A Win for Workplace Safety: Employer’s Victory in Phone Use Dismissal
DMC Foods Limited, a consumer foods business and ready meal manufacturer, successfully defended an Unfair Dismissal claim raised by Daniel Murtagh, a Warehouse Operative who was dismissed after using a mobile phone while operating a forklift. This case highlights the legal backing given to employers who follow clear, reasonable and legally compliant procedures.
Background
An investigation opened after the Production Manager received a complaint that Mr Murtagh was operating a forklift while using a mobile phone. An external party conducted the investigation, which included CCTV evidence and Mr Murtagh admitting to using the phone. Following the investigation, Mr Murtagh was invited to a Disciplinary Hearing, in which he was not apologetic but attempted to justify his actions. The Managing Director decided the seriousness of the health and safety breach, and the employee’s current written warning for a separate conduct incident, justified dismissal.
Mr Murtagh brought a claim of Unfair Dismissal, alleging that he was unfairly singled out and dismissed for using the phone, when it was common practice, and he was not driving ‘at speed’. His evidence included two statements from former colleagues, one of whom admitted to using a phone while their forklift was stationary, and the other who explained he had left the company after being informed of an investigation into his mobile phone use. Mr Murtagh conceded the use of a phone while operating a forklift was a dangerous practice.
Health and Safety Authority guidance to employers confirms that mobile phones should never be used while operating a forklift. The employer defended the claim by describing how the dismissal was procedurally fair, in line with the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures, and the dismissal outcome was proportionate with the seriousness of the health and safety breach.
WRC Decision
The WRC Adjudication Officer considered the evidence from both parties then determined that the use of the phone was ‘extremely dangerous’ and therefore justified a dismissal for the reason of conduct, and the procedure followed was reasonable. He concluded that the dismissal was fair.
Takeaways for Employers
Employers should feel confident about following fair and reasonable procedures to address safety concerns. Clear, reliable policies help to protect the best interests of employees and employers.
Bright Contracts provides employers with template HR documents which can be easily tailored to your specific needs. Our resources include comprehensive policies, helpful guidance notes, and useful supporting documents. Visit our website or talk to a member of our team to find out more about the support we offer.
Remote Working Updates by the HSA
The responsibility for safety and health at work rests with the employer regardless of whether an employee works remotely or at the employer’s premises. Employers must provide a safe work environment and, in doing so, assess the risks and ensure appropriate controls are in place to safeguard employees at work.
The Health & Safety Authority (HSA) have now updated their Remote Work Guidance and Checklist. This guidance provides useful information and advice on managing remote working away from the employer’s normal work premises. If you have employees working from remotely (from home or from a work hub), this guidance is applicable to your business.
In addition, they have issued separate guidance on Managing Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace. This Information Sheet gives practical advice on what psychosocial hazards are, and the roles and responsibilities of employers and employees in relation to managing psychosocial hazards.
Click the links below to find out more:
• Remote Working Guidance and Checklist
• Psychosocial Hazards Information Sheet
Pregnancy in the workplace: What employers need to know
The Maternity Protection Act 1994 to 2004 states that employees qualify for maternity leave including casual workers. Employees do not need to have completed a specific length of service to qualify. Contractors do not qualify for maternity leave.
The current entitlement under the statutory scheme is that an employee can avail of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 16 weeks of unpaid additional maternity leave. During the 26 weeks of maternity leave, 2 of these must be taken before the baby’s expected birth date and 4 weeks must be taken after the baby’s birth.
Pregnancy in the workplace
Once the pregnancy is confirmed in writing including details of anticipated due date and any relevant medical details, employers must allow employees to take reasonable time off to attend medical visits related to that pregnancy. Employees are required to give 2 weeks written notice in advance of each appointment and an employer can request to see the appointment card. There is no cap on the number of appointments that may be available or the extent to which an employee can take paid time off in relation to these appointments. Employees can take paid time off to attend one set of antenatal classes.
Fixed term employees are entitled to avail of the full statutory entitlement of maternity leave. If the contract of employment date of termination falls within the 26-week window, it is extended until the end of the 26 weeks.
Maternity benefit is not a break of service so employees accrue public holidays, annual leave etc. as well as being entitled to their full suite of rights as they would be if they were working normally.
