ADJUDICATION OFFICER Recommendation on dispute under Industrial Relations Act 1969

Investigation Recommendation Reference: IR - SC - 00000314

Parties:

	Worker	Employer
Anonymised Parties	A Worker	A Semi State Company

Representatives

Dispute(s):

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 - 00000314	29/05/2022
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969	IR - SC - 00000315	29/05/2022

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Breiffni O'Neill

Date of Hearing: 16/02/2023

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 (as amended)following the referral of the disputes to me by the Director General, I inquired into the dispute and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any information relevant to the dispute.

Background:

The Worker commenced his employment as an Electrician with the Respondent on 28 May 2001 and is paid €770 gross for a 39 hour working week. He stated that the Employer has acted unfairly in their dealings with him over the last number of years.

Summary of Workers Case:

The Worker provided a very detailed submission in relation to the issues which he wanted investigated as part of this dispute.

A summary of his grievances is highlighted below:

· The Employer breached his contract and continued to attempt to breach contract. He also stated that he had received no written terms and conditions of employment.

· The Employer failed to follow or comply with their own grievance procedures on numerous occasions.

· The Employer failed to follow or comply with their own attendance at work procedures on numerous occasions.

· In deciding to breach his contract and not comply with their own grievance or attendance at work procedures, the Employer acted dishonestly because they knew that their actions were incorrect.

· The Employer both misused and abused company procedures to apply pressure and to stifle and frustrate meaningful dialogue in an effort to achieve their goals and avoid accountability. The Worker also stated that the Employer’s management made threats on a number of occasions.

The Worker stated that these events were avoidable and were not of his doing and that they caused both himself as well as his family unnecessary stress, anxiety and harm.

Summary of Employer’s Case:

The Employer made a lengthy submission and supported this with significant documentation including a number of appendices.

It was asserted by the Employer that they fully adhered to all of their own internal procedures and that the Worker exhausted all of these but that he chose not to accept the findings and recommendations which were issued at the conclusion of the process.

The Employer also highlighted that the Worker was focused on getting voluntary redundancy and was aggrieved that he was not offered this. The Employer stated that this option was not made available to him because his role was required.

Conclusions:

Having listened to the evidence provided by both parties and recognising the complexity of the dispute as well as the considerable length of time that has already been spend in dealing with the matter, I believe that the best option is for both parties to engage in a binding arbitration to bring the dispute to a swift conclusion.

With a view to facilitating this, I have outlined below terms of reference which should govern the the investigation.

Recommendation:

IR - SC – 00000314 and IR - SC – 00000315:

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

As outlined above, I recommend that the parties engage in a binding arbitration process which should be governed by the following terms of reference.

Terms of Reference for the Arbitration

The arbitration concerns complaints made by the Worker in relation to an investigation conducted by the Employer into a grievance made by him, the findings of which he did not agree with.

The scope of this arbitration will include all matters examined during the investigation by the Employer, excluding voluntary severance.

The arbitration will examine and make findings on the following allegations:-

whether there was a breach of the Worker’s contract,
whether the Employer followed their own procedures in the context of the grievance raised by the Worker,
whether the Employer’s management comply with the attendance at work procedure,
Whether the Employer conducted themselves reasonably in relation to the Worker generally
whether the Employer’s management bullied or harass the Worker during the grievance investigation.

The Employer and the Worker should agree on the appointment of an Arbitrator who has significant experience, both in industrial relations and employment law.

The arbitration will be conducted in line with the Employer’s procedures and will consist of a hearing chaired by the agreed Arbitrator, attended by both the Worker and the Employer.

Both parties will give evidence at the hearing and the opportunity for cross examination both by the other side as well as the Arbitrator will be allowed.

The Worker is entitled to be accompanied by a Trade Union Official or a work colleague at the arbitration.

A written submission will be given to the Arbitrator by both parties at least 10 days in advance of the arbitration hearing.

On receipt of the written submissions, the Arbitrator may decide whether there is a need for him/her to speak with the parties separately prior to going into the full arbitration hearing.

If any of the allegations made by the Worker are upheld, the Arbitrator will consider the impact of the Employer’s conduct on the Worker in making his findings.

The findings of the Arbitrator will be binding on both parties and neither party will have any further recourse to the WRC in relation to any aspect of this dispute.

Dated: 08/05/2023

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Breiffni O'Neill

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