Case Number: ADJ-00015891. Workplace Relations Commission

• Docket Number: ADJ-00015891
• Hearing Date: 06 December 2018
• Date: 31 May 2019
• Court: Workplace Relations Commission
• Parties: A Retail Assistant V A Fashion Retailer

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 - 2015, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a hearing on December 6th 2018 and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint.

The complainant attended the hearing on her own and represented herself. Ms Michelle Ryan of Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors represented the respondent. Four of the respondent’s managers attended and gave evidence; the HR Advisor, a Store Supervisor, a Store Manager and a Regional Manager.

At the opening of the hearing, the respondent provided the correct registered name of the company and I have amended this decision to show the correct name.

Background:

The respondent has a network of fashion shops in England and Ireland and, on December 5th 2014, the complainant commenced work as a retail assistant in one of their stores in a north Dublin shopping centre. She resigned on March 31st 2018. When she started in the job, the complainant worked for 12 hours each week, but, from the time she went to college, she reduced her hours to four hours a week and she generally worked on Fridays from 5.30pm until 9.30pm. At the time of her departure, she was on an hourly rate of €9.25. Submitting that the termination of her employment was an unfair dismissal, the complainant alleged that the store where she worked in north Dublin was not managed properly and that she was mistreated and not listened to, with the result that she felt that she had to hand in her notice.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

In her complaint form, the complainant set out the reasons that she decided to resign from her job: She said that her complaint is related to bad management and being mistreated and feeling that she wasn’t listened to by her supervisor, who I will refer to as “Ms Dunne,” with the result that she said that she was “forced into having to hand in my notice.” The complainant said that she was mistreated and bullied by Ms Dunne, mainly because of bad management by the store manager, who I will refer to as “Ms Murphy.” The complainant said that Ms Murphy allowed Ms Dunne to overrule her. She said that meetings were held at which Ms Dunne “gave out to everyone sitting there, belittling people, being aggressive, using bad language.” She said that the manager allowed this to happen. Ms Dunne also made a member of the staff stay back to finish a task and then afterwards boosted to another person that the girl would not be paid. For the Christmas party the employees told the manager they would prefer to go into town for the night and once again Ms Dunne took over and the manager allowed this. In the end, only three people went to the party. She said that further manipulation occurred around the time of Storm Ophelia when she said that Ms Dunne said that staff had to come to work, despite the storm warning and she told them that they would be disciplined if they didn’t come to work. The complainant said that shortly after this, the group message facility was deleted. She said that the manager had “absolutely no understanding or compassion for people’s situations.” The complainant said that her rota was changed without her being informed, and that she always worked the same Friday evening shift from 5.30pm until 9.30pm. In her evidence at the hearing, the complainant said that, as a result of the changed rota, she was expected to come to work on Thursday, March 29th, but she didn’t come in, because she didn’t realise that she was expected in on that Thursday. She said that she missed a call from Ms Dunne that evening around 8.00pm. From this, she said that she figured out that she was meant to be at work. She said that she telephoned her supervisor to ask why her rota was changed and she said that Ms Dunne alleged that she, the complainant was annoyed, and this led the manager, Ms Murphy, to believe something that wasn’t true. A few weeks previously, the complainant said that she was thinking about handing in her notice, but she said that she wanted to speak to Ms Murphy first. She said that she was going to make a complaint about her supervisor, but Ms Murphy was on holidays and she said she would speak to the complainant when she got back. The complainant said she didn’t want to work with Ms Dunne and that she wasn’t the only employee in this predicament. At the hearing, the complainant said that she never had a meeting with her manager to ask her if she was okay, and that she “brushes everything under the carpet and does not follow work procedures.” When Ms Murphy was on holidays, the complainant said that she continued to work as normal and when she returned, Ms Murphy said nothing to the complainant and made no effort to speak with her about her concerns. She said that she wanted to speak with her manager about “a delicate issue about another member of staff.” Following this, there was a mix-up with the rota. In March 2018, the complainant said that her father was very ill and attending hospital appointments. On March 31st, she was shopping in her store for her father when the manager, Ms Murphy, asked to speak to her. She thought that this was the opportunity she was looking for, to speak in private about the things that were concerning her. However, the complainant said that, rather than giving her an opportunity to talk, her manager “attacked” her for telephoning the shop to complain about the change in her roster. The complainant considered her manager’s conduct as “insensitive and unprofessional displaying zero people skills.” She said that she found this behaviour hard to believe, particularly when the manager knew that her father was very sick. She said that she felt that she had no choice but to hand in her notice. The complainant said that she was one of the longest-serving employees in the shop and she was extremely upset at how she was treated. She said that she doesn’t think that she would have...