20 Jun Disciplinary & Investigation Procedures
The recent case of Mr Boodhun versus the Schoolhouse Hotel in Dublin is a useful reminder about the absolute necessity to always follow clearly demarcated investigation, disciplinary and appeal stages, with the Adjudicator commenting on the cross contamination between stages of the process which involved the General Manager and the owner of the hotel, as well as a HR Consultant who was involved in all stages of the process.
The Adjudicator did determine that there was a substantive reason for dismissing the Bar Manager, who had a previously clean record with 5 years unblemished service, but who had not applied the Hotel’s revised service policy correctly to diners. This stipulated that a 10% service charge would only apply automatically to tables of 8 people or more, but which he had been applying to smaller groups of diners, as well as facilitating other staff to do so.
The Company had contended that this practice had the potential to significantly undermine their reputation and business.
However, the significant number of procedural flaws in the process rendered the dismissal unfair and resulted in an award of €8,000 compensation being made.
It is therefore critical to properly plan any workplace investigation and review of allegations that may potentially lead to disciplinary action or dismissal to avoid a potential costly claim, with the following takeaways from this particular case:
- Identify allegations of misconduct clearly at outset and communicate in writing
- Provide sufficient notice for meetings and opportunity to prepare a response
- Do not expand the scope of any review or input to a disciplinary decision without full investigation and affording a proper right to respond
- Ensure that different personnel are involved at each stage of the process, who can provide an unbiased and impartial review as required.
The full details and case can be read here:https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2025/june/adj-00048437.html
Please contact HR Solutions if you would benefit from an expert and impartial handling of a workplace investigation or disciplinary process: