The Workplace Relations Commission recommended that a worker permanently demoted after reverse picking be given the next available Acting Line Manager position without a selection process. Adjudication Officer Breiffni O’Neill dated the recommendation 13 May 2024.
The worker said he reverse-picked a few boxes to compare warehouse methods and gained no financial benefit. The employer said his conduct undermined efforts to stop reverse picking and breached trust because of his management role. O’Neill accepted that discipline was warranted but found the permanent demotion wholly unreasonable and disproportionate. A specific unpaid suspension from Acting Line Manager duties would have been more appropriate, the officer said. The WRC recommendation concerned reinstatement to the next available position; it did not set a monetary award.