POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

All grievances should be considered as potential disputes  and handled in accordance with an agreed procedure.  Correct procedures show an employer to be acting fairly and  reduce the scope for inconsistency. If grievances are not dealt with, they are likely to fester and  result in bad employee relations. Poor grievance handling  can also affect staff morale while an effective process can be  an important means to release pressures and tension that  build up in the workplace. 

 Section 14 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 requires that  within 28 days of commencement of employment, an  employee must be advised of the procedures that will be  used for dismissal. Under Section 6 of the Unfair Dismissals  Act (as amended), the Workplace Relations Commission  (WRC) may have regard to the extent to which the employer  may have failed to comply with its own procedures. Where procedures either do not exist, or have not been  adhered to, the dismissal may be deemed as unfair, even  where it has been found that the dismissal was justified/ substantively fair. .

 Attendance policies should encompass relevant legislation such as:

• Statutory sick pay legislation
• Annual leave and illness
• the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015;
• the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (S.I. No. 146 of 2000);
• annual leave and illness.

Employees (including casual workers) who become pregnant are entitled to Maternity Leave, regardless of how long they have been working for the organization or the number of hours worked per week. The entitlement to leave is enshrined in the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, 2004. The current entitlement is to 26 weeks’ maternity leave together with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave.

Under the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 at least 2 weeks have to be taken before the end of the week of your baby's expected birth and at least 4 weeks after.

Creating a maternity policy will furnish your organization with a consistent manner on how you organize risk assessments, fill our employer forms, manage maternity leave for your team. Perhaps you top up employee wages and would like to out terms and conditions surrounding the payment. 

Every employee has the right to dignity at work regardless of profession, sector or status of employment.  Your dignity and respect at work policy is your commitment to your employees to ensure they have a safe working environment that is free from bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment.  

Employers have a duty of care and pose the risk of liability for any harm suffered by staff who are the victims of bully or harassment in your workplace.

It is important your policies identify this behaviour and understand that if harassment or bullying is linked to one of the nine grounds of discrimination under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2015, employees may seek to take a claim under the employment equality legislation. 

The maximum award for claims under the Employment Equality Acts is two years’ salary and awards for claims under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act are uncapped.

 A code of conduct in the workplace is a written document outlining the rules, expected behaviors, and customs members of a business or organization must follow.

While a code of conduct is different from an employment contract, it can be used in legal disputes between employers and employees. No matter how small or large your business is, having a clear written code of conduct is really important. 

By outlining what is unethical and what misconduct is, employees are less likely to breach the code of conduct. They know what counts as inappropriate behavior and avoid it, reducing workplace conflict as a result.