The Workplace Relations Commission recommended that a hospital pay a nurse €1,500 after finding it failed to conclude her grievance process within its own timelines. The recommendation was dated 26 February 2025 and concerned the handling of her grievance about verbal abuse by a co-worker.
The nurse said the co-worker shouted expletives at her and taunted her. Her grievance was upheld and a written apology promised, but she said the apology never came. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation represented her. The hospital apologised for delays and said the process took place during the Covid pandemic.
The adjudication officer found the grievance process took 46 days, compared with an approximately 14-day timeline in the hospital’s policy. He accepted that Covid, the summer holiday period and the grievance hearer’s efforts helped explain the delay, but found the hospital had not notified the parties that the deadlines were being extended. He recommended compensation for failure to follow the hospital’s own procedures.