FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : HEALTH SERVICES EXECUTIVE - SOUTH EASTERN AREA - AND - IRISH NURSES ORGANISATION DIVISION : Chairman: Ms Jenkinson Employer Member: Mr Grier Worker Member: Ms Ni Mhurchu |
1. Upgrading.
BACKGROUND:
2. The workers concerned, approximately 6, are employed as Pre-School Officers and are paid on the Public Health Nurse (PHN) scale of pay. They are involved in the inspection, monitoring and support of pre-school services, e.g. nurseries/cr�ches. They are seeking upgrading of the grade to Assistant Director of Public Health Nurse. The claim has been rejected by the Health Service Executive (HSE) on the grounds that they do not accept that the post of Pre-School Officer was at the same level as Assistant Director of Nursing in terms of the demands of the posts.
The dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 29th July, 2005 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 28th February, 2006.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3.1 Currently, the PHN's performing the role of Pre-School Service Officers in the HSE-South East are paid only on the Public Health Nurse scale, although their colleagues in the Health Service Executive North East Region (HSE-NE) and in the HSE-Northern Area are paid on the higher scale of Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing for performing the same role. Therefore, there is a precedent within the Health Service Executive for the remunerative package applicable to the post of Pre-School Service Officers to be that of Assistant Director of Public Health Nurse (ADPHN). Public Health Nurse for Immunisation, a specialist clinical role within each Community Care Service in the HSE-SE, is paid the same salary scale as the Assistant Director of Public Health Nurse in the HSE-South East.
2. The Commission on Nursing 1998 confirmed that all Public Health Nurses operate at the level of Clinical Nurse Specialist. Therefore, the Pre-School Services currently operate at the level of Clinical Nurse Specialist and this claim is to have this specialist role appropriately recognised.
3. The HSE-SE have previously argued that it would be inappropriate to remunerate the Pre-School Services officers at the Assistant Director of Public Health Nurse grade as they perform a vastly different role to the 'managerial' Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing. However, precedent already exists to do so, in that the specialist PHN for Immunisation equally has a vastly different role to the managerial ADPHN, but is aligned for pay purposes on the same salary scale.
MANAGEMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
4.1 The current grading structure is a nationally agreed one.
2. This claim cannot be conceded by the HSE South Eastern Area as the HSE South Eastern Area does not represent or cannot negotiate on behalf of the Health Service Executive as a whole.
3. The grade at which the Union wish the claimants to be graded is inappropriate as there is no comparison in the level of responsibility between that of an Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing and that of a Pre-School Officer PHN.
4. There are other specific PHN's that have similar remits as Pre-School Officer PHNs and they are not graded higher than PHN.
5. If the Union feel that there should be grades between PHN and Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing they should pursue this claim at the appropriate level, which is at national level.
RECOMMENDATION:
The dispute before the Court concerns the appropriate grading for Pre-School Services Officers in the HSE-SE. These officers are presently graded at Public Health Nurse (PHN) grade, and the Union claimed that in recognition of their specialist role that they should be regraded to Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing (ADPHN) grade. The Union cited precedents in two other HSE areas where the ADPHN grade is the applicable grade for Pre-School Services Officers. The Executive indicated that there were historical reasons why the ADPHN grade is applicable in these instances and not in others.
Having considered the matter and examined information requested by the Court on the practice in other HSE areas, the Court notes that there is some inconsistency in the grading of Pre-School Services Officers.
The Court also notes that unlike general nursing, the Commission on Nursing provides only three grades for Public Health Nurses – PHN, ADPHN and Director level.
In all the circumstances of this claim, the Court recommends that this is an issue which should be addressed at national level with a view to ensuring that the same or similar grade applies for the same or similar job description across the HSE areas. The Court recommends accordingly.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Caroline Jenkinson
31st March, 2006______________________
JBDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Jackie Byrne, Court Secretary.