Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

Catering Assistant

Fast Food Restaurant

Representatives

Self-represented

Not represented

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

 CA-00045045-001

06/07/2021

The worker was employed as a catering assistant.  The worker commenced work on 9th October 2020 and resigned on 4th June 2021.  The role was part-time, usually working 20 hours per week but sometimes up to 30 hours.  This dispute concerns the mishandling of and lack of response to a complaint.  The worker made a verbal complaint about two managers at a meeting on 28 May 2021 and followed that with a written complaint on June 3rd, 2021, to the Director of Operations.  The worker did not receive any report of an investigation of her verbal complaint, neither did she received a response to her written complaint.   

The worker was employed as a part-time catering assistant.  The worker commenced employment in October 2020.  According to her contract of employment she reported to the Store Manager.  On 24th May 2021, the worker requested a meeting with the Store Manager and the Area Manager to make a complaint.  At the time she requested the meeting she did not specify what the complaint was about.  The Store Manager scheduled the meeting for 28th May 2021.

The meeting took place in a seating area of the restaurant which at the time was closed to customers but was within sight and hearing range of other staff and customers.  The worker informed the Store Manager and Area Manager that the complaint concerned alleged sexual harassment by two managers.  The Store Manager and the Area Manager said they would take this issue very seriously but neither took notes of what the worker told them during the meeting.

At the end of the meeting the worker gave the Store Manager, and the Area Manager notice that she was leaving her employment.  The two managers asked the worker to reconsider and to consider an opportunity to work in one of the company’s other stores.  The worker declined this offer and gave her one week notice.

The worker stated that the Store Manager and the Area Manager told her they would have to conduct a formal investigation, involving interviewing members of staff individually on the matter.  The worker provided a copy of the written complaint in which she alleged that she was subjected to unwanted verbal comments about her beautiful eyes or how beautiful she looked which made her uncomfortable and she considered inappropriate from an older manager to a twenty-year junior employee.  The worker also noted that the manager put his hands on the arms, shoulders or back of female staff when trying to pass them in the restaurant.

The worker referred to the company’s employee handbook which contains the policy on bullying and harassment.  Specifically referring to section 2.3.2.3 dealing with the investigation of complaints from workers: “The investigator(s) will meet with the complainant(s) and respondent(s) and any witnesses or relevant persons on an individual confidential basis with a view to establishing the facts surrounding the allegation(s).  Both the complainant(s) and respondent(s) may be accompanied by a work colleague or employee representative if so desired.”

Following the worker’s meeting of 28th May 2021 with the Store Manager and the Area Manager meetings took place with each worker in the restaurant.  The worker alleges that the meetings were a breach of the company procedure for the investigation of complaints.  The worker alleges that the meetings were not confidential as they were conducted in the seating area of the restaurant, which was closed to the public but within the sight and hearing range of staff and customers.  The worker alleges that each worker was told there were having a ‘performance review’ meeting, not a meeting as part of any investigation of a complaint.  Towards the end of each meeting each worker was asked if they had anything to say about the relevant manager.  The managers did not take notes at these meetings.  Each worker was then told that a two euro pay rise was on the way.

The worker noted that her complaint was about the conduct of two managers.  One manager resigned on the day she made her verbal complaint.  The Area Manager met with the other manager, again in the seating area of the restaurant, and the worker believes this was a disciplinary meeting.  The worker was working that day and considered it inappropriate that the managers held the meetings where all workers could see what was happening.  The worker understands that her complaint resulted in the relevant manager receiving a written warning.

The worker was accompanied at the hearing by a former worker.  He confirmed that there were no performance review meetings scheduled at the time of the complaint.  The meetings took place as a response to the complaint, but workers were not told the reason for the unscheduled performance review meetings, they were each asked at the end of the meeting if they had anything to say about the relevant manager.  He confirmed the meetings were held in the seating area of the restaurant which was closed to customers but was within sight and hearing range of anyone in the restaurant at that time.  He continued to work at the restaurant after the worker had resigned.  He stated that a staff meeting took place shortly after the worker left.  The meeting covered usual general issues, but the last item was a statement from the Area Manager and the Store Manager about the policy on harassment and sexual harassment.  The two managers stated that inappropriate behaviour would not be accepted and if any worker had a problem, they should talk with them.