Maternity leave can start automatically either if the employee is absent from work wholly or partly because of their pregnancy at any time from the beginning of the four weeks before the start of their expected week of childbirth or when the employee has given birth naturally at that before maternity leave kicks in.
The maternity rate benefit as it stands is €262 per week for 26 weeks. It is the duty of the employer to inform the employee when their maternity leave will come to an end. If the employer receives notice that the employee seeks to avail of the additional 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, they would need to furnish the employee with the new end date and this notice is to be sent to the employee in writing within 28 days of receiving the initial notification. Employers are required to sign the MB 2 certificate as this is essential for the employee to avail of maternity benefits and return it to the employee.
A health and safety risk analysis must be conducted in relation to the employee intending on taking maternity leave and their workplace. Employers are required to identify any risk and either remove the risk or create an arrangement for the employee in which they are not exposed to this risk. Employees are covered by the protections of the Maternity Protection Act. If there are no options to accommodate an employee by removing the risk or creating new arrangements in the workplace, then the employer must give the employee health and safety leave from work which can continue until the beginning of maternity leave. The first three weeks of wages as part of health and safety leave must be paid by the employer. After this, the health and safety benefit is paid and depends on PRSI payments amongst other things.
Employees on maternity leave or additional maternity leave cannot be made redundant while they're on leave and if this happens the employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim to the WRC.
After the employee has given birth
After the employee has given birth and they seek to return to the workplace, the employee is entitled to return to the same position they held before maternity leave on the same terms and conditions. If circumstances in the workplace have changed and it's no longer possible to accommodate this, an employee has the right to a suitable alternative position. The work being done must be of the same kind that the employee did before availing of maternity leave.
Employees who are working and are breastfeeding are entitled to take one paid hour off work each day for the 104 weeks following the birth of a child. It can be taken in the examples below:
• One hour break
• Two 30 mins breaks
• Three 20 mins breaks
A private space if at all possible, should be provided for employees to avail of these breaks over the course of the entitlement.
Improving Employees Wellbeing at Work
Employee wellbeing is essential to ensure employees are happy in their job. It is the way employees’ duties, expectations, stress levels and working environments affect their overall health and happiness.
Employee wellbeing involves several categories of wellness, such as:
- Physical Health
- Emotional Health
- Psychological Well Being
- Social Relationships
- Financial Stability
To check how your employees feel with the wellbeing in the workplace, employers should send out a survey to find out information on how employees currently feel as well as what they think can be done to improve wellbeing.
Some ways in with employers can improve wellbeing is by:
- Social club: companies can set up socials clubs where money is deducted from employees pay check and this goes towards activities that the club run on a regular basis such as a bowling night, crazy golf etc.
- Walking meetings: if there are meetings ran, allow employees to pop in the headphones and walk and by the time the meeting is over there have got their steps in and some fresh air.
- Have an intranet: an intranet is a great place to have free resources or information for employees that can improve their wellbeing. On the intranet you can include information on services your company provides such as EAP, healthcare etc. You can include link to risk assessments on Type 2 Diabetes, lung cancer etc as well as apps for mindfulness such as Headspace or Moodlight.
- Giving back to employees: it is important for employees to be recognised for the wonderful work they do. Employees should consider some benefits for this work such as allowing employees to finish early one day.
Employees wellbeing initiatives are something that need to be done all year round in order to keep your employees wellbeing at a high.
For more information on wellbeing check the blog below:
Effective Absence Management
One of your employees calling in sick or saying they can’t make it into work but not giving a reason as to why can be frustrating and disruptive.
The best thing to do to manage this is to have an absence policy in place. The policy should outline how sickness-related-absences will be dealt with and should specify what period of time forms:
• Short-term absence
• Long-term absence
• Unauthorized absence
Your absence policy should be shared with your employees. Doing this will ensure that employees know how each instance of absence will be handled and what procedure will be followed.
Furthermore, having an absence policy in place will ensure consistency.
How to reduce sickness absence in the workplace
Return to work interview
One of the easiest ways to reduce sickness absence is to conduct a return to work interview. This conversation will bring to light any issues an employee has, whether it’s personal work or work-related. It could mean that you alter their working hours, allow them to work from home, or take time off for medical appointments.
