Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD90616 Case Number: LCR13143 Section / Act: S67 Parties: KILLARNEY GOLF CLUB - and - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION |
Claim by the Union for an increase in the rates of pay of bar personnel.
Recommendation:
5. The court having considered the submissions of the parties
recommends as follows:-
(1) Pay
That the following pay scale apply to the bar staff with
effect from 1st January, 1991 -
#105, #120, #135, #150 and #165 per week. Differential
to be applied to senior man acting as chargehand #15 per
week.
(2) Holidays
That the claim for additional holidays be rejected.
(3) Christmas Bonus, Sick Pay
The Court notes that arrangements in respect of Christmas
bonus and conditions on sick pay having been clarified by
the club are satisfactory to the Union.
(4) Overtime
As there appears to be some difference between the
parties in relation to the extent of actual overtime
required or worked, the Court recommends that the parties
enter into discussions with the aim of regularising the
position and ensuring that subsequent to the position
being regularised any overtime worked beyond the end of
shift is paid for
Division: MrMcGrath Mr Brennan Mr Walsh
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD90616 RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR13143
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1976
SECTION 67
PARTIES: KILLARNEY GOLF CLUB
(REPRESENTED BY THE FEDERATION OF IRISH EMPLOYERS)
and
SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION
SUBJECT:
1. Claim by the Union for an increase in the rates of pay of bar
personnel.
BACKGROUND:
2. 1. The golf club employs two full-time permanent workers in
the bar. A number of part-time workers are employed during
the summer months and as other occasions demand. In 1990,
four part-time workers were taken on for the summer months.
2. The golf club also employs twelve full-time permanent
course staff to maintain its two courses. In April, 1990,
following a Labour Court conciliation conference, revised
rates of pay and overtime arrangements were introduced for
course staff. The Union then lodged a claim for an increase
in the rates of pay of bar personnel on the basis that present
rates are out of line with good comparable employments in the
area. The current weekly rate for the two full-time permanent
bar workers is #162.27 and #132.81 respectively. Following
local discussion the claim was referred to the Conciliation
Service of the Labour Court, on 3rd September, 1990. At
conciliation management were prepared to accept a pay scale of
#100 x #15 to #160 with a differential of #15 for the senior
man. The Union rejected this as they felt it did not take
account of Sundays and the unsocial hours. As no agreement
was reached at the conciliation conference held on the 28th
September, 1990 the matter was referred to a full Labour Court
hearing. The Court investigated the dispute in Killarney on
5th December, 1990.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The rates of pay of the club's bar staff are seriously out
of line with rates applicable in the bar trade generally and
in good comparable employments. Their pay has also fallen
away behind their colleagues employed on the golf courses.
Workers on the golf courses have received a substantial wage
increase and other improvements in their conditions of
employment during 1990, while no such improvements were
applied to the bar staff.
2. Management state that they are prepared to pay wages to
bar personnel in line with local bar rates, but their
interpretation of local rates differs widely from that of the
Union. Bars in Kerry and in Killarney are not unionised. The
Union is seeking rates of pay for the club's bar staff in line
with rates in the better bars of hotels in and
around Killarney or in line with the agreed rates of the Irish
National Union of Vintners Grocers and Allied Trades ( details
of rates supplied to the Court). Management argue against
what they term as 'Dublin rates' but in the run up to the
single European Market in 1992 there should be no pay
barriers, especially when golf is such an international sport
and Killarney Golf and Fishing club is one of the most
prestigious in the country.
3. Bar personnel in the golf club have to endure a lot of
anti-social working. The hours worked are akin to shift-work
operation. During the summer months there is an 8.00 a.m. to
4.00 p.m. shift, a 12.00 noon to 8.00 p.m. shift, a 2.00 p.m.
to 10.00 p.m. shift and a 4.00 p.m. to midnight shift. This
roster must be classified as shift work but there is no
recognised shift allowance payment for it. It is also a well
established practice that Sunday work is paid for at double
time in all good employments but the golf club does not pay
anything over and above the weekly rate. From time to time
bar staff have to work unpaid overtime.
4. The Union is also seeking conditions of employment for bar
personnel similar to those applicable to course maintenance
workers. This will include twenty days annual holidays plus
Bank and Church Holidays, Christmas bonus payments and similar
conditions on sick pay. The rates of pay for bar personnel
should be in line with recognised Union rates and one group of
workers should not be treated less favourably than another in
the same employment.
MANAGEMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The golf club's bar staff and course staff have always
been regarded as separate groups and any attempt to link their
pay or conditions is clearly inappropriate. The only relevant
comparison that can be made for bar staff is with other bar
staff in the Killarney area. Management in the golf club
undertook an informal survey of the pay rates prevailing in
relevant bars i.e. bars in the better hotels in Killarney and
the bigger independent bars. From the survey it is clear that
the workers concerned are among the top paid bar staff in the
area. The 'going rate' is #2 to #3 per hour with just one
grade A hotel paying #4 per hour. The current weekly rates
for the two full time permanent bar workers in the golf club
are #162.27 and #132.81. Bar staff work a regular week.
Overtime is not a feature of their duty but should an occasion
arise necessitating overtime, excess hours are paid for.
2. During negotiations at the conciliation conference
Management suggested a bar personnel pay scale of
#100-#115-#130-#145-#160. Part-time staff would progress
along the scale on the basis of cumulative service. In
addition there would be an allowance of #15 paid to the worker
who currently receives #162.27 (deputising for the steward).
In practice this would mean weekly rates of #175 and #160
respectively for the permanent bar personnel on reaching the
maximum point of the scale. In Management's view the revised
rates should compensate the workers for any element of
unsocial hours or other unattractive features of the job. The
rates currently in operation compare very favourably with
rates paid elsewhere in the locality.
3. The Union raised the question of annual leave at the
conciliation conference. Bar staff at the golf club currently
enjoy 20 days annual leave plus eight public holidays and Good
Friday. This, in Management's view is the norm in bars in the
Killarney area. Other terms and conditions of employment,
including a 37.5 hour week, are also well in line with
conditions prevailing in the industry in the region. Similar
Christmas bonus arrangements apply to all workers in the golf
club and all workers, including bar personnel, have the same
sick pay entitlements. Accordingly, the Court is requested to
endorse the pay structure put forward by Management at the
conciliation conference and to reject the Union's claims for
any further improvements.
RECOMMENDATION:
5. The court having considered the submissions of the parties
recommends as follows:-
(1) Pay
That the following pay scale apply to the bar staff with
effect from 1st January, 1991 -
#105, #120, #135, #150 and #165 per week. Differential
to be applied to senior man acting as chargehand #15 per
week.
(2) Holidays
That the claim for additional holidays be rejected.
(3) Christmas Bonus, Sick Pay
The Court notes that arrangements in respect of Christmas
bonus and conditions on sick pay having been clarified by
the club are satisfactory to the Union.
(4) Overtime
As there appears to be some difference between the
parties in relation to the extent of actual overtime
required or worked, the Court recommends that the parties
enter into discussions with the aim of regularising the
position and ensuring that subsequent to the position
being regularised any overtime worked beyond the end of
shift is paid for
~
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Tom McGrath
_______________________
10th January, 1991. Deputy Chairman
A.McG./J.C.