Courts / Ireland / Report

Newspaper worker claimed he was penalised for giving evidence in grievance hearing

Summary

In a 2022 complaint under the Industrial Relations Act, a newspaper machine‑operator alleged that he was penalised for giving evidence at a workplace grievance hearing by being denied lucrative Christmas shift work. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) rejected the claim. The WRC decision, released anonymously, stated that the publisher required shift cover on 25th and 31st December and normally offered a "very significant premium." The worker said he was denied this work and that the company failed to investigate his grievance. The publisher argued that an oversupply of requests and the worker's unavailability for other non‑premium shifts meant he had no chance of working the Christmas shifts. The adjudicating officer, Brian Dalton, found no evidence of penalisation, concluded the matter was a technical breach, and did not recommend any concession to the worker. The decision was made public this morning.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Newspaper worker claimed he was penalised for giving evidence in grievance hearing. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• Christmas Other
• 2022-07-25 Publication

Why: In order to get them, staff had to be available on two other days and the complainant had not been available, it said. CNI source report

Case subjects

Topics

Stage Trial

Read the original CNI report