07 Dec Trouble at the Xmas Party !
With the Christmas party season well underway, employers would be advised to take note of the potential cost of claims, when things can go wrong, particularly after too much drink has been taken....
24 Feb Normal Supervision Not Bullying
This recent WRC decision outlines how normal supervision and requiring employees to adhere to workplace procedures will not normally constitute bullying....
05 Jan Investigation Procedures
The importance of always adhering to fair investigation procedures was highlighted in a recent Labour Court case that upheld the Complainant’s appeal of the quantum awarded of €2,544 made by an Adjudication Office, increasing the compensation payable to €5,000 (Ref UDD2167)....
30 Nov Fair Dismissal Procedures
In this recently published decision, yet again an employer fell short on how it implemented a dismissal of an employee who, had less than 5 months service, resulting in an award of €6,000 being recommended despite breaching a clause that prevented her working in any manner outside of her employment that could be prejudicial to her employer. (Ref ADJ-00028843)....
02 Jul Effective Workplace Investigations
As investigations have become more and more common and necessary in the workplace to deal with issues such as complex grievances, allegations of bullying and harassment, breaches of operational standards and potential misconduct, it is critical that they are conducted in a fair and procedurally correct manner, to ensure that they don’t contribute to a flawed procedure if investigation findings ultimately lead to the dismissal of an employee. Here are some of the key aspects which should be considered to help ensure any investigation procedure is robust and stands up to scrutiny:...
27 Apr Remote Disciplinary & Grievance Hearings
As Covid -19 ongoing restrictions mean that normal work place attendance may not resume in the near future for a lot of organisations, it is clear that the standard face to face meeting format for a range of typical workplace situations, such as grievance and disciplinary hearings will not be available for some time. It is also notable that the Supreme Court held it's first sitting ever via remote video technology last week, and the Workplace Relations Commission has published a consultation paper on conducing hearings remotely and by written submissions. So how can these meetings be managed and what are the pitfalls?...
29 Oct Protected Disclosure Penalisation Award
The Complainant was awarded €4k compensation for penalisation in respect of how his protected disclosure was handled, and his employer ordered to implement it's own Protected Disclosures Policy and resolve outstanding questions of fact as raised within the disclosure (Ref ADJ - 00017774)....
26 Jun Setting Up a Workplace Investigation
This article outlines some key considerations when setting up a workplace investigation, whether it is to deal with alleged misconduct, a bullying or harassment complaint or an employee grievance. Taking time at the outset to ensure that an investigation is correctly framed and structured, will help ensure that all parties receive a fair hearing and that outcomes will be robust and stand up to scrutiny if challenged....
27 Nov Re-engagement Ordered By Labour Court After Flawed Investigation And Disciplinary Process.
The determination published earlier this year in the SSP Ireland v Albert Fordjour provides some useful lessons for employers on the necessity of adopting fair procedures at all stages of the investigation and disciplinary processes and in particular around the interviewing of proposed witnesses (Ref UDD 1758)....
30 Nov Flawed Investigation LeadsTo Award of €15,000 to Dismissed Cashier.
In Determination UDD 1739 the Labour Court upheld an appeal by a till operator who had been dismissed by Woodies, as the Investigation conducted by the Company did not reasonably conclude on the balance of probabilities that the dismissed employee had taken a missing €50 note....
- 1
- 2