The worker’s position is that the employer company failed to properly investigate her complaint and was in breach of its own policy, for the following reasons:

• The company breached its own policy as all meetings concerning her complaint were not confidential.  The meetings were held in the seating area of the restaurant within sight and hearing range of other workers and customers.
• The other workers were not informed that the questions they were asked about a manager at the end of a performance review related to a complaint about that manager.
• The Area Manager and the Store Manager did not take notes at any of the meetings.
• The worker did not receive any report of the investigation of her complaint.  This again is in breach of the company policy.
• The worker sent a written complaint to the Director of Operations the day before the last shift she worked.  She did not receive an acknowledgement of, or reply to, this complaint.
• Three weeks after her resignation the worker rang the Area Manager for an update on her complaint and asking what decision he had made.  The worker stated that he replied that he could not discuss it with her due to GDPR issues.  The Area Manager told her to email the Director of Operations.
• The worker texted the Director of Operations asking him for an update.  The worker did not receive a reply to her text message.
• The employer, despite the assurance given when the worker made her verbal complaint, did not take her complaint seriously.

The employer was not represented at the hearing.  The employer did not respond to any communication from the Workplace Relations Commission.

In conducting my investigation, I have considered all relevant submissions presented to me by the worker.

The worker referred a dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission pursuant to section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.  Section 13 (3) (a) of the Act requires that an Adjudication Officer shall investigate a trade dispute referred to them and make a recommendation to the parties to the dispute setting forth their opinion on the merits of the dispute.

The worker’s dispute is about the mishandling of a complaint she made to her employer.  The worker initially made a verbal complainant alleging sexual harassment by two managers at the restaurant where she was employed.  At the meeting where the worker made her verbal complaint, she also gave notice of her resignation from her employment.  On the day before her last working day the worker sent a written complaint to the Director of Operations, setting out the same issues as she had provided in her verbal complaint.

The worker, a student working part-time to support herself at college, stated that the employer mishandled her verbal complaint and that she did not receive a reply to her written complaint.  The worker was clear in her recall of the reactions of the Area Manager and the Store Manager to her verbal complaint and the way they went about dealing with the complaint.  The worker was credible and in my opinion truthful about her experience.  A former colleague attended the hearing and gave his account of how the worker’s verbal complaint was managed.  His experience was similar to the account given by the worker.  The employer did not respond to any correspondence sent from the Workplace Relations Commission and did not attend the investigation hearing. 

In my opinion the employer mishandled the worker’s complaint.  The worker provided extracts from the Employee Handbook policy on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Bullying.  That policy states that meetings with complainant(s), respondent(s) and any witnesses will be confidential.  I fail to see how meetings held in a seating area of a fast-food restaurant, within sight and hearing range of workers and customers could be confidential.  They were dealing with a complaint of sexual harassment made by a worker about her manager, which is a serious complaint and all meetings about that complaint deserved to be held in private.  The employer acted in breach of its own policy. 

Following these meetings the complainant did not receive any report of the investigation.  The worker became aware that one manager was given a written warning because of her complaint, she was not informed of this by the employer.  The other manager that the worker complained about had left on the day the complaint was made.  I acknowledge that the worker had given notice at the time that she made her verbal complaint but that cannot provide the employer with an excuse for not providing the worker a full report of the investigation of her complaint.

The worker sent a written complaint to the Director of Operations on the day before her last shift.  The employer did not acknowledge this complaint, and the worker never received a response to this complaint.  That is completely unacceptable, in breach of the company policy and best practice. 

The worker made her complaints expecting the employer to treat the matter seriously and follow their own investigation procedure.  The worker also expressed her concern for other young employees working with the managers she had complained about.  In my opinion the employer mishandled her complaints and showed a lack of concern for the wellbeing of all their employees.

Considering all the circumstances I recommend the following:

• The employer should acknowledge to the worker that it mishandled her complaints and that her complaints were not properly investigated.  As the employer failed to follow its own company policy it is my opinion that it is just and equitable for it to provide redress to the worker for that failure.  I recommend that the employer make a payment of €1,500 to the worker.
• The employer should review its policy on harassment and sexual harassment.  The policy should aim to prevent harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace and encourage best practice in providing a safe workplace.  I recommend that the employer update its policy in line with the Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work produced by the IHREC.
• I recommend that the employer provides training for all managers and supervisors in managing and handling issues of harassment, sexual harassment and bullying.  The focus should be on prevention of such issues and having a safe working environment. However, managers and supervisors must be professionally trained by the employer to deal with such issues when they arise, in compliance with the law, company policies, and treating workers with respect.

Mishandling Complaints

Investigation of Complaints

Sexual Harassment Complaint