Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Former Employee

A Transport Business

Representatives

Barnaba Dorda SIPTU

John Keenan JRK Business Support & Employee Advocacy Services

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 - 00000822

04/11/2022

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

IR - SC - 00000824

04/11/2022

The Worker was employed by the Employer as a delivery driver from 8 October 2018 until his dismissal on 30 December 2022. The Worker referred a number of complaints to the WRC including the following two disputes. 

IR – SC – 00000822

The Worker referred to various letters sent by him to the Employer – including the letters of 25/7/2022, 19/8/2022, 2/9/2022 and 17/10/2022. The Worker stated these letters set out a number of complaints and grievances as regards his treatment by the Employer. Specifically this dispute concerns the Worker’s contention that the Employer failed to deal with his complaints of bullying and/or instigate any procedure for that purpose. The letter of 25/7/2022 stated “The following are my list of grievances….” and in the course of the letter the Worker called on the Employer to “reply to all issues I have raised with you, and the bullying tactics from…..Management are being used against me”. In a follow up letter of 19/8/2022 the Worker asked “….can you please confirm the Company’s position regarding my grievances” and advised that in the event of a failure on their part to respond, he would have to seek third party assistance.  There was further correspondence in relation to attempts to arrange a meeting which the Worker stated were never finalised or followed through by the Employer. The Worker had sought union representation for any such meeting.

The Worker stated that he was not furnished with the Employer’s Employee Handbook or any relevant procedure. The Worker is seeking compensation for the failure of the Employer to deal with his complaints of bullying and/or instigate any procedure for that purpose. 

IR – SC – 00000824

This dispute concerns the Worker’s complaints that the grievances outlined in his letters of 25/7/2022, 19/8/2022 and 17/10/2022 were not followed up by the Employer nor did the Employer advise the Worker to initiate the Grievance Procedure. The Worker referred to his letter of 17/10/2022 wherein he outlined a number of complaints and stated: “Further to my letter of grievances to you…..dated 27/7/2022, I….wish to raise more issues andgrievances which have arisen since my last letter….” (*The Worker’s July letter was dated 25/7/2022).  The Worker also suggested a number of available dates for meetings which he stated were never followed up by the Employer.

The Worker reiterated that he was not furnished with the Employer’s Employee Handbook or any relevant procedure. The Worker is seeking compensation for the failure of the Employer to deal with his grievances and instigate any procedure for that purpose or advise him accordingly. 

IR – SC – 00000822

The Employer disputed the Worker’s claim that his complaints and grievances were not dealt with. The Employer stated that the Worker’s immediate Line Manager would have addressed the issues with the Worker and that its CEO also endeavoured to address matters. The Employer stated that the Worker was being unco-operative at the time. The Employer stated that it has a long standing policy of addressing workers issues quickly and informally. The Employer disputed that the Worker had set out any complaints of bullying and stated that his references in this regard consisted of general and unsubstantiated accusations. The Employer also stated that the Worker never initiated the  Grievance Procedure notwithstanding that this was outlined in the Employee Handbook.  

IR – SC – 00000824

The Employer made similar arguments in response to the Worker’s complaint that his grievances were not addressed. Further, the Employer referred to its attempts to meet with the Worker in August 2022 and its meeting of December 2022. In this regard the Employer emailed the Worker on 23 August 2022 stating that the Worker was invited to a meeting and that he had declined. That email also stated “I can arrange another opportunity….and can confirm…..will meet with you with or without an accompanying colleague”.

Having considered all submissions, documentation and information provided by the parties the following are my conclusions:

1.      The main complaint letters sent by the Worker overlap between references to grievances and bullying – for example the first letter of 25/7/2022 states “The following are my list of grievances” albeit that letter also refers to bullying. The follow up letter of 19/8/2022 only refers to grievances and the letter of 17/10/2022 refers to “more issues and grievances”. Accordingly, I am of the view that whilst the Worker has separated the issues of bullying and grievances for the purpose of these two disputes – in reality both disputes centre on the same net point – whether the Employer failed to address the Worker’s complaints; 

2.      As regards the Employee Handbook, I am persuaded that the Worker was furnished with a Handbook when he was initially employed. In this regard I note the Worker’s contract signed by him on 23/11/2018 referred to the Employee Handbook at paragraph 7. In addition, from in or around July 2022 the Worker was being advised by his union and would have had access to advice in relation to industrial relations procedures for the purpose of pursuing workplace grievance or bullying complaints;

3.      Notwithstanding my conclusion at point 2, I consider there was a clear onus on the Employer to have been more proactive in formally addressing the Worker’s complaints. This should have included issuing the Worker with copy of the relevant procedures in response to his letter of 25/7/2022. The Employer stated that it had invested in HR training and in my view, implementing grievance/bullying/workplace complaints procedures in a transparent and timely manner is a standard HR requirement. Whilst I have no reason to doubt the Employer’s commitment to an informal and early resolution approach – which would generally be the preferred option, at the same time - in my view – this does not absolve the Employer from commencing or facilitating or suggesting the commencement of the available formal procedures at an early stage. Such formal procedures are generally inclusive of informal and formal stages and are based on an incremental approach.

Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to these disputes.

IR – SC – 00000822

I recommend the Employer pay the Worker the amount of €350 in acknowledgement of its not - at an early stage – having commenced and/or facilitated and/or suggested to the Worker the commencement of a formal procedure to address his complaints.   

IR – SC – 00000824

Given the overlap with the issues in IR – SC – 00000822, I make no recommendation as regards this dispute.

Grievances and Workplace Complaints