Record Keeping
Record keeping is another useful practice. Tracking employee absences can be very beneficial to see what patterns may appear with the absence of an employee. For example, does one of your employees always miss the Friday of a Bank Holiday? Or say they’re unwell the Monday they’re due in after a week off?
Monitoring absences will make these patterns easier to spot and gives you proof if you need to speak to the employee.
Communication
Whether it’s a short or long-term absence, it’s important that you reach out to the absent individual. You can do so by phone, email, and in some cases, a home visit. Reaching out, it will give you an insight into their illness and how long they think they will be absent. It will also help you prepare for their return.
Dismissal due to sickness absence
In extreme cases, such as long-term sickness, dismissal for absence may be considered.
If you decided to go down the dismissal route, you’ll need to show that the procedure used was fair and reasonable. Failure to follow fair procedures may leave your company open to a claim for unfair dismissal.
Bright Contracts Handbook contains an absence policy in the “Terms & Conditions” section of the handbook.
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Mental Well-being in the workplace
The Importance of HR Policies & Procedures
Managing Covid-19 in the Workplace
With the cases of Covid-19 still on the rise, it’s important that your employees are safe at work.
The Work Safety Protocol which has been in place since the 31st of January 2022 is still fully applicable in all workplaces. As of now, there are no plans in place to update the document. All companies should have a Covid-19 response plan.
You are probably wondering what type of information you should provide to employees on how to manage symptoms, cases and contacts. Employees should be directed to the general Covid-19 information on the HSE website.
Employees that are displaying cold and hay fever symptoms and are reluctant to attend the workplace should not attend the workplace. They should be directed to the HSE website and asked to comply with the public health requirements.
The current advice is that if you are showing symptoms, even mild ones you should:
• self-isolate (stay in your room) until 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone
• wear a face mask if you have to be around other people#
This applies even if you completed your first round of Covid-19 vaccination, had a booster or had Covid-19 in the past.
Displaying Symptoms in the Workplace
If an employee is displaying symptoms of Covid-19 in the workplace the person should be moved to a designated isolation area and provided with a suitable face covering in order to minimize the risk of transmission.
Distinguishing between Covid-19 and Hay fever symptoms
Employees who suffer from hay fever are usually familiar with the symptoms. If in doubt they should follow public health advice and not attend the workplace until 48 hours after their symptoms are mostly or fully gone.
Managing Close Contacts in the Workplace
The advice around close contacts has changed. If an employee thinks they have been in close contact with someone who has Covid-19, they do not need to restrict movements or self-isolate. They should:
Watch out for symptoms of Covid-19 - it can take up to 14 days after you are infected for symptoms to show.
Take extra care to follow the advice on protecting others from Covid-19, in case you have the virus.
Testing Positive
All confirmed cases should self-isolate for a full 7 days from the date of onset symptoms or is asymptomatic, from the date of a positive test result.
Reporting Outbreaks
There is no longer a requirement to report an outbreak to the HSE.
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Update: Steps to Reduce the Spread of Covid-19 in the Workplace
Mental Well-being in the workplace
As employees return to the workplace after many months of working remotely, it is essential that employers consider the mental well-being of their workforce.
A small amount of stress might make an individual work harder or pay closer attention to detail employers needs to be mindful of the impact that stress can have on an employee’s well-being. A period of poor mental health can make it more difficult for an employee to think, feel and respond to situations which can affect their performance in their day-to-day role. As an employer, it is important to have policies and procedures in place so that you can respond appropriately and provide support as needed.
Employers can take positive steps to support individuals experiencing poor mental health, through actions such as implementing and maintaining a strong and clear mental health policy. By supporting employees experiencing mental health challenges, employers can see real benefits within their organisation.
These include the following:
- Retaining valuable staff
- Reducing sickness absence
- Assisting staff members in reaching their full potential, leading to increased productivity
- Enhancing health and safety within the workplace
- Encouraging a healthier and more tolerant workforce
The first step to aid positive mental health in the workplace is to encourage an understanding of the importance of mental wellbeing. Employees who feel understood by their managers and colleagues are more likely to stay at work or return after a period of absence, which can help reduce long-term absences caused by mental health.
