FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : FAMILY SUPPORT AGENCY - AND - CPSU DIVISION : Chairman: Mr McGee Employer Member: Mr Grier Worker Member: Mr O'Neill |
1. Claim for regrading.
BACKGROUND:
2. The claim concerns 18 workers who are employed as Clerical Officers and Staff Officers in the Family Support Agency (FSA). The Agency was formally established in May, 2003 and is responsible to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs through that department. It brings together a number of functions and services which were provided directly by the department such as the Family Mediation Service, Family Affairs Unit, Family Resource Centres etc,. The Agency operates out of 14 offices countrywide. Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick are Area Regional Offices and operate on a five day week basis, the others are part-time offices and provide a more limited service. Currently the majority of the claimants are on secondment from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. However new clerical employees are being recruited directly into the new Agency. While the Family Mediation Service was still part of the Department of Social and Family Affairs the Union submitted a claim on behalf of Clerical Officers (CO) and Staff Officers (SO) for a regrading of their duties. The Union claims that the duties and responsibilities of the claimants are inconsistent with the duties of the grade of C.O and S.O. The Union submitted an initial claim for the regrading of the work carried out by the claimants in December, 2002. The claim was put on hold pending the establishment of the new Agency and it was subsequently confirmed that the employee matters would be the responsibility of the new CEO and such matters would be dealt with outside of the Civil Service Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme. With the formal establishment of the Agency in May, 2003 all existing clerical staff were seconded to the new Agency for a period of five years (three remaining) during which time they would continue to have the option of return to the Civil Service by means of transfer within the C.O. grade or on promotion through internal mechanisms of the service. The Agency also decided that it would recruit all new clerical staff on terms equivalent to the Civil Service CO grade. The Union claims that in the context of the creation of an Agency outside of the Civil Service Departmental Structure a new agreement would have to be reached regarding the terms and conditions of clerical staff going forward. The Union is seeking that the jobs be evaluated by an agreed third party. The Agency rejected the claim. The dispute was referred to the Labour Relations Commission. A conciliation conference was held but agreement was not reached. The dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 14th March, 2005 in accordance with Section (201) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Court hearing was held on the 25th May, 2005.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The claimants carry out duties at various locations which are not normally the responsibility of staff at C.O. level including Key Holder/Maintenance Duties, Promotion and Information, Finance, Petty Cash, Invoicing, Security, Training Mediators, Proof Reading Mediation Agreements, Assessing and Prioritising urgent cases. From the outset of the new Agency the Union has sought to review and assess the duties carried out by the clerical staff jointly with Management. The Union strongly believes that the range of work and responsibility goes far beyond that of the traditional CO given the specific nature of the service, based as it is in small offices across the country with staff working often in isolation and required to show a level of initiative and responsibility not required of CO's elsewhere.
2. The number of directly recruited staff is increasing and it is imperative that a structure be put in place to provide for a collective agreement covering terms and conditions where the link to the Civil Service will not exist. A first step is the establishment of an agreed grading structure which reflects the work demands on CO's in all locations.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The Agency considers that the clerical duties within Family Mediation Service are broadly in line with the C.O. duties in the Department of Social and Family Affairs and Civil Service generally, particularly where the CO is working as a clerical support.
2. The Agency accepts that some duties in the Union upgrade claim, while not appropriate to the clerical grade, have been carried out by clerical staff. The Agency has taken action and will continue to do so to ensure that clerical duties are in line with clerical duties within the Department and the Civil Service generally.
3. While Management agreed to a job evaluation at conciliation the advice from the parent Department and the Department of Finance was that job evaluation was not warranted.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court, having considered the submissions made by the parties, recommends that a job evaluation should take place, as agreed at conciliation, to establish whether a regrading for this group is appropriate.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Raymond McGee
8th June, 2005______________________
TOD/BRDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Tom O'Dea, Court Secretary.