Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: AEP8611 Case Number: DEP868 Section / Act: S8(1)AD Parties: MEATH HOSPITAL - and - ITGWU |
Appeal against an Equality Officer's Recommendation No. EP12/86 concerning a claim (under the 1974 Act) as to whether or not four male night porters are entitled to the hourly rate of basic pay as three female day telephonists' by reference to the maximum point of the day telephonists incremental scale.
Recommendation:
5. The Court concurs with the opinion of the Equality Officer
that the differences which arose derive from pay and conditions
negotiated for two categories of workers which apply irrespective
of the sex of the workers.
The Court therefore upholds the Equality Officer's Recommendation.
Division: Mr O'Connell Mr Heffernan Ms Ni Mhurchu
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
AEP8611 THE LABOUR COURT DEP8/86
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION (PAY) ACT, 1974
DETERMINATION NO. DEP8/1986
PARTIES: MEATH HOSPITAL
AND
IRISH TRANSPORT AND GENERAL WORKERS' UNION
SUBJECT:
1. Appeal against an Equality Officer's Recommendation No.
EP12/86 concerning a claim (under the 1974 Act) as to whether or
not four male night porters are entitled to the hourly rate of
basic pay as three female day telephonists' by reference to the
maximum point of the day telephonists incremental scale.
BACKGROUND:
2. The four men are employed by the Hospital as Night Porters.
As part of their normal duties, they each operate the Hospital
switchboard for a period of one week in every four, on a
rotational basis. In respect of this time spent by them on the
switchboard, they are claiming an equal hourly rate of basic pay
with three females employed in the Hospital as full-time Day
Telephonists by reference to the maximum point of the Day
Telephonists' incremental scale.
The Hospital is one of the Dublin Voluntary Hospitals and the pay
and conditions of Night Porters and Day Telephonists are common
throughout the group. Both categories work a forty hour week and
the current annual incremental scale of basic pay in each case is
as follows:-
Night Porters: #128.11 - #130.11 - #132.14 - #134.14 -
#136.15 - #138.15 - #140.17 - #142.17.
Telephonists: #111.09 (under 19), #115.05 (at 19),
#116.61 ( at 20), #125.30 (at 21),
#127.68 ( at 22), #130.03 (at 20),
#132.41 (at 24 or over on recruitment),
#135.56 -
#138.72 - #141.88 - #145.03 - #150.55.
In the Meath Hospital, all Night Porters are male and all Day
Telephonists are female. In other Dublin Voluntary Hospitals,
however, there are males employed as Day Telephonists on the same
scale of pay as Day Telephonists. There are, however, no female
Night Porters in any of the Hospitals.
3. The dispute was referred to an Equality Officer by the
claimants' Union on 6th February, 1986. Following an
investigation of the matter the Equality Officer issued the
following recommendation.
- RECOMMENDATION
There were two main areas of difference between the parties to
this dispute. These were as follows:-
(i) whether or not the switchboard duties performed by the
Night Porters and the switchboard duties performed by
the Day Telephonists constitute like work for the
purpose of section 2(1) of the Act; and
(ii) Whether or not the fact that the Night Porters are not
paid at the maximum point of the Day Telephonists'
scale while employed on telephone duties is based on
the two different categories of post that they hold
rather than on the difference in their sex (grounds
other than sex within the meaning of section 2(3) of
the Act).
Section 2(1) and 2(3) of the Act provide as follows:-
" 2. - (1) Subject to this Act, it shall be a term
of the contract under which a woman is employed in
any place that she shall be entitled to the same
rate of remuneration as a man who is employed in
that place by the same employer ...., if both are
employed on like work."
" 2(3) Nothing in this Act shall prevent an
employer from paying to his employees who are
employed on like work in the same place different
rates of remuneration on grounds other than sex."
" Having considered the submissions of both parties, I am
satisfied that the two different scales of pay of Night
Porters and Day Telephonists, insofar as the Day
Telephonists' scale is a more favourable scale, are in fact
different scales for different categories of post which apply
irrespective of the sex of the post-holder.
As the Union has pointed out, all the Night Porters in the
Meath Hospital are male and all the Day Telephonists are
female. This may or may not be a complete coincidence
insofar as the sex of these employees is concerned but as
discrimination on grounds of sex in relation to pay has by
tradition been against women rather than against men, I am
satisfied that even if the position in the Hospital had been
the reverse, the existing differences between the Night
Porters' scale and the Day Telephonists scale which favour
the Day Telephonists would still have existed. Indeed, there
are male Day Telephonists in other Dublin Voluntary Hospitals
on the same scale of pay as the Day Telephonists in the Meath
Hospital and it is reasonable to believe that if there were
female Night Porters employed in any of the Hospitals, they
would not be paid a higher hourly rate of pay than the
claimants in respect of any part of their work.
I am satisfied, therefore, that the fact that the claimants
are not paid the same hourly rate of basic pay as the Day
Telephonists by reference to the maximum point of the Day
Telephonists' scale in respect of switchboard duties
performed by them at night is based on grounds other than sex
within the meaning of section 2(3) of the Act. Therefore,
irrespective of whether or not the switchboard duties
performed by the claimants and the switchboard duties
performed by the Day Telephonists constitute like work, the
claimants are not entitled under the Act to that same hourly
rate."