LCR23109

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00050952 (IR-SC-00002485).

BACKGROUND:

The Worker appealed the Adjudication Officer’s Recommendation to the Labour Court on 13 November 2024 in accordance with Section 13(9) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.

On 16 October 2024 the Adjudication Officer issued the following Recommendation:

“As the worker did not raise any grievance or complaint of an allegation of bullying while she was in the employment I recommend that she accept that the WRC cannot investigate the matter further.”

A Labour Court hearing took place on 28 January 2025.

DECISION:

Background to the Appeal

This is an appeal on behalf of the Worker from a Recommendation of an Adjudication Officer (IR-SC-0002485, dated 16 October 2024) under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969. Notice of Appeal was received in the Court on 13 November 2024. The Court heard the appeal in Galway on 28 January 2025.

The Factual Background to the Dispute

The Worker was employed as an Office Administrator by Halcyon Management Services Limited (‘the Company’) from 16 February 2022 until she resigned with effect from 14 December 2023.

Following her resignation, the Complainant referred complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and under the Industrial Relations Act 1969. Neither claim succeeded at first instance.

It is apparent that there was a considerable overlap between the matters alleged by the Worker in both of her original complaints. It is common case that the Worker raised no formal grievance or allegation of bullying before she resigned from her employment with the Company. She did, however, put her complaints in writing to the company following her resignation.

The Worker’s Submission

The Worker is seeking compensation equivalent to four years’ pay for the alleged bullying treatment she experienced while employed with the Company. It is her submission that she did verbally raise issues about her interactions with her manager during the course of her employment but that her complaints “never went anywhere”. She does not accept that the Company had an antibullying policy and procedure in place.

The Company’s Submission

The Company submits that it has a comprehensive Employee Handbook in place which includes both a Grievance Procedure and a Bullying Prevention and Resolution Procedure. It further submits that the Worker did not utilise either procedure during her employment.

The relevant parts of the Company’s Employee Handbook were included in its submission to the Court.

The Adjudication Officer’s Recommendation

Having found that the Worker “did not raise a grievance or complaint of an allegation of bullying while she was in employment”, the Adjudication Officer recommended that the Worker “accept that the WRC cannot investigate the matter further”.

Discussion and Decision

The Court finds that there is nothing before it on which it can find that the Worker raised her allegations of bullying prior to her resignation. The Court does not ordinarily have a role in investigating the substance of such complaints. Its focus in investigating disputes of this nature is primarily to evaluate the fairness of any investigation carried out by or on behalf of an employer into allegations raised by a worker, having regard to the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work.

In this instance, no complaints having been made by the Worker under the Company’s policy and no investigation took place in the workplace. In all the circumstances, therefore, the Court upholds the Adjudication Officer’s Recommendation.

The appeal is dismissed.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
TH	______________________
5th March 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Therese Hickey, Court Secretary.