Employee disadvantaged during disciplinary process...

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has upheld a personal grievance claim by an employee who was not given an opportunity to comment on his suspension and for the poor communication by his employer during the disciplinary investigation, including not doing what it said it would do and not telling the employee that it had changed its mind.

The employee was alleged to have indecently assaulted a fellow employee.  He was suspended without consultation. The Police considered the allegations and decided not to bring any prosecution.  The disciplinary investigation then found that the alleged incidents did not occur. 

The ERA held that the employer’s failure to allow the employee an opportunity to comment on the suspension, was an unjustified disadvantage, as was the employer not sticking to the process it advised the employee it would follow. 

The ERA awarded $6,000.00 compensation for the employer’s failures plus costs. 

Of note, the employer in this case was the Police and despite being a large employer with HR expertise, they got their processes wrong. It pays to get the processes correct to avoid paying out compensation awards. The Police here could have given the employee a chance to comment on the suspension. They could also have advised the employee of a proposed change in the investigation process. If they had done those things they would have acted as a fair and reasonable employer.

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