Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD86715 Case Number: LCR11467 Section / Act: S67 Parties: CORK DENTAL HOSPITAL - and - IRISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION |
Terms and conditions of employment for eighteen visiting dental surgeons.
Recommendation:
9. The Court recommends that for any session which includes a
tutorial the claimants be paid the sessional rate applicable to
clinical tutors in Dublin (#46.78 at present). This award to be
paid from 1st January, 1987.
The Court does not recommend concession of the other elements of
the claim.
Division: Ms Owens Mr Shiel Mr Walsh
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD86715 THE LABOUR COURT LCR11467
CC86681 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1976
RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR11467
PARTIES: CORK DENTAL HOSPITAL
(Represented by the Federated Union of Employers)
and
IRISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION
Subject:
1. Terms and conditions of employment for eighteen visiting
dental surgeons.
Background:
2. The group of workers concerned are visiting qualified dental
surgeons who are employed on fixed term contracts by the
University Dental School and Hospital, Cork, on a part-time
sessional basis. Under their current conditions of employment the
workers' contracts are for a three year period and they are
expected to hold a specific number of sessions per week; each
session being of a three hour duration. The current sessional
rate is #39.14 per session. The Association, on behalf of the
workers concerned, served a claim on the Hospital for the
restructuring of these posts with a rationalisation of terms and
conditions under the following headings:-
(a) Tenure of Office.
(b) Restoration of previously accepted and
well-established relativity with the sessional rate
for clinical medical staff providing a specialist
service for Health Act patients.
(c) Provision for superannuation or appropriate weighting
of sessional rates to include superannuation element.
(d) Annualisation of salary to allow for leave, public
holidays etc.
(e) Study sessions.
(f) Sick leave, study leave etc.
The Hospital rejected the claim and as no agreement could be
reached at local level the dispute was referred, on 14th April,
1986, to the conciliation service of the Labour Court.
Conciliation conferences which were held on 21st May, and 9th
July, 1986 failed to resolve the matter and the dispute was
referred to the Labour Court for investigation and recommendation.
The Court investigated the dispute on 4th November, 1986, in Cork.
Association's arguments:
Item (a) - Tenure of office
3. (i) All part-time staff were given fixed term written
contracts for the Hospital in line with their
commitment to the Hospital (details supplied to the
Court). In relation to Tenure of office the
Association is seeking the following:-
Part-time dental staff to be employed on a 3 tier
system:-
(a) Those prepared to give a commitment of four
or more three hourly sessions per week,
(b) Those prepared to give a commitment of three
sessions per week,
(c) Those prepared to give a commitment of one or
two three hourly sessions per week.
In the case of (a) and (b) tenure to the age of 65
years,
In the case of (c) tenure would not be less than
one year.
The provision in future contracts entered into on this
basis should be sufficiently flexible as to permit of
their being adopted to suit the needs of all
appointments including existing appointments. The
scheduling of the service commitment by the dentist
should be agreed at Hospital level and the scheduling
may need to be varied as circumstances require. Where
the service commitment contracted for is being
exceeded for reasons of a temporary nature, local
arrangements should be made to compensate the dentist.
The majority of matters arising under this paragraph
should be capable of being resolved at local
level.
Item (b) - Restoration of previously accepted and well established
relativity with sessional rates for Voluntary Hospital
Clinical Specialists, etc.
(ii) Precise relativity existed in 1972 between visiting
dental surgeons to the Hospital and clinical medical
staff visiting the Voluntary Hospitals, in respect of
sessional rates (details of historical background to
this relativity supplied to the Court). This was
based on comparable qualifications, expertise and
duties and was used to attract a high calibre
professional to these posts. The employer
acknowledged this relativity at all times since
November, 1975, (details supplied to the Court).
There has been no change in any of the relevant
factors which affect the validity of this relativity.
(iii) That the relativity claimed exists is clear from the
following:-
(a) Hospital personnel (house surgeon and registrar)
are precisely equated at both medical and dental
levels of remuneration.
(b) The defence forces also equate remunerations for
both disciplines.
(c) The Department of Health's own Joint Working
Party report on dental services, (September,
1979), clearly states this principle. Paragraph
8.3, page 33, states:-
"The conditions of employment for consultant
dental appointments should not be less
advantageous than those applying to medical
consultant appointments".
(d) The federated hospitals have accepted this
principle in appointing dental personnel.
(e) The Labour Court in a Recommendation issued in
April, 1977 has previously recognised the
principle involved (Recommendation No. 4252
refers).
