Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A General Operative

A County Council

Representatives

  Self Represented

Keith Irvine Local Government Management Agency (LGMA)

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 - 00002688

23/05/2024

The Worker is out on sick leave and wished the WRC to intervene in his dealings with the Employer regarding his work assignment and/or his retirement.

The Worker alleged he was bullied at work in October 2023 and has been on sick leave since the incident.

The Worker was offered a move to a new crew but stated that would not solve the issue and has sought to retire.

The Worker has engaged with the Employer regarding his options but no satisfactory outcome to him has been achieved.

The Worker has not raised a formal grievance at work regarding the issue.

The Worker was not represented at the Hearing.

The Worker has been employed with the Employer since 1st June 2000 in the post of General Operative and appointed permanently to the post on 1st November 2004 per his contract.

The Worker was on sick absence from 16th January 2023 until 5th April 2023 when he deemed fit to return to work. He subsequently went on certified sick leave from 7th September 2023 until 12th September 2023 being provided with full sick pay and reverting to half pay on 13th September 2023.

The Worker was absent on sick leave again on 24th October until 29th December 2023 being provided with certified half pay and on 30th December 2023 until present, he has been on sick leave being provided with Temporary Rehabilitation Remuneration (TRR) having exhausted his sick pay at full pay and half pay.

The Worker attended an Occupational Health Assessment on 8th December 2023 confirming that he was unfit for work but fit to engage with his employer to resolve issues.

 The Worker attended a further Occupational Health Assessment on 19th January 2024 confirming that he remained unfit for work but fit to engage with his employer to resolve issues.

The Worker met with the Employer along with his union representative on 19th February 2024 in relation to the Worker’s sick leave entitlements, returning to work, options in relation to raising a workplace complaint should he wish to do so and the availability of the Worker Assistance Programme.

No formal complaints or grievances have been received by the Employer.

A further Occupational Report was received from the Medical Practitioner on 2nd July 2024 in relation to the Worker seeking to retire on medical grounds, which was not supported by the Medical Practitioner as he did not meet the criteria.

The Employer spoke again to the Worker on 10th July 2024 in relation to available options with the Worker confirming he would consider and revert. No further engagement has taken place since.

The Employer raised a preliminary issue in relation to this complaint being submitted to the Workplace Relations Commission for Adjudication. It is a matter of fact that the Employer has in place a Grievance Procedure which is an agreed internal procedure in relation to dealing with grievances and issues in employment.

 In this regard the Employer would refer to ADJ00018981 where the Adjudicator asserted “It is well established by the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court that they do not intervene in a dispute under Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 until all internal grievance procedures have been fully exhausted. This has clearly not happened in the circumstances of the present dispute…Accordingly, I recommend that the parties exhaust all internal dispute resolution mechanisms for addressing these grievances before the worker considers the further referral of this matter to the Workplace Relations Commission for adjudication under Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969.”

It is the Employer’s position that the Worker should in the first instance refer any grievance or complaint to the Employer under the Grievance Policy and should utilise the agreed local grievance procedure prior to submission of the complaint to the WRC. This has not been done and so the Employer would see that this complaint should not be heard by the Adjudicator.

On 6th November 2023 the Employer were made aware of an issue that had arisen between the Worker and another member of staff who shared a work vehicle resulting in the Worker becoming upset and going absent on sick leave. By 14th November 2023 the Employer had contacted both parties to try resolve the situation, but neither were willing to engage.

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

The Parties, and particularly the Worker, were advised at the Hearing that it is essential to utilise the internal grievance procedure first before asking the WRC to resolve a dispute. The Worker has not initiated an internal grievance. I recommend the Worker consider his options, which could involve one more chat about his pension benefits with the HR Department, and if he feels lodging an internal grievance regarding any workplace issue is appropriate, then he should do so. 

I recommend as above in my conclusions.

Trade Dispute