WRC recommends €500 charity donation to close workplace bullying dispute

The WRC recommended that an employer make a €500 donation to a local charity to close a worker’s dispute over alleged bullying and delays in handling his complaint. The recommendation was dated 8 June 2023. The worker said a colleague verbally bullied him at work in November 2021, including name-calling and remarks about his personal hygiene. The colleague apologised for two allegations but denied the hygiene remark. The employer accepted that its follow-up had been delayed, while saying managers had addressed the incident and tried to keep the colleagues apart. The adjudication officer considered that management had handled the workplace dispute appropriately but that the delay warranted a gesture of closure. The donation was to a local charity agreed by the parties and manager. The WRC described it as a goodwill gesture, not an admission of wrongdoing.