FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : HSE NAAS GENERAL HOSPITAL (REPRESENTED BY HSE SOUTH WEST) - AND - IRISH NURSES ORGANISATION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Duffy Employer Member: Mr Grier Worker Member: Mr Nash |
1. 2 Privilege Days
BACKGROUND:
2. The Dispute before the Court concerns a claim by the Union for 2 concession days for nursing staff. The Union believe it is unfair to deny nurses, who are of Officer Grade the concession days particularly as staff that have as little as a year service benefit from them, based on the fact that they are not nurses. Further to that nurses working in the community for the same employer receive the concession days that are in dispute. The Company argue that the concession days were never given to the grades of staff covered by the claim.
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 could not be reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 30th January, 2007 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 2nd October, 2007.
UNION'S ARGUMENT:
3. 1 It is not equitable that staff with less than one year of service are in receipt of concession days and that staff with in excess of twenty years are denied this entitlement. Policy of HSE on concession days states that only Officer Grades should be in receipt of privilege days and non-Officers are not entitled to privilege days. Nursing staff are Officer Grades, therefore should be in receipt of said days.
2 Union members in different parts of the country receive similar concession days sought here.
3 Officer Grades are entitled to equity in respect of conditions of employment and concession days are included in this.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENT:
4. 1 The concession days were never given to the grades of staff covered by the claim. Personalised arrangements only should have continued beyond 1989 for those who enjoyed them and remained in the county concerned.
2It is acknowledged that there has been slippage with regard to employees benefiting from the concession days beyond 1989 but there is no evidence that this slippage extended to grades which were not originally encompassed by the concession.
3The Health Service Executive has inherited a lot of anomalies in terms of hours of work, leave etc from the old Health Board structure and therefore variations exist which need to be addressed but we cannot create further anomalies by extending as age old concession to employees who have never enjoyed such a condition.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is clear to the Court that the Concession days at issue have traditionally, and by agreement, applied only to clerical and administrative grades represented by the former LGPSU. Since their inception they have never applied to the claimant grades.
In these circumstances the Court cannot see any reasonable basis upon which it could recommend extension of these concession days at this time.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Duffy
23rd October, 2007______________________
DNChairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to David P Noonan, Court Secretary.