Case Number: ADJ - 00039503. Workplace Relations Commission

• Judgment Date: 07 September 2022
• Docket Number: ADJ - 00039503
• Date: 01 September 2022
• Court: Workplace Relations Commission

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 (as amended) following the referral of the dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the dispute and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any information relevant to the dispute.

Background:

The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent in 2000, this employment ended in May 2018. This complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 19th February 2021. Please note that in complaints heard under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 the complainant is referred to as ‘the worker’ and the respondent is referred to as ‘the employer’.

Summary of Workers Case:

The worker is aggrieved by the manner in which he was treated when applying for a Clerical Grade 1 position of Acting Customer Relations Supervisor" in the Customer Relations Department. The worker worked for the employer since 2OOO and had been working in the CRD at Clerical Grade 2 Level since 2006. When the Employer advertised the vacancy in 2014 for a Clerical Grade 1 position, it made certain changes to the terms of the Staff Vacancy Notice from the one which had been used by the Employer when filling the same role in 2011 despite the fact that there had been no change in job functions. One of the changes made to the 2014 Staff Vacancy Notice (SVN) was to label "Experience supervising a team' as "essential criteria for the role" whereas in the 2011 SVN this was merely identified as "a key competence/skill". The worker found that the Agency used by the Employer to interview candidates for the position failed to appreciate that he was an internal candidate. The worker discovered that he was not brought forward for an interview because he was deemed ineligible by virtue of the of the 2014 SVN noted above, despite the fact that the job...