Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD9147 Case Number: LCR13221 Section / Act: S67 Parties: TEAGASC - and - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION |
Dispute concerning the assimilation of the executive assistant grade 1 staff onto a new pay scale.
Recommendation:
6. Having considered the submissions from the parties the Court
recommends that the claimants enter the grade 3/EO Scale at
#15,344 p.a. from 1st July, 1990, and progress up the scale to
#15,837 in April, 1991 and #16,235 (April, 1992) in the normal
manner.
Division: Ms Owens Mr Brennan Mr Devine
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD9147 RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR13221
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990
SECTION 67, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1946
PARTIES: TEAGASC
and
SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION
SUBJECT:
1. Dispute concerning the assimilation of the executive assistant
grade 1 staff onto a new pay scale.
BACKGROUND:
2. Teagasc was established in September, 1988 following the
merger of ACOT and AFT. In September, 1989 following agreement
with the Unions the Institute of Public Administration (I.P.A.)
was commissioned to undertake a comprehensive study of
administrative support services/grading structures, in the
organisation. This report was published in December, 1989. One
of its recommendations was for the establishment of a grading
structure similar to that in the civil service as follows:
TEAGASC CIVIL SERVICE
Grade 1 Clerk/Typist
Grade 2 Clerical Officer
Grade 3 Executive Officer
Grade 4 Higher Executive Officer
Grade 5 Assistant Principal Officer
Grade 6 Principal Officer
The report was initially rejected by this Union but later accepted
after management put forward proposals on other issues, implicit
in the acceptance of which was the acceptance of the new grading
structure. As a result of the new structure being put in place
all workers at executive assistant grade 1 level (EA1) were
assimilated onto grade 3. The EA1 and grade 3 scales (as at 1st
October, 1990) are as follows:
EA1 Grade 3
#12,538 #8,312 at age 18
#13,132 #8,853 " " 19
#13,451 #9,500 " " 20
#13,770 #10,156 " " 21
#14,090 #10,888 " " 22
#14,409 #11,637 " " 23 +
#14.728 #12,197
#15,047 #12,736
#13,270
#13,790
#14,312
#14,823
#15,344
#15,837
#16,235
3. All of the workers concerned are on the maximum of their scale
i.e. #15,047 and management informed the Union that the workers
would be converted to the grade 3 scale at their existing salary
point with effect from 1st July, 1990 and they would each receive
3/4 of an increment on the 1st April, 1991 with the 1st April
thereafter being a common incremental date. This was unacceptable
to the Union which claimed that the workers should be assimilated
on a point to point basis (i.e. to the maximum of the grade 3
scale) and that this increase should be paid from 1st July, 1990.
Agreement could not be reached at local level and on 8th October,
1990 the matter was referred to the conciliation service of the
Labour Court. A conciliation conference was held on 6th December,
1990 at which no progress was made and on 20th December, 1990 the
matter was referred to the Labour Court for investigation and
recommendation. The Court investigated the dispute on 28th
February, 1991.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The workers' case for assimilation to the new grade on the
basis of corresponding points rests on equity. To use a
mechanism other than corresponding points would be to penalise
those who have been on the maximum of their grade for a
lengthy period of time. In actual fact fourteen workers
affected by this have been at the maximum point of the EA1
grade for over 5 years, three of these since 1978. To place
the workers on a new grade 2.25 points below the maximum of the
new grade is simply not equitable. No practice on pay
following regrading has yet been agreed in the organisation
and the Union has also established that no practice exists in
the civil service for assimilation from one grade to another.
Equity is best expressed in this case by assimilating the
workers to the new pay scales on the basis of corresponding
points and to pay this increase from 1st July, 1990. The
amount of money involved in using the correct method of
assimilation in this instance approximates to #1,000 per
individual on a once off basis.
MANAGEMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
5. 1. The I.P.A. report recommended that a significant number of
clerical/administrative posts should be upgraded. These
upgradings are currently being implemented and the staff
concerned are being assimilated to the higher scales by using
the standard civil service promotional mechanisms. The
organisation has conformed fully to the recommendation in
paragraph 1.4 of the I.P.A. report regarding the transfer of
staff to the new grading structure (details supplied to the
Court). The key point stressed in paragraph 1.4 is that
conversion to the new grades should be implemented "with no
loss of salary involved." This was intended to deal with the
situation where posts were not being recommended for upgrading
and where staff in grades being converted to the new
structures, whose current salaries were higher than the new
scale, would suffer no loss of salary and would retain their
existing salary on a personal basis.
2. The organisation currently has 85 grades, which is
undesirable from an administrative and industrial relations
viewpoint. It is intended to rationalise the present number
of grades/salary scales as far as possible through negotiation
with staff interests. Significant progress has already been
achieved in this area in relation to clerical/administrative
staff. If these claimants whose posts are not being upgraded
were to be promoted to the grade 3 scale rather than converted
to the scale in line with the recommended method in paragraph
1.4 of the I.P.A. report, there would be considerable
financial consequences in the future in converting other staff
to new grades. The organisation is operating under severe
financial constraints but despite this has agreed to implement
all the regrading aspects of the I.P.A. report. The workers
concerned in this dispute will convert to the grade 3 scale
with no loss of salary and progress to the maximum of the
grade 3 scale on an incremental basis. The salary maximum of
the grade 3 scale is #1,200 in excess of the former EA1 scale.
In all the circumstances, the Union's claim should be
rejected.
RECOMMENDATION:
6. Having considered the submissions from the parties the Court
recommends that the claimants enter the grade 3/EO Scale at
#15,344 p.a. from 1st July, 1990, and progress up the scale to
#15,837 in April, 1991 and #16,235 (April, 1992) in the normal
manner.
~
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Evelyn Owens
_____________________
7th March, 1991 Deputy Chairman.
U.M./J.C.