The Workplace Relations Commission rejected a social worker’s constructive-dismissal complaint against a public body, finding that the conduct he described did not meet the legal tests for constructive dismissal. The decision was dated 30 August 2017.
The residential social care worker said colleagues learned he had applied for a unit manager role, despite the recruitment process being intended to keep applicants’ identities confidential. He said colleagues then congratulated him on getting the job before he knew the result, and that the disclosure and workplace gossip made his position unbearable.
The respondent said it investigated the disclosure and treated it as an informal grievance. It also noted that he had not lodged a formal grievance. The adjudication officer said the disclosure was concerning and the false congratulations were alarming.
But, even taking the worker’s account at its highest, the officer found that the disclosure did not amount to a breach of his employment contract. The mutual-trust-and-confidence test was not met, and the employer’s conduct was not sufficiently unreasonable in the absence of a formal grievance and given the worker’s speedy resignation. His complaint was found not well founded.