(f) Finally, in March of 1982, the Labour Court
further endorsed this relativity between medical
and dental personnel. A full Labour Court
hearing considered the position of similar
part-time dental staff in the Dublin dental
hospital and recommended that: "..... parity of
rate with Voluntary Hospital Clinical Specialists
be restored with full effect from the date in
1975 when then the first discrepancy occurred,"-
(recommendation No. 6992 refers).
(iv) The general training and experience of the
part-time dental surgeons have been on the same
lines as those of their medical colleagues
referred to. The part-time dental staff and
their medical colleagues have the same level of
responsibility both for the training of students
and treatment of patients and the level of
responsibility of the part-time dentist in their
departments is comparable to that of their
medical colleagues. At all other levels in
hospitals (eg. Registrar, and House Surgeon) and
in the State services generally, the levels of
remuneration of dental and medical personnel are
required.
Item (c) Superannuation
(v) Representatives of the Employer have indicated that
should the relativity with voluntary hospital medical
specialists be re-established then the superannuation
applicable to medical personnel under the so-called
"common contract" would apply, with the same
conditions and benefits to part-time professional
dental staff.
Item (d) - Leave
(vi) In relation to this item the Association is seeking
the following:-
(a) Annual leave: 6 calendar weeks.
Where a dentist holds office for part only of the
year he shall be entitled to a proportionately
reduced number of days annual leave.
(b) Sick Leave
Part time dentists have the same sick leave
arrangements as Health Board Officers as outlined
in the Department of Health Document reference
10/71.
(c) Special Leave
The provisions governing the granting of special
leave to be those as set out for officers of
Health Boards in paragraph 10(3) of Circular
10/71 from the Department of Health. In applying
this provision the Employer may grant leave in
accordance with the following:-
(a) Up to 2 weeks, with pay, every 2 years, to
attend approved courses;
(b) Up to 7 days per annum with pay, to attend
approved meetings;
(c) The upper limit of 2 weeks every 2 years,
referred to in (a) above may be waived by
the employer in certain special cases.
(d) Public Holiday Leave
Such leave shall be granted in accordance with
the provisions of the holiday (employees) acts.
Other Conditions
The person appointed shall be paid travelling expenses
at the approved rates for any travelling necessarily
performed in the discharge of his official duties.
The person appointed must produce evidence of being
insured against claims arising from mal-practice or
negligence.
The person appointed will normally on reaching the age
of 65 cease to hold office.
Item (e) - Study sessions
(vii) Some part-time dental staff have dual
responsibilities, i.e., those who are Assistant
Lecturers. There is an obvious need for all part-time
staff, whether solely Hospital service staff or also
academic to keep their level of knowledge and skill up
to date. To this end, provision must be made for the
equivalent of one study/research session each week,
for all part-time staff. In the case of assistant
lecturers there exists the additional burden of time
and responsibility in preparing lectures, tutorials
etc. The study/research session need not be spent
within the dental hospital, but should be under the
direction of the head of departments. Such sessions
should be spent on research, study, preparing
lectures/tutorials, or, due notice being given by the
head of the department, on patient treatment. It
should not de facto be regarded as a service session.
The working of this system will depend on the
relations between individual heads of departments and
their staff and on the needs of different departments.
Association's general arguments:
4. (i) The Hospital has vitally important roles in the
education and training of undergraduates, and in the
provision of consultant, specialist and emergency
services, in providing training for future consultants
and specialists, in providing continuing education for
those engaged in primary and secondary dental care, in
research and in the training of ancillary workers.
There is a rapidly growing demand and need for
continuing education and for a very high practical
"skill" component for dentists. In this context, it
is important to note that the majority of graduates go
into their own practice, form partnerships, or enter
the Health Board Dental Service. Very few remain
full-time academics. Therefore, the additional wealth
of experience offered by successful practitioners in
both general practice and specialist practice is of
enormous practical benefit to the Hospital and
students. As practising dentists, at the top of their
profession, they have maximum experience of operative
techniques, patient management and practice
management. This experience has been gained in the
same practical environment which their students will
be entering.
(ii) Dental practice involves extraordinary high overheads.
