Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Worker

A Health Service Provider

Representatives

Martina Weir Siptu - Works Rights Centre

 Paul Hume 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 - 00002130

15/01/2024

The claimant has been employed as a  Theatre Operative with the respondent since 2007 .It was submitted that the claimant was sent home from work without pay on the 19.04. 2021  communicated by way of correspondence  from the employer for allegedly failing to fulfil the full range of duties in accordance with his contract.The claimant pursued a grievance in accordance with the respondents grievance procedure  but according to the union , the grievance was not processed and he was denied an opportunity to obtain an outcome.The respondent while acknowledging that the grievance was not dealt with said the matter had already been the subject of 3 Conciliation conferences and the undertakings given at same regarding withdrawal of letters had been implemented and no further action taken.

The union referenced a similar case that had been upheld at Adjudication and was currently the subject of appeal to the Labour Court.

It was submitted that on the 19.04.2021 the claimant received correspondence from the respondent alleging that he had not carried out the full range of duties as set out in his contract.He was put off duty without pay until such time as he notified the employer that he would fulfil his entire range of duties at which point he would return to the payroll. The claimant pursued a grievance in accordance with the respondent’s  grievance procedure as the subject matter of the correspondence from the employer had already been the matter of an ongoing industrial dispute. The grievance was submitted to the Assistant Director of Nursing. It was submitted that the claimant was denied the opportunity to pursue his grievance .

It was advanced that the claimant had been summarily ejected from his place of work by management at the hospital.The duties in question related to limb lifting equipment in theatre.It was submitted that the claimant was one of a number of theatre operatives who were seeking to benefit from the use of the equipment but were prevented from doing so by theatre management. Shortly after the claimant was sent home from work , the union and the respondent under the auspices of the WRC had reached an agreement that provided that “ all grievances that have commenced as part of this issue will be reviewed individually with the parties involved.”It was submitted that the claimant never received the benefit of a formal review or an outcome to his grievance.It was submitted that the claimant was effectively blocked from pursing his grievance and this constituted a breach of  the respondent’s procedure and that compensation was warranted in the circumstances.

The respondent submitted that what had been agreed at Conciliation had been implemented – that the letters at issue  had been withdrawn and that no further action would be taken against the claimant or his colleagues.The employer accepted that workers had been sent home and accepted that the  claimant’s grievance was not dealt with  but round table discussions between the parties  ensued with a view to settling the dispute.It was submitted that no sanction had been imposed on the claimant and that he did not incur any financial loss.

I have reviewed the submissions of the parties  and noted the invocation by the union of ADJ-00043442.This matter has been the subject of appeal to the Labour Court in LCR22971 where compensation was awarded by the Court . I note that the respondent has not disputed the union’s contention that the grievance was not dealt with and accordingly I uphold the complaint .