Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Head Chef

A Hotel

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00032222-001

14/11/2019

The within dispute was first heard on 6th February 2020 and was adjourned to allow for internal grievance processes to be concluded with a reconvened hearing at a later date if required. There was no further contact from the worker and in the period that followed, there were several attempts made by the WRC administration staff to contact the worker’s original representative and eventually the WRC staff successfully contacted the worker himself. The worker was not aware of the previous requests for updates on the dispute.

Initially, the worker stated that he would withdraw the dispute as he was no longer in the employment having accepted voluntary redundancy in 2022 and was employed elsewhere since. The worker was asked to confirm the withdrawal of the dispute by email to the WRC.  The worker then stated that he was not in a position to withdraw the dispute and asked that an adjudication hearing be scheduled. The hearing was reconvened and took place on 20th March 2025.

The worker stated that the issues that gave rise to the referral occurred in 2019 when he felt he was treated very badly by his employer and particularly by the General Manager. He stated that he attempted to raise a grievance but that nothing was done. He then acknowledged that the Covid 19 pandemic brought about significant changes to the employment, and he accepted voluntary redundancy in 2022 having decided that the alternative role offered to him following a restructure was not suitable.

The worker confirmed that he did not pursue the recommendations of the independent consultant at the time and then the employment ended. The worker stated that he had not thought about the issue in a long time but did not wish to withdraw the complaint without having an adjudication hearing. The worker did not specify the form of redress he was seeking from the adjudication process but did seek to bring the matter to a conclusion.

The employer’s position was that, following the previous adjudication hearing, it engaged an independent consultant to investigate the issues raised by the worker and was prepared to engage on the recommendations with him. The employer stated that there were significant challenges in the Hotel around the time of the Covid 19 pandemic and following a restructure, the worker accepted voluntary redundancy in 2022. The employer confirmed that the recommendations of the consultant were ultimately not acted upon. The employer further submitted that it was contact from the WRC to the worker that prompted the adjudication hearing and that the worker had not sought to progress the matter for in excess of five years. The employer is seeking that the worker’s claim be dismissed.

Having listened to the submissions of both parties, it is clear that the worker has moved on and has been in a new employment for a number of years. The delay in bringing the matter to a conclusion is unfortunate but occurred due to several reasons and the worker himself stated that he had not thought about the issue in a long time but did not feel he could withdraw the dispute without having the matter concluded at adjudication.

I note that comments of the employer representative that the adjudication hearing was arranged following contact made with the worker by the WRC and was not requested by the worker himself. This contact was made to give the worker the choice to have the matter heard or to withdraw the dispute in circumstances where those were the only two options available to him to conclude the matter.

I further note that the issues that gave rise to the dispute occurred in 2019. The initial adjudication hearing of 6th February 2020 was adjourned to allow an internal grievance process to be concluded. The employer addressed the matter immediately by engaging an independent consultant who issued findings and recommendations on 21st February 2020 in relation to the issue. The subsequent changes to the hospitality sector during and after the Covid 19 pandemic resulted in the worker accepting voluntary redundancy from the employer in 2022 and the recommendations of the independent consultant were not pursued further by either party.

In all of the circumstances of the dispute and considering the time that has passed since the issue arose, the fact that the worker is a number of years in new employment, and with pragmatism and common sense in mind, I find that, from an industrial relations perspective, there is no recommendation that would be of any practical value to the parties at this point in time. On that basis, I find both parties should consider the matter closed with no further action required by the employer.

I recommend that both parties consider the matter closed and that no further action is required of the employer in relation to the dispute.

Industrial relations dispute