Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Nurse

 A Hospital

Representatives

Liam Conway,  Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation

 Employee Relations Manager

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

IR - SC - 00000478

20/07/2022

The Worker was employed as a Pre- Registration Nurse from 18 October 2021 to 21 January 2022 at the Employer Hospital.

The dispute was referred to the Workplace Relations Commission on 20 July 2022.

There was no objection to the matter being referred to the WRC by the Employer.

The dispute can be summaries as follows:

The Worker was not afforded an opportunity to appeal her dismissal which she submitted was unfair. This contention was supported by an independent decision  by the Nursing and Midwifery Board which upheld her appeal.

The Employer was unreasonable in its response and timelines .

The Employer failed to investigate the Worker’s grievance of 14 March 2022.

The Worker sought compensation for the Employer’s failure to a follows its own procedures and the delay in furnishing the necessary documentation to allow her make a timely appeal to the NMBI. This resulted in the expiration of her work permit and she was forced to return to her home country.

The Worker stats she suffered significant financial hardship due the loss of earnings from February to September 2022 in the sum of €26,367 excluding allowances and premia. The Worker also submitted she suffered stress as a result of failure to investigate her grievance in a timely manner.  At the second hearing the Worker sought a total sum of €30,000 compensation.

The Employer agreed on the first hearing date that efforts would be made to investigate the grievance raised by the Worker as a matter of priority. Time was afforded to the Employer to take the necessary steps in consultation with the Worker’s Union. The Employer did submit that the reason for the delay in investigating the grievance was due to resources.

As regards the compensation sought of €10,000 or €30,000,  it was submitted that it could reasonably be viewed as an attempt to set aside the terms of the training programme, the national agreement which relates to the Dignity at Work Policy and the Public Service Stability Agreement.

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

Due to the seriousness of the grievances raised by the Worker and the delay the Employer has taken to investigate the grievance , time was afforded to the parties to make positive progress. Thankfully, upon their return to the WRC both parties had made progress on the investigation with the appointment of an independent third-party investigator.  Both parties have committed to continuing with the investigation without further unnecessary delay.

Recommendation:

Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.

 I recommend the grievance is investigated until its conclusion in a timely manner.  

In relation to the award of compensation for the financial hardship and stress suffered by the Worker, it is recommended that the sum of €15,000 is a fair and reasonable compensation to be paid within 12 weeks from the date of this Recommendation.

IR – Dispute -