The Employment Relations Authority has denied an employee’s personal grievance claim of unjustified dismissal because she did not properly raise it within the 90-day time limit.

The employee raised a personal grievance claim with her employer for bullying and harassment in July 2019. The employer stated that they would take steps to investigate the claims, but nothing was resolved.

The employee attended mediation in February 2020 but no resolution was achieved. The employee resigned soon after.

The employee raised a personal grievance claim of unjustified dismissal against the employer with the Authority. The issue that the Authority had to determine was whether the employee had raised the claim within the 90-day time limit.

A personal grievance claim must be raised within 90 days from when the action causing the personal grievance occurred, or when the employee became aware of it.

The employee argued that her letter of resignation raised her personal grievance claim of unjustified dismissal. In order to make a decision, the Authority had to determine whether the letter of resignation met three criteria. To raise a personal grievance, the letter must have:

  1. Alleged a complaint in the nature of a personal grievance;
  2. Made it clear that the employee wanted the employer to respond; and
  3. Identified the complaint with sufficient detail for the employer to respond.

The letter of resignation stated that the employee was resigning from her position. It said that she resigned with a “heavy heart”, because the employer had failed to address her complaints of bullying and harassment in a timely way. The employee stated that she felt like she had no choice but to resign.

The Authority decided that the letter clearly showed the employee was only resigning because she felt like she had been forced to. The letter also explained that the employee was resigning because of the employer’s earlier failure to address her workplace bullying complaints.

However, the Authority decided that the employee’s words did not adequately raise a personal grievance of unjustified dismissal.

The Authority decided that if the letter did raise a complaint, it was about the failure of the employer to respond in a timely way to her earlier grievance regarding workplace bullying which was now outside the 90-day period. To have raised a personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal, the complaint had to have related to the employee’s forced resignation.

The Authority also noted that the letter did not request or require a response from the employer.

The Authority ultimately determined that the letter of resignation did not raise a personal grievance of unjustified dismissal and therefore the employee’s claim was made outside the 90-day time limit. The employee did not receive any compensation from the employer.

It is important to get your personal grievance right. If you believe you have been treated unfairly and are confused about the process, it pays to seek advice from a professional with experience in the area.

 

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Alan Knowsley and Hunter Flanagan-Connors