FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : HSE (REPRESENTED BY HSEEA) - AND - IRISH NURSES ORGANISATION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr McGee Employer Member: Mr Murphy Worker Member: Ms Ni Mhurchu |
1. Hearing arising from LCR18595
BACKGROUND:
2. The original claim was lodged on 7th January 2004 although the category of Out of Hours Nurse Manager came into existence circa early 2000. This new grade was the result of proposals for the settlement of the 1999 Nurses strike, and there was an expectation that given their origins at CNM3, that the Assistant Director of Nursing grade would apply equally to them.
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 and a hearing took place during September, 2005, however a Recommendation was not issued instead the Court requested the parties to re-engage to try and reach agreement on the basic facts relating to the dispute. The dispute was referred again to the Labour Court on the 18th January 2006 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.
A Labour Court hearing took place on the 31st May, 2006 and Labour Court Recommendation number LCR18595 was issued on 16th June, 2006. One remaining matter, the date of implemention, remained unresolved and was jointly referred back to the Labour Court on 29th May, 2008 for a definitive Recommendation on what the effective date should be.
A third Labour Court hearing took place on the 29th October, 2008.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The grade of Out of Hours Nurse Manager emerged from the grade of Night Superintendent which after a lengthy process had been upgraded to that of Assistant Director of Nursing grade level with retrospective effect to November 2001, it is incorrect to try and make a distinction now between their grading.
2. The Out of Hours Nurse Managers / Site Managers have observed and adhered to all procedures and have not contributed to the delay, it is acknowledged that the question of the retrospective date is the only remaining issue in dispute. The INO would argue that retrospection to November 2001 is the most appropriate date.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The case before the Court relates to the implementation date applying to Out of Hours Nurse Managers, other elements of the relativity claim were implemented with effect from 1st December, 2006.
2. There are significant costs associated with this claim based on the 30 posts upgraded which were identified by the job evaluation report. There are no funds to meet the costs associated with this claim.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court has fully considered all aspects of the matter before it and recommends that the implementation date applying to the "out-of-hours Nurse Managers" should be 7th January, 2004.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Raymond McGee
21st November, 2008______________________
JFDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to John Foley, Court Secretary.