ADJUDICATION OFFICER Recommendation on dispute under Industrial Relations Act 1969
Investigation Recommendation Reference: IR - SC - 00005632
Parties:
| Worker | Employer |
Anonymised Parties | Driver | Logistics Company |
Representatives | self | IBEC Representative |
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 - 00005632 | 10/11/2025 |
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Brian Dalton
Date of Hearing: 08/05/2026
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 (as amended) following the referral of the dispute 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:
This Complaint is closely linked to an employment rights matter also pursued. The worker under Industrial Relations claims the following: I was subjected to bullying and harassment type behaviour by management. After raising health and safety concerns, I was instructed to carry out an unreasonable task (shunting a truck to redacted and returning by taxi) which was not part of my normal duties. When I refused this on reasonable grounds, I was immediately issued with an invitation to a disciplinary meeting without any fact-finding or fair procedure. Following my workplace injury on 29 August 2025, my GP certified me unfit for work, but management attempted to undermine my medical certificate, implying it was not valid. I was placed under continued pressure while on sick leave and was repeatedly contacted to attend meetings. This treatment caused severe stress and anxiety. I believe this behaviour amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, and unfair treatment. |
Summary of Workers Case:
This worker claims that he was injured at work. He believes that he was unreasonably pressed to attend meetings about the incident, without being properly prepared such as the occupational medical report sent to him in advance. His requests for information so that he could be prepared was denied. Yet he was threatened with serious sanctions for not attending this investigative meeting. He was told that if he didn’t attend a disciplinary process would follow and what followed was a sanction of dismissal but not fair process or hearing. The worker was on certified leave and believes he should not have been pressed to attend that meeting while certified to be absent from work. He attended the Occupational Health Examination and co-operated with reasonable requests |
Summary of Employer’s Case:
The Employer stated that they gave the worker many explanations and rescheduled the safety investigation meeting on several occasions to facilitate the worker. The process to investigate an occupational injury is part of normal workplace procedures. In this case it is also required by the client company as the accident happened on their site. The worker failed to comply with a reasonable instruction and was warned that if that continued to frustrate the safety investigation, he could face a serious sanction up to dismissal. He was given one last chance to attend that investigative meeting and he failed to attend. He was dismissed for failing to carry out a reasonable instruction. He was given the right of appeal and that appeal found that the dismissal was justified. |
Conclusions:
An Industrial Relations referral is about the resolution of a difference between the parties voluntarily. It can make a recommendation on the merits of the case. This referral alleging bullying and harassment has been investigated under an Unfair Dismissal’s case. In those circumstances it is not appropriate to make a recommendation on the merits of the dispute where on similar facts an employment rights adjudication decision has issued. |
Recommendation:
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.
As the matter substantially has been adjudicated upon based on the same facts at an employment rights hearing, there is no merit in also making an recommendation under this Act which is about resolving a trade dispute that has the character of voluntary resolution.
Dated: 27-07-2026
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Brian Dalton
Key Words:
Trade dispute-parallel employment right’s claim- |