Association surveys show that practice expenses
account for 60% of total earnings. In these
circumstances it is difficult for part-time staff to
devote time to the Hospital. The financial
compensation falls well short of an economic hourly
rate, bearing in mind that the dentists own practice
overheads continue while the dentist is absent from
the practice, undertaking hospital duties. The
problems are compounded further by the changing
pattern of practice towards increased specialisation
and group-practice. This factor alone makes part-time
appointments less attractive. The number of Hospital
sessions is critical as the greater the commitment,
the more difficult it becomes to meet practice
overheads and to respond to the needs of the
practices' patients. Consequently, an increase in
Hospital commitments becomes proportionally more
uneconomic. Therefore, in view of the essential role
played by part-time staff complementing that of the
full-time staff, it is imperative that fair and
equitable terms and conditions of employment be
introduced forthwith.
(iii) The absence of superannuation provisions has deterred
well-qualified and experienced part-time staff from
giving time to the Hospital.
Hospital's arguments:
5. (a) Within the dental profession in the University Dental
School and Hospital, Cork, there are two main
categories of staff, academic i.e., professors and
lecturers which are University appointments, and
non-academic which include visiting dental surgeons
and which are Hospital appointments under the aegis of
the Department of Health (details of the distinction
between academic and non-academic visiting dental
surgeon posts in respect of tenure and duties supplied
to the Court). In the course of negotiations on this
claim the Hospital emphasised that the sessional rate
for the posts in question are sanctioned by the
Department of Health and are therefore, non-academic.
Furthermore, it was confirmed that the sessional rate
was all inclusive and was so structured to take into
account the fact that these posts do not attract
conditions attached to permanent posts in the public
sector. Despite this the Association has persisted in
its claim for separate consideration of such matters
as superannuation, study leave and annual leave. As
far as the Hospital is concerned the question of
tenure has been resolved.
(b) In relation to the claim for a different sessional
rate to the one which has always been approved by the
Department of Health for visiting dental surgeons the
position is that the sessional rate for voluntary
hospital medical clinical specialists has never been
sanctioned by the Minister for Health for any visiting
dental surgeons. Consequently, the Association's
references to "restoration of previously accepted and
well-established relativity with the sessional rate
for clinical medical staff" is without foundation.
(c) The Labour Court's Recommendation No. 6992 of 9th
March, 1982, applying to dental clinical tutors
employed in Dublin Dental Hospital has no relevance to
this case as that Recommendation dealt with a special
relationship which existed for that group on a letter
of sanction from the Department of Education dated
17th September, 1968, which established a direct
relationship between the Voluntary Hospital medical
clinical specialists and dental clinical tutors. No
such category is employed in the Hospital. The Court
in that Recommendation merely affirmed that this
relativity be restored. The Court did not establish
that relativity but only restored it. Therefore, the
Association in this claim is requesting the Court to
restore relativity which in fact never existed.
(d) The sessional rate for visiting dental surgeons
employed in the Hospital and those in the Dublin
dental hospital is the same. Therefore, no precedent
exists for any visiting dental surgeons to be paid any
sessional rates other than those approved (for dental
staff) by the Minister for Health.
(e) The sessional rate which takes account of all aspects
as approved by the Minister for Health has always been
the rate applied to these fixed term contracts.
(f) Having regard to the points outlined above there is no
validity in the Association's claim and therefore, it
must be rejected.
6. The Court sought additional information from both parties. A
request was received from the Employer side for a further hearing.
The hearing resumed in Cork on 8th September, 1987.
Hospitals further arguments:
7. (a) During the previous hearing the Association inferred
that some of its members performed duties (assistant
examiners) which was part of their visiting dental
surgeon work and for which no consideration was
provided for in the sessional rate. Certain visiting
dental surgeons were appointed as assistant examiners
for the final BDS examination in 1986. These were
remunerated separately for this work by University
College Cork.
(b) Visiting dental surgeons who were approved for
lecturers tutorials were also remunerated separately
for this work by University College Cork. It is the
Hospital's contention that like with like comparison is
the visiting dental surgeon post and the sessional rate
approved for such posts by the Department of Health.
Associations further arguments:
8. (i) The term visiting dental surgeon is misleading in that
it does not reflect adequately the duties involved.
The term was introduced years ago in more casual times.
Over the years the duties have increased and become
more onerous (details supplied to the Court) and this
has not been reflected in the remunerative package.
RECOMMENDATION:
9. The Court recommends that for any session which includes a
tutorial the claimants be paid the sessional rate applicable to
clinical tutors in Dublin (#46.78 at present). This award to be
paid from 1st January, 1987.
The Court does not recommend concession of the other elements of
the claim.
~
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
__________________________
Deputy Chairman
16th October, 1987
M.D./J.C.