Ways employers can aid positive mental health in the workplace:
- Offering flexible working
- Invest in mental health training
Employers should be mindful that there are many other reasons why an employee may be struggling within their daily roles. Reasons such as a personal situation, physical illness, impact by the cost-of-living crisis, or the situation in Ukraine can contribute to why an employee may be struggling.
To help those who are struggling employers may consider an open workplace culture to encourage open conversations about mental health. This should make employees feel comfortable speaking openly and without fear or judgement about their mental well-being to their manager or colleagues. Organisations may also consider using an Employee Assistance Programme that can offer ongoing, anonymous assistance to all workers.
In conclusion, any person can suffer from mental illness and identifying if there is an underlying problem can be challenging. It is possible at any time for an employer to have an employee who is suffering from poor mental health. It is important for the employer to know how to support employees who need extra support.
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What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout
What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout
The switch to remote working in response to the coronavirus has seen a rise in employees reporting that they are working longer hours from home. Whether employees are on-site or working remotely, it is important for HR professionals and management to remain vigilant for signs of burnout among staff.
The term “burnout” is commonly used to describe a situation in which an employee experiences a period of mental or physical fatigue because of high-intensity pressure at work.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that burnout can have a negative impact on someone’s long term health. They also describe burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been managed successfully.
Impact on employees
Burnout can have a negative impact on employees’ output, reducing their productivity and quality of their work. Individuals often display a drop in morale or low mood, prolonged periods of burnout may even result in the development of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.
Impact on employers
For employers, burnout can come at a huge financial cost, the drop in productivity and work quality may disrupt the ability to meet customer demand. A lack of employee engagement can also occur as a result which can often influence a company’s culture. Retention rates are likely to worsen if staff begin looking for preferable employment situations elsewhere.
Causes of burnout
There are a variety of factors that may cause an individual to suffer from burnout and it is important to understand that each situation will be different. Burnout will often be attributed to factors at work however there may be outside influences from an employee’s personal life that contributes to burnout.
Common causes of burnout in the workplace include:
- excessive workloads
- unequal distribution of work
- prolonged working hours
- inability to take rest breaks
- unrealistic managerial expectations
- toxic company culture
- bully and harassment
- health and safety concerns
Spotting the signs
It’s important that you are prepared to spot the signs of burnout amongst staff when they present themselves. This can only be achieved by keeping a close eye on employees’ behaviour and performance. It may be difficult to spot but you should be looking out for employees who are arriving early to work or staying late after their contractual hours.
Failure to meet deadlines or an uncharacteristic drop in performance is also usually clear signs that an employee may be struggling with the pressures of work, as well as a sudden change in mood or excessive displays of emotion towards colleagues and third parties.
Responding to staff suffering from burnout
If an employee is showing signs of burnout, it is up to you to address the situation. Due to the nature of burnout solutions may vary for everyone.
- There are several methods that are likely to prove effective:
- removing any unnecessary causes of stress or agitation
- assessing and redistributing workloads where necessary
- providing extra training on areas of weakness
- encouraging staff to make use of annual leave and rest breaks
- investigating and resolving any allegations of bullying or harassment
- providing access to medical support e.g., EAP
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What You Need to Know About Staff Handbooks
The most essential document governing the employment relationship is the contract of employment. If you don’t want your employment contract to be too long and untidy you should be referring to your staff handbook when talking about grievances, discipline, dignity at work, anti-bullying, and other workplace policies.
Staff handbooks should be easy to read, and a copy should be easily available to all employees. New employees must read the handbook and indicate that they have done so by giving their signature. It is important to review and amend the policies regularly to ensure any changes in the law or best practices are reflected.
Most important policies and procedures in the workplace
In Ireland, the most important policies, and procedures to have in place are those covering
- Grievances
- Discipline
- Dignity at work (anti-harassment, anti-bullying, and equal opportunity)
- Health and Safety
Other topics that should be considered are, sick leave, holiday leave & pay, hours of work, internet and email usage, dress code, expenses procedure retirement and pension benefits etc.
Bright Contracts
With Bright Contracts, we provide ready-made handbooks that fully conforms to the latest employment law guidelines. The software allows you to add additional sections to handbooks, edit, delete or reorganise the built-in- content and you can easily add your own. You can preview your handbook at any time while you build it and print or export it when it is ready. It’s great as you need no employment law knowledge, we do all the hard work.
