ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00016217
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Water services technician. | A County Council |
Representatives | Fórsa Trade Union |
|
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 | CA-00021076-001 | 09/08/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 20/11/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David Mullis
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 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 evidence relevant to the dispute.
Background:
The Complainant has worked for the Respondent since the 18th March 2008. The issue giving rise to the dispute occurred in 2012 and resulted in the Complainant being moved to another work site of the Respondent. She understood that the transfer was a temporary one to allow investigation to take place. While the issue at the centre of the original dispute has been largely resolved the Complainant referred this Complaint to the WRC for resolution. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant says that because she understood the transfer to the other location to be temporary that she maintained details of her costs of getting there, and subsistence, in accordance with the Respondent allowances in such circumstances. She says she now wants those accumulated costs to be paid to her. She also says that she wishes to return to her original employment location, as the staff group with whom she works are located there and that that is where she lives. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent says that they regret that resolution of the original dispute took so long. They point to the length of the investigation, the non-cooperation with the independent investigator by some people and the reference of the disputes to other branches of the State dispute resolution bodies such as the Rights Commissioner and the WRC. They say that they wanted to resolve all of the issues. They say that they had previously offered €3,000 in compensation for the costs claimed in expenses by the Complainant. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I find that the issues involved have gone on for much too long and that there was not sufficient concern for the Complainant in this. The Respondent is aware that she had to receive counselling due to the stress involved |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.
I note that it was agreed, at the hearing, that the Complainant will return to work at her original place of work by the end of January 2019 and that she and the Respondent will discuss this in early January 2019. I recommend also that the Complainant be paid compensation of €15,000 in the context of the length of time it has taken to finally resolve the issues. |
Dated: 24th January 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David Mullis
Key Words:
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