Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD893 Case Number: LCR12251 Section / Act: S67 Parties: OUR LADY OF MERCY COLLEGE - and - IRISH FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS |
Claim on behalf of one worker for the restoration of a relativity.
Recommendation:
5. Having considered the submissions from both parties, the Court
is satisfied that the Union's claim is valid. The Court
accordingly recommends payment in full of the amounts due.
Division: Ms Owens Mr Shiel Mr O'Murchu
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD893 RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR12251
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1976
SECTION 67
PARTIES: OUR LADY OF MERCY COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
and
IRISH FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS
SUBJECT:
1. Claim on behalf of one worker for the restoration of a
relativity.
BACKGROUND:
2. The worker was first appointed as College Infirmarian in 1973.
On 1st December, 1974 she was assigned additional duties and the
College authorities increased her salary from that date to equate
with the second point of the scale for a Ward Sister in the
Voluntary Hospitals. She subsequently moved to the maximum point
of that scale. Her salary moved in line with developments in the
Ward Sister scale until 1st October, 1983 when a special 8% award
to Ward Sisters was not applied to her salary. On 23rd October,
1987 the Union wrote to the College seeking the retrospective
restoration of the worker's pay parity with the grade of Ward
Sister in the Voluntary Hospitals. The claim was referred to the
Department of Education who informed the College that it was not
in a position to award any increase at that stage. The College
closed on 30th June, 1988 and staff were given the option of
voluntary redundancy or redeployment. The worker here concerned
opted for redeployment. In view of this the Department agreed to
examine the worker's rate of pay in the light of whatever duties
were assigned to her when she was redeployed. This situation was
unacceptable to the Union and the matter was referred to the
conciliation service of the Labour Court. At a conciliation
conference held on 8th December, 1988, the Department offered to
restore the parity arrangements under the terms of clause 3.2 of
the current pay agreement which provides for the payment of 40% of
any increase due from 1st July, 1989 and the balance at a later
date to be decided. No offer was made on retrospection. This
offer was rejected by the Union and the matter was referred to the
Labour Court for investigation and recommendation. A Court
investigation into the dispute was held on 27th January, 1989.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The worker was granted parity with the salary scale of
the Ward Sister grade. This parity arrangement was
subsequently altered negatively and without notification. The
worker was not informed at any stage that her salary scale was
departing from that arrangement. She did not discover that
she no longer held parity with that grade until the end of
1985. When she approached the College authorities at that
time she was told that the Department of Education was
preventing the increases in question being given to her.
2. Since the last students left the College in June, 1988
the worker, along with a number of other staff, has been
waiting to be redeployed according to a commitment given by
the Minister for Education. The Union deplores the fact that
the Department has sought to exploit this situation in order
to avoid sanctioning payment of monies which have been
withheld since 1983 and are currently due. The point is
highlighted all the more by the fact that only one person is
concerned and a paltry sum of money for the State is involved.
The current difference in salaries is #1047 and the loss to
the worker since 1983 has been #4850.
3. The Department's offer of August, 1988 to review the
worker's salary on redeployment could not be considered
seriously as to date redeployment has not taken place and, in
any case, the Union maintains that the connection is
irrelevant.
4. Increases in the Ward Sister grade were passed on
automatically in previous instances. There was no question of
a claim having to be lodged in order to have them applied to
the worker's scale. The same should have applied in 1983.
DEPARTMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The Department, in an effort to exercise tighter
controls over the creation of new posts and to ensure that
increases in pay were implemented in accordance with the
provisions of pay agreements and that guidelines for the
processing of claims were adhered to, wrote to the president
of the College on a number of occasions. Despite these
communications, increases were passed on to the worker here
concerned without the sanction of the Department. Had the
Department been approached it is almost certain that sanction
for payment from the same dates as the increases were paid
would not have been granted as they would have breached the
provisions of the Agreement on Pay Policy contained in the
Second National Understanding for Economic and Social
Development.
4. 2. The worker did not have a written formal agreement with
College management on the matter of pay parity and therefore
did not have an automatic pay link with the Ward Sister grade.
Therefore, as this is a normal parity link, it falls to be
dealt with under Clause 3.2 of the 1987 Agreement on Pay in
the Public Service to which staff of the College, including
the worker, are parties.
3. If the Union's view that the passing on of pay increases
by the College without receipt of a claim constitutes an
automatic pay link was to be accepted, then all of the
Colleges non-academic employees could claim to have such a
link even though none of them could produce evidence of the
existence of such a formal written link. The Labour Court has
dismissed claims where parity claimed was found never to have
existed (LCR11568 refers).
RECOMMENDATION:
5. Having considered the submissions from both parties, the Court
is satisfied that the Union's claim is valid. The Court
accordingly recommends payment in full of the amounts due.
~
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Evelyn Owens
6th February, 1989 ---------------
R.B./U.S. Deputy Chairman