Related Articles:
Introducing Contracts & Handbooks to Existing Staff
Update: Steps to Reduce the Spread of Covid-19 in the Workplace
On the 21st of January the Government announced the easing of restrictive measures. The Transitional Protocol: Good Practice Guidance for Continuing to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 reflects the lessons that we have learned over the past two years. This guidance is a general document applicable to all sectors. All businesses and sectors who have specific guidance should review and update their own guidance in line with the advice contained in the document.
While the public health advice has changed, employers need to remember that several steps still need to be implemented by employers and employees to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
1. Keep a COVID-19 Response Plan in Place
Employers and their representatives should continue to maintain or take the following steps:
• Update their COVID-19 Response Plan according to the most recent public health advice.
• facilitate the ongoing appointment and engagement of the Lead Worker Representative
• Review and update their occupational health and safety (OSH) risk assessments and safety statement as workers return to the physical workplaces and as changes to the workplaces take place.
• Maintain measures to deal with a suspected case of COVID-19 in the workplace
• Maintain any specific measures or response for dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19
2. Maintain policies and procedures for prompt identification and isolation of workers who may have symptoms of COVID-19
How you manage and isolate potential infectious individuals remains a crucial step in protecting the worker involved, their colleagues and others at the workplace. While the need to maintain a contact log with details of workers and visitors to a workplace has been removed, employers may need to provide attendance information as appropriate in the event the local Department of Public Health has to investigate an outbreak.
Employers should continue to:
• Advise that workers do not come to work if they are displaying signs or symptoms of COVID-19 or if they have had a positive test,
• Provide instructions for workers to follow if they develop signs and symptoms of COVID-19 during work,
• Display information on signs and symptoms of COVID-19
Workers should also continue to:
• Keep themselves up to date with the signs and symptoms of COVID-19,
• Do not attend work if they are displaying signs and symptoms of COVID-19 or have symptoms
• Follow public health advise regarding self-isolation, restricting movement, testing and what to do if identified as a close contact
• Report to managers immediately if any symptoms develop during work
• Comply with any public health personnel and their employer for contract tracing purposes and follow any public health advise given in the event of a case or outbreak in their workplace.
3. Maintaining COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Measures
Hand Hygiene
Employers should continue to:
• ensure that appropriate hygiene facilities and materials are in place to accommodate
workers adhering to hand hygiene measures,
• make available advice on how to perform hand hygiene effectively,
• display posters on how to wash hands in appropriate locations throughout the
workplace,
• provide hand sanitisers (alcohol or non-alcohol based) where washing facilities cannot
be accessed. In choosing an alcohol-based sanitiser, a minimum of 60% alcohol is
required.
• provide facilities for frequent hand hygiene for outdoor work, which should be located
close to where workers are working. Outdoor toilet facilities, if reasonably practicable,
should also be considered.
Workers should continue to:
• Follow hand hygiene guidance and advise
• Wash their hands with soap and water or with hand sanitiser for at least 20 seconds.
Respiratory Hygiene
Employers should continue to:
• provide tissues as well as bins/bags for their disposal,
• empty bins at regular intervals, and
• provide advice on good respiratory practice including the safe use, storage and
disposal of face masks/coverings and the safe cleaning of face coverings.
Workers should continue to:
• adopt good respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, and
• follow good practice on the safe use, storage, disposal, and cleaning of face
masks/coverings.
Physical Distancing
Employers may choose to maintain some of the practices that were in place based on the Work Safely Protocol for the period of transition back to office work. Especially in meetings, events, or training with a continued focus on hand and respiratory etiquette and adequate ventilation are all measures that may continue.
There is a legal requirement to wear a facemask in specific settings (e.g., healthcare, public transport, taxis, public offices, retail premises etc.) Outside of these settings it is still good practice to continue to use face masks particularly in crowded areas. Employers should continue to support and facilitate the use of face masks b workers who wish to continue wearing them.
Bright Contracts will be updating it's COVID-19 response plan as soon a possible with the updated transitional protocol providing further guidance in relation to office working. Once updated this will be communicated across social media so keep your eyes peeled.
