Grievance Procedures must contain right to refer a grievance to a third party industrial relations institution. – Labour Court
A contention by a company that there is no requirement for the company's grievance procedure to contain a provision requiring a referral to an external independent third party was rejected by the Labour Court in a recent recommendation, LCR20406.
Having considered the submission of both parties, the Court recommended that the company’s grievance procedure should be amended to include the right to refer a grievance to a third party industrial relations institution. This is consistent with the procedure set out in the Bright Contracts Handbook.
The matter was referred by their union to the Labour Court on behalf of workers who had many years of employment with the company.
They claimed that the Company had unilaterally withdrawn their right to avail of the State's industrial relations machinery and demanded the reversal of what they described as a unilateral change to their terms and conditions of employment.
At the Labour Court hearing the company had rejected the Union's claim that its grievance procedure was incomplete. They argued that the company's grievance procedure was an internal process that complied with all normal business standards and that there is no requirement for the Company's grievance procedure to contain a provision requiring a referral to an external independent third party.
The Labour Court, in outlining its recommendation, stated the following:
“Having considered the submission of both parties the Court recommends that the Grievance Procedure should be amended to include the right to refer a grievance to a third party industrial relations institution. The Court so recommends.”
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
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