Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Worker

A Service Provider

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969

CA-55210

17/5/2022

The worker had been employed for a period of 10 years when she made a grievance complaint in January 2020. A further grievance complaint was made in April 2020.

Both grievance complaints were investigated, the grievance of January 2020 was investigated by two members of the board and the April grievance was investigated by an external HR consultant. The worker was on sick leave for a substantial period whilst the two investigations took place. Her sick leave entitlement was exhausted, and she received no pay for a considerable period before she terminated her employment in November 2021.

The worker’s representative made a submission that the employer failed to deal with the grievances as per the agreed procedures. The employer also failed to address the shortcomings which were highlighted in the external consultant’s findings. It was asserted that the employer delayed with the processing of the grievance at each juncture. Furthermore, the employer did not adequately address the grievance outcomes.

The employer and their representative attended the hearing although did not make any submissions in relation to the dispute.

There were shortcomings in the investigation of the grievances of January 2020. This process concluded on 20th February 2020.

The external HR Consultant commenced his investigation of two grievances in October 2020 and concluded his report with findings in May 2021.

The two external investigation reports mainly upheld the complainant’s grievances. It was only in October 2021 that the employer wrote to the workers representative with recommendations to assist her to return to work. These recommendations included mediation and training of staff. A meeting also took place in November 2021 to discuss the findings.

The worker terminated her employment in November 2021 after this meeting.

It has been independently established that the employer conducted a flawed process when investigating the January 2020 grievance. Later when the grievances were investigated by the HR consultant, there were also further unnecessary delays by the board. This was unfair to the worker whose grievances were mainly upheld.

Having considered all these matters, I note that the employer was responsible for the delay in progressing matters as follows:

The delay in progressing matters due to the original investigation not affording fair procedures to the worker.

The delay in following up after the external investigation reports issued in May 2021.

The delay in following up on the findings with realistic and tangible outcomes for the worker.

For a substantial period, the worker was on sick leave and receiving no pay. The delays impacted adversely on the worker. Despite the findings in the external investigation report there was no gesture by the employer to offset any loss incurred by the worker.

I conservatively estimate that if the matters were progressed with due diligence that the process would have been concluded within a year.

I recommend that the employer pay the worker €4,028 to cover the period of unpaid sick leave from 25th September 2021 up to 25th November 2021.   

I recommend that the employer pay the worker €4,028 to cover the period of unpaid sick leave from 25th September 2021 up to 25th November 2021.  

Grievance procedure