LCR22342

1. Complaint regarding disciplinary action.

BACKGROUND:

2. This case concerns disciplinary action taken against the Worker.

On the 1 October 2020, the Worker referred the dispute to the Labour Court in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and agreed to be bound by the Court's Recommendation.

A Labour Court hearing took place on the 6 January 2021. The Employer did not attend the hearing.


WORKER'S ARGUMENTS:

3. 1. The Union states that the Worker did not receive a fair and impartial investigation, contrary to her entitlements under S.I. 146 of 2000. Her line manager assessed her work performance and then decided to impose disciplinary sanction.

2. Natural Justice and Due Process are not gifts from the Employer to the Employee, they are entitlements.

3. The Worker was not given an unbiased consideration of her explanations and the case against her was predetermined and corrupted.


EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:


The Employer did not attend the hearing but provided the Court with an outline of events and argument that the Worker’s line manager was the most appropriate person to judge the Worker’s performance, which was done objectively and with fairness. They submitted that what occurred was a process of performance monitoring and was not a disciplinary process and, as a result, was not subject to the requirements that would apply to a disciplinary process.





RECOMMENDATION :

The Court acknowledges the right of an employer to monitor the performance of their employees and recognises that line managers are, unquestionably, best placed to judge the performance of their staff.

The Court accepts the Union argument that an employer of this size has the capability to separate the assessment of performance from any disciplinary process that might arise as a result of that assessment and that it ought to have done so in this case.

The Court recommends that the Employer review its procedures to ensure conformity with the terms of S.I. 146 of 2000. The Court recommends further that the Employer pay the Worker an amount of €1000 in recognition of the fact that she was not afforded due process in accordance with that Statutory Instrument.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Tom Geraghty
CO'R	______________________
12 January, 2021	Deputy Chairman