The joint Workplace Relations Commission and Health and Safety Authority Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work sets out a staged approach: an initial informal stage, then a secondary informal process, and only then a formal investigation. That ordering is not politeness. It reflects what these processes actually do to people.
Why Formal Is Not the Default
Formal bullying investigations are slow, adversarial and damaging to everyone who touches them — and complainants are frequently damaged most, which is the part that surprises employers. A complainant in a formal process gives statements, has their account tested, watches colleagues be interviewed about them, waits months for an outcome, and continues working in the same building throughout. Meanwhile the person complained of experiences being investigated as a serious event that marks them regardless of the finding. The team divides. And the outcome often satisfies nobody, because of the definition: the Code describes bullying as repeated inappropriate behaviour which could reasonably be regarded as undermining an individual’s right to dignity at work — an isolated incident generally does not meet it, and reasonable and appropriate management of performance or conduct is expressly not bullying. So the common conclusion is that the conduct did not reach the threshold, which the complainant experiences as being told they were wrong to complain, and which leaves the actual working relationship exactly where it was, only worse. Nobody designed that outcome; it is simply what a process built to make findings produces when applied to a problem that is not really about findings.
What Informal Resolution Requires to Be Real
The gap between the Code and most workplaces is implementation. Policies say informal resolution should be attempted and then say nothing about by whom, how, or with what safeguards — so it becomes a manager having an awkward conversation with no training and no structure, which either achieves nothing or makes things worse, after which everyone concludes informal routes do not work. Genuine informal resolution needs: someone competent to facilitate; individual conversations before any joint meeting; explicit terms about what is recorded; an express statement that attempting it waives nothing — no complaint is withdrawn, no right is given up, and the formal route stays fully open; protection or extension of policy time limits so nobody loses a step by trying; and genuine voluntariness on both sides. Add the honest exclusions and it works. The exclusions are not optional: allegations of serious misconduct, anything with a criminal dimension, sexual harassment and harassment on discriminatory grounds, safety concerns, protected disclosures, multiple complainants against one person, and any situation involving genuine fear all need a process that makes findings. And a complainant who wants a formal investigation is entitled to one. The full dignity at work page is here.
The point most often missed: mediation never engages the definition of bullying at all. It does not ask whether a threshold was crossed, because it makes no findings — it asks how these people will work together from here. That is precisely why it can resolve situations a formal process structurally cannot.
A complaint you are not sure how to categorise? The sorting tool, or 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981) and holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation. The firm also runs a substantial employment practice, which is why the honest sorting question — whether a situation needs a mediation or an investigation — gets answered at the first call rather than halfway through. Workplace mediations are conducted on site, at neutral venues, at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the Kilkenny office — or fully online. The mediator is appointed by both sides and acts for neither. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about workplace mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every workplace situation turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The mediator is not your legal adviser. Where Mary Molloy Solicitors is appointed as mediator, the mediator is neutral: the mediator acts for no party, advises no party, makes no findings and decides nothing. This is so regardless of which party is paying the fee. All participants are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any agreement reached in mediation. Employees may wish to seek advice from their own solicitor or trade union. The firm does not act as mediator in any matter in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted.
Mediation is not a substitute for a required process. Some matters must be investigated rather than mediated, including allegations of serious misconduct, matters engaging health and safety duties, and protected disclosures. Nothing on this site suggests that mediation should displace an employer’s statutory obligations, a grievance or disciplinary procedure where one is required, or a complainant’s entitlement to have a complaint formally investigated or to bring proceedings.
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