LCR22729

1.Unfair Dismissal, Bullying and Harrassment, Payment of Wages, Compensation for Damage Done to Mental and Physical Health

BACKGROUND:

2.The Worker referred a complaint to the Labour Court on 23 December 2022 in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and agreed to be bound by the Court's Recommendation. A Labour Court hearing took place on 10 March 2023

RECOMMENDATION:

The Worker referred a complaint to the Labour Court on 23 December 2022 in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and agreed to be bound by the Court's Recommendation. A Labour Court hearing took place on 10 March 2023, attended by both parties.

At the outset of the hearing the Court explained that its role when investigating a complaint about a trade dispute is to hear the parties and set out its opinion on how the matter in dispute between the parties can be resolved.

The Worker told the Court that his employment with his former employer had ceased on 23 December 2020, some two years before he lodged his complaint to the Court. He said that he delayed submitting his complaint because he felt “down”. On his complaint form the Worker outlined difficulties that he had encountered during his employment and alleged various breaches of his employment rights. He seeks compensation for those breaches and for damages to his mental and physical health.

This matter comes before the Court as a trade dispute and not as a dispute regarding a potential breach of employment legislation. The Court explained to the Worker that as complaints about trade disputes are not matters of law, the Labour Court has no legal authority to administer justice in relation to breaches of employment rights.

As a matter of good industrial relations practice a worker who experiences workplace difficulties should not delay in lodging a complaint where they fail to resolve matters directly with their employer. In this case, the Worker waited two years before lodging his complaint to the Labour Court.

When asked what recommendation he sought from the Court, the Worker said that he had misunderstood what the Court could do for him, and he accepted that the Court could not recommend anything that would resolve the issues he had with his former employer. He, nevertheless, requested that the Court proceed to issue a recommendation on the matter.

Having regard to all of the circumstances of this case and taking account of the length of time since the Worker’s employment ceased and his failure to pursue or exhaust the various avenues open to him to address any workplace issues with his former employer, the Court makes no recommendation on the matters before it.

The Court so Recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
NCL	______________________
3 April 2023	Deputy Chairman