Employee permitted to raise personal grievance after 14 month delay…

An employee raised a personal grievance with his employer 14 months after he was allegedly unjustifiably dismissed from his employment.

The employee acknowledged that he was outside the ordinary 90-day timeframe to raise a personal grievance and the employer did not consent to the employee raising a personal grievance out of time.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) decided that there were exceptional circumstances explaining the delay in the employee raising the personal grievance.

The employment agreement did not contain the mandatory clause relating to resolving employment relationship problems. This clause must advise the employee that there is a 90- day timeframe to raise a personal grievance.

The ERA said that the absence of this clause created exceptional circumstances justifying the personal grievance being raised out of time.

An employer should ensure that its employment agreements remain up to date and contain all the mandatory provisions. Had the appropriate clause been included in the employment agreement, the employee would likely have been unsuccessful in raising a personal grievance out of time. 

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