There follow a number of suggestions to assist in the preparation of the Witness

Statement you may make for the WRC proceedings.

The contents and length of any statement depend wholly on the topics and facts which have to be addressed, including specific allegations which the Complainant may have made.

The comments in these notes are intended to assist, but you must remember at all times that the statement is your statement and cannot be written for you.

 Some general points

• There is no formal or legally set form for the statement. It is not an affidavit (which is sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths) and to that extent it is less formal.
• However, you are liable to be cross-examined (under oath or affirmation) on the contents of the statement and also on matters of which you have knowledge and are relevant but which have been omitted from the statement, and the reasons for their omission.
• You should be able to justify all the contents of your statement, and it may be necessary for you to make enquiries or refer to documents before committing yourself to writing.
• You are free to seek advice or guidance from Human Resources although H.R. cannot write the statement for you,.
• The statement should be in numbered paragraphs and references to any documents (where possible) should refer to its location in the Bundle e.g. by reference to page numbers.
• The statement can be prepared in draft in the first instance.

Skeleton of a suggested approach

1 . Introduce yourself:-

• State your first name and surname.
• Your present job tile and your job title at the time of the incident/event described in the statement.
• State your length of employment with the Company and the length of your job tenures referred to above.

• Describe briefly the general duties in relation to your job at the time of the incident/event, in so far as they relate to the subject matter of the statement.
• Explain your working relationship to the Claimant or any of his/her witnesses who have made statements, e.g., “l am supervisor/manager of .
• During the course of the statement if you refer to another Company Officer, give his/her first name and surname, together with the job title of that individual at the time of the incidents described in your statement.
• Refer to any relevant Company policies and procedures in relation to the particular case (e.g. the redundancy policy/grievance policy/disciplinary policy) if you are relying on them, and ensure that you are fully conversant with any such policies (it may be that you would not need to refer to the policies until some way into your statement).
• Set out your history of events/evidence. Normally, the simplest way to do this is chronologically. Every case is different, the subject matter of cases differs greatly, and it is simply not possible to rely safely on any checklist which purports to be comprehensive. The following points are only very general indicators and must not be regarded as exhaustive. Subject to that, the chronological approach may include:-
  • The date on which you first acquired knowledge of the matter which is
  • the subject of the case, and the nature of the knowledge you received together with its source.
  • The action taken by you on receipt of that knowledge, including details of the parties involved or the persons with whom you consulted.
  • A review of the knowledge which you have at that stage of the matters which are relevant to the incidents under consideration

2. The nature of the Company procedure adopted (if any) to deal with the situation.

• A concise history of any meetings which subsequently took place, including dates and personnel who attended. This should also include the content of those meetings, although it may be sufficient to refer to the minutes of such meetings, expanding only on salient points which require further comment/explanation.
• If you were involved in any decision-making process (such as a disciplinary) explain that process briefly if you have not already done so and, again, briefly, how you reached the decision. It is not advisable to give a list of the points which you considered important when reaching your decision, unless you list each and every point, which can be difficult.
• The reason for this is that if, when giving evidence at the Tribunal, you refer to some consideration that influenced your decision and that was not included in your statement, it will leave you exposed to criticism an is suggesting that you are adding items as you go along… .i.e. an attack on your credibility.
• It is often better to keep this section brief and more general, used words such as “having considered what was put to the meeting I decided that..
• If you were involved in any action after, for example, a disciplinary finding, give a similar chronological history of all such events.
• Having read carefully through the Complainant’s Complaint Form and/or Submission, deal carefully and, in particular, with any points contained in the Complainant’s Complaint Form and/or Submission with which you disagree. This departs from the chronological approach but it is considered more appropriate to highlight areas of disagreement (by reference to the paragraph number/precise part of the Complainant’s Complaint Form and/or Submission which you are disagreeing with) having given the fullness of your own version of the events.
• You should then review the Company’s Documents and if available the Written Submission and to ensure that you have covered all necessary matters which you can give direct evidence on.

3. The language of the statement

• As has earlier been stressed, the statement is yours and, therefore, the language used should be your language. The statement should not be presented in a form which attempts to make it look more formal.
• If technical words or ideas are referred to it is helpful always to include a brief, simple explanation in lay terms.
• As the written word differs from the spoken word, it is also advisable to avoid extravagance of language which might find its way into informal conversation. The use of too many adjectives can detract from the statement and where such emphasis is necessary, an opportunity is provided for such expansion when you are giving evidence.

Before you sign off and date your statement re-read it, any other statements that have been provided to you to ensure that all necessary matters are covered.

Finally, retain a copy of your statement safely and refer to it fully prior to any

consultations or prior to giving evidence.

CASE ADJ 0004578

BETWEEN:

JOE BLOGGS                               COMPLAINANT

 

AND

BLOCK (UK) LIMITED                           RESPONDENT

 

WITNESS STATEMENT OF JOHN SMITH

1. My name is John Smith and I am the Human Resource Manager for Block (UK) Limited. At the time of these events in 2004, I was Human Resource Adviser for the Department of Composites. I have been employed for the Company for over ten years and held the position of Human Resource Advisor until 2003.
2. My main responsibilities and duties include:-

• Providing support and guidance on personnel related issues to managers, supervisors and employees.
• Developing and reviewing administration policies and procedures.
• Supervising the personnel officer and personnel administration team.

3. In [XXXX], the Complainant was based in the Department for which I was responsible.
4. However, I did not know the Complainant personally nor did I have any direct dealings with him until his grievance was raised. I was the individual who then investigated the grievance and held the first stage grievance meeting.
5. In and around [x] I was asked by [insert] to conduct a grievance hearing from receipt of the Complainant’s grievance. I was provided with [x,y,z] to review prior to the hearing Etc.

This is my statement consisting of pages which is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signed John Smith,

Dated: