arrive and does not have proper resources. She does not have proper work to do. She has told her manager she has capacity but is being ignored due to her grievance about bullying.

A meeting was then arranged for one hour to discuss the Worker’s complaint on 18th November 2020. The Grievance procedure states the grievance should have been heard from notification within 7 days. She is actively looking for another role due to her treatment.

The Worker made a second complaint under S13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 regarding the grievance process. The Worker received the outcome of stage 1 of the procedure on 22nd February 2021. On 24th February 2021 she requested to move to stage 2 of the procedure. She received a reply on 19th March 2021 that the Respondent was sourcing a person to deal with the appeal of the outcome at level 1 of the grievance procedure. On 19th March 2021 she sought to move to stage 3 of the procedure given the delays. The Worker believes the Respondent is not taking the complaint seriously and is delaying. She is concerned that management cannot hear the complaint at stage two of the procedure.

The Respondent’s position is that position that due process in accordance with the Grievance Procedure should be completed prior to any external mediation or adjudication.

In conducting my investigation, I have taken into account all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties.

The grievance was submitted to the Respondent on 10th April 2020. The procedures provide that the complaint should be investigated within seven days. There was delay due to the wide-ranging nature of the complaint and the pandemic. A detailed investigation was carried out by the Respondent into a twenty-page letter of complaint in November 2020, which issued on 22nd February 2021. The Worker has now resigned.

There was lengthy delay of almost one year in carrying out the grievance investigation. Pandemic restrictions had lifted in July 2020. In these particular circumstances, without creating any precedent, I recommend payment of one thousand euro compensation to the Worker.

delay