FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : INCORPORATED ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL (REPRESENTED BY THE IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION) - AND - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Employer Member: Worker Member: |
1. Annual Leave.
BACKGROUND:
2. The dispute concerns the issue of the amount of annual leave to which 11 nurses are entitled. They work a 10.5 hour day and receive 33 days off (including public holidays) each year. Their total number of annual leave hours is 346.5 (33 x 10.5 hours). The Hospital claims that annual leave hours should total 257.4 (33 x 7.8 hours) and that the nurses have benefited from an oversight on the part of Management.
The Hospital is seeking to apply the level of annual leave which is determined by the Department of Health and which applies in other hospitals. The Union claims that existing annual leave is part of the terms/conditions of the nurses' employment and that they have been entitled to the 346.5 hours for a considerable period of time. The dispute was the subject of a series of conciliation conferences which also dealt with a dispute concerning the issue of a 78-hour fortnight. Agreement was reached between the parties concerning the latter. The dispute concerning annual leave remained unresolved and was referred to the Labour Court on the 20th of September, 1996, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. The Court investigated the dispute on the 25th of October, 1996.
HOSPITAL'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. Management has endeavoured to rectify the annual leave issue since Autumn of 1994. It is unacceptable that the matter has not been resolved when the anomaly is clearly identifiable and not disputed.
2. The cost to the Hospital of the excessive annual leave arrangements is prohibitive, is not covered in the Hospital's budget, and is inequitable vis-a-vis other staff members. It is unsustainable in the long-term and it will have to end.
3. It is not acceptable for SIPTU nurses to continue to insist on availing of all national terms and conditions as they apply countrywide while failing to address this anomaly which has been identified which is clearly out of line with national agreements.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. In accordance with the Working Arrangements agreed for years by Hospital management, nurses' annual leave is based on the same entitlement in days (both annual leave and public holidays) as applies to their counterparts elsewhere. It is also more fundamentally based on their average working day of 10.5 hours. This is the normal method of calculation and, presumably, was acknowledged as such by management. That such an agreement produced a total number of annual leave hours in excess of those obtaining elsewhere, was also known to Management.
2. The Hospital's proposals would reduce the annual leave days to 23. This would amount to a substantial reduction in both the number of annual leave hours but also in the number of annual leave days.
3. While the workers have been willing to facilitate the Hospital in relation to the issue of working hours, Management has not reciprocated in relation to the issue of reduction in annual leave nor has it been prepared to address the question of compensation for the loss of leave.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court is conscious that the rostering and leave arrangements are complex and that any proposals other than those already discussed could make the situation more difficult.
The Court, therefore, recommends that the Hospital, in return for the staff agreeing to the 78-hour fortnight, pay a lump sum of £12,000 to be divided between the 11 staff involved as compensation for the changes in annual leave. The £12,000 to be divided pro-rata based on the number of years for which staff had enjoyed the current leave arrangements.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Finbarr Flood
11th November, 1996______________________
M.K./S.G.Deputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Michael Keegan, Court Secretary.