Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD90368 Case Number: LCR12971 Section / Act: S67 Parties: TRINITY COLLEGE - and - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION |
Dispute concerning the rate of pay payable to full-time and part-time cleaners.
Recommendation:
8. The Court is of the opinion that as a consequence of the
formal relationship which exists between the attendants and all
groups of cleaners under the terms of the Framework Agreement on
Working Hours the hourly rate of pay of all related groups of
cleaners should change accordingly without any adjustment in
existing working conditions.
Division: Mr O'Connell Mr Collins Mr Devine
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD90368 RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR12971
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1976
SECTION 67
PARTIES: TRINITY COLLEGE
and
SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION
SUBJECT:
1. Dispute concerning the rate of pay payable to full-time and
part-time cleaners.
BACKGROUND:
2. The college currently employs 22 full-time and 155 part-time
cleaners. The full-time cleaners work a 35 hour week and the
part-timers' hours range from 12.50 to 30 hours per week. The
full-time cleaners are employed to clean student residences on
campus while the part-time cleaners are employed to clean offices
and other indoor areas.
3. Since 1980 the full-time cleaners have had a pay relationship
with the attendant/general operative grade who worked 40 hours per
week. The full-time cleaner received 35/40ths of the
attendant/general operative wekly rate i.e. the same hourly rate.
The cleaners rate of pay at present is #3.896 per hour. Under the
Framework Agreement on Hours of Work agreement was reached on a
reduction in the working week for attendant/general operative
grade.
4. The Union lodged a claim for payment of a higher hourly rate
(#3.996) to the cleaners on the basis that a formal relationship
exists between the cleaners and the attendant/general operative
grade. The College rejected the claim as it considered that as
the full-time cleaners are on a 35 hour week they are not covered
by the Framework Agreement on Hours of Work. However the College
stated that if equality of conditions regarding overtime were
accepted by the Union, it would concede the hourly rate claimed
for full-time cleaners and reduce the hours of work pro rata for
part-time cleaners. At present full-time cleaners are paid
overtime after 35 hours. The College is proposing that they be
paid overtime after 39 hours in line with other groups within the
College.
5. The College's proposals were rejected by the Union and the
claim was referred to the conciliation service of the Labour Court
on 10th May, 1990. A conciliation conference was held on 12th
June, 1990. As no agreement was reached both parties consented to
a referral to the Labour Court for investigation and
recommendation. A Court hearing was held on 27th July, 1990.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
6. 1. The Company's proposal to pay overtime after the 39th hour
is a worsening of conditions of employment, as by agreement,
the cleaners receive overtime after the 35th hour. The
proposal to reduce the working hours pro rata of the part-time
cleaners is unacceptable because the greatest and most
consistent source of dispute in the recent past has been the
imposition of extra work on them due to the non replacement of
staff who have left. To reduce the working hours would only
exacerbate the present situation.
2. The Union's claim is justified under the appropriate
minute of the Framework Agreement on Working Hours, Programme
for National Recovery.
3. In a similar case which the Court dealt with i.e. Labour
Court Recommendation Number: 12488, the Court, as part of
its Recommendation stated as follows:-
"It is clear that where an agreement says that part-time
employees will be paid the same hourly rate as their
full-time colleagues or an agreed proportion of it, it is
a "formal pay relationship" and there is a strong case
that part-time workers should benefit."
and
"In this case, the Court is satisfied that a "formal pay
relationship" was established by the 1976 agreement and
was maintained ever since. Accordingly, the Court
recommends concession of the Union's claim for the rate
of part-time workers to be calculated in accordance with
reduced weekly hours of full-time workers."
The Union contends that the circumstances of this case are the
same as those dealt with the above recommendation.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:
7. 1. The Framework Agreement on Hours of Work set out under the
Programme for National Recovery states that:-
"This Agreement applies to employees whose normal working
week is at or above 40 hours, and only such employees
shall benefit from it."
The full-time cleaners in Trinity College are a distinct
category of staff with their own conditions of employment.
They are pensionable and work a net 35-hour week, being paid
overtime for work carried out after the 35th hour. As these
staff work less than 40 hours per week, they are not eligible
for the one-hour reduction under the P.N.R.
2. It is accepted by both parties that full-time Cleaners in
College have had a wage relationship with the
attendant/general operative grade since 1980, their wages
being calculated on the basis of 35/40ths of the first point
of the attendant/general operative scale. The relationship is
confined to a formula for calculation of the full-time
cleaners' wages only, and does not encompass their conditions
of employment.
3. A minute to the Framework Agreement on Hours of Work
states that, "where claims in respect of part-time employees
who have a formal pay relationship with full-time employees
are submitted by Trades Unions, they may be dealt with on
their merits in accordance with established procedures at firm
level." This minute cannot apply to the full-time cleaners.
They are not part-time employees, but are a full-time category
working a 35-hour week.
4. The part-time cleaning staff in College have a wage
relationship with the full-time cleaners - they receive the
same rate per hour as full-time cleaners. This arrangement
was agreed late in 1980, some months after the full-time
cleaners' wages were adjusted. The wages of part-time
cleaners are related directly to thsoe of full-time cleaners,
and not to the wages of the attendant/general operative grade.
They therefore do not come within the terms of the minute.
RECOMMENDATION:
8. The Court is of the opinion that as a consequence of the
formal relationship which exists between the attendants and all
groups of cleaners under the terms of the Framework Agreement on
Working Hours the hourly rate of pay of all related groups of
cleaners should change accordingly without any adjustment in
existing working conditions.
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Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
John O'Connell
_________________________
3rd August, 1990. Deputy Chairman
M.D./J.C.