Labour and Training upgraded its investigation process after being accused of failing to properly research a complaint of wrongful dismissal.Ombudsman Arlene Brock criticised the department for not being tough enough as it looked into a worker’s claim he had been sacked out of retaliation.Ms Brock says Labour and Training responded by adopting several of her recommendations designed to improve their investigation techniques.In her annual report, the Ombudsman says the unnamed employee was dismissed just ten days after being given additional management responsibilities due to redundancies.She wrote: “Labour and Training facilitated a meeting between the worker and the employer in which the parties focused on the terms of the worker’s severance package.“The worker’s complaint that the dismissal was unfair (and, in fact, in retaliation for the worker challenging the employer on another matter) was not raised by either Labour and Training or the worker.“The worker believed that Labour and Training would discuss the issue of whether or not the dismissal was unfair with his employer and the worker left the discussion.”Ms Brock’s subsequent probing revealed Labour and Training later failed to ask core questions to find if the dismissal breached the Employment Act, accepted the employer’s explanation without question, did not request relevant documents and assumed a termination during difficult financial conditions cannot be unfair.“According, I found maladministration due to Labour and Training’s failure to conduct the fullest possible investigation,” wrote Ms Brock.She urged the department to research best practices for investigation standards for employment complaint handling, establish standards and procedures for investigation and conciliation, and conduct ongoing training.Labour and Training implemented the recommendations and, following a fuller investigation, was able to provide proper reasons why the worker was not unfairly dismissed.Other employment examples highlighted in Ms Brock’s report include an employee who complained he had to work for more than 18 months before he was allowed to take his first vacation, and even then was not paid his vacation pay.He was eventually given his vacation pay after the matter went to an employment tribunal, according to Ms Brock.