Review into Douglas Council's handling of pay-dispute tribunal ruling

Douglas Council was ordered to replay about £5,200 to the employee

A review is to examine the handling of a recent employment tribunal's ruling by a Douglas local authority, the council's leader has said.

In March a tribunal ruled a Douglas Borough Council worker who was stranded in Cyprus because of a Covid-19 lockdown had his pay cut unlawfully.

Council leader David Christian said he had not approved a statement issued by the authority that disputed the ruling.

It incorrectly said the authority did not accept the decision.

The statement, which was not attributed to an individual member of Douglas Borough Council or its officers, had not been approved by the council in the usual manner.

Mr Christian said the authority did indeed accept the tribunal's decision and told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the matter would now be investigated to make sure a similar situation did not arise in future.

'Serious concerns'

Road worker William Pye left the Isle of Man in March 2020 but was unable to return until 1 July due to coronavirus restrictions.

As a result, the council had decided to recoup £100 a week from his salary.

But the tribunal ruled the money had been "taken without any proper investigation", and ordered the authority to repay about £5,200.

Mr Christian said although he had been made aware of "serious concerns in relation to the written findings" of the tribunal, and he had agreed a press release should be issued, the "proper protocol" for releasing the statement had not been followed.

Usually press statements are seen by the council leader and circulated to all council members 24 hours before being released.

"I would not have agreed with all aspects of the press release that went out", Mr Christian said.

He confirmed the authority would not be appealing the tribunal's ruling.