A new Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work, written by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), has been in place since December 2020 (S.I. 674 of 2020, Industrial Relations Act 1990).
The Local Authority Sector, through the work of the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), has revised their Dignity at Work Policy to incorporate the changes required to implement the new Code of Practice.
The aim of this workshop: The Role of the Secondary Resolution Process in the Local Authority Sector, is to focus specifically on the new informal resolution process of the Dignity at Work process, namely the ‘Secondary Resolution Process’ and how this should be undertaken on behalf of the Local Authority and what the expected outcome should be.
The informal resolution process now consists of two elements the Initial Informal Resolution Process and the Secondary Informal Resolution Process. The Informal process sits between two legislative processes namely:-
- The Mediation Process (undertaken in accordance with the Mediation Act 2017)
- The Formal Investigative Resolution Process
The Secondary Resolution Process is not intended to circumvent established existing processes, but instead to offer an additional means by which a complaint or stated concern can be considered. It is intended as a new and additional conflict resolution process or intervention.