Watch what you say out loud

Ithink we have all had those moments where we wish we could speak our minds about colleagues, employers/ employees and sometimes even clients.

But most people recognise that this would be inappropriate, or at the very least you value your job enough not to open your mouth.

Unsurprisingly, if you are rude or uncommunicative your employer may be entitled to investigate any incidents and try to improve your performance.

Depending on the nature of the incident, it could amount to serious misconduct.

In a recent Employment Relations Authority decision the employee, Ms T, was a level 3 support worker for a charity that provides support to vulnerable, intellectually disabled people.

Ms X was one of the people who Ms T worked with.

Ms X made a complaint that Ms T had said something which upset her.

Specifically, the complaint said ‘‘I painted a picture for my mum’s birthday. [Ms T] said to me — that’s awful, Madison [her 5-yearold granddaughter] could do better than that’’.

An explanation was requested from Ms T, and she was informed that if her explanation did not resolve the issue the charity would have to conduct a full investigation, which could lead to dismissal due to the seriousness of the allegation.

Ms T denied making the comment contained in the complaint.

Given there were two conflicting versions of events, the charity had to investigate further.

While the charity decided that no further disciplinary action was necessary, they had concerns about Ms T’s communication skills.