FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & SKILLS - AND - SIPTU/IMPACT/TUI/IFUT/UNITE DIVISION : Chairman: Ms Jenkinson Employer Member: Ms Doyle Worker Member: Ms Tanham |
1. 1. Equity Issue, 2. Exclusion Issue, 3. Discretionary Annual Leave Anomaly
BACKGROUND:
2. This case concerns a dispute between the parties in relation to proposals for the harmonisation of annual leave arrangement envisaged under the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014. The parties are in dispute in relation to three issues; i) Equity of application of Annual Leave arrangements ii) List of excluded grades and iii) Impact of the Public Service Stability (Haddington Road) Agreement. The dispute was not 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 matter was referred to the Labour Court on the 21st October 2013 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A labour Court hearing took place on 3rd December 2013.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3 1 Equity of Application of Annual Leave: Management's proposals to incorporate 5.5 annual leave days for non-academic staff to be taken at Christmas (4) and Easter (1.5) will reduce discretionary annual leave to an unacceptably low level. The Unions cannot accept this proposal as it will greatly reduce the ability of staff to meet their personal and domestic responsibilities.
2 Lists of excluded grades: The Unions do not accept Management's contention that it would be impossible to compile and distribute lists of excluded grades to the relevant organisations. The Unions are seeking that these lists be provided to ensure transparency and clarity on the issues across the public service.
3 Impact of the Public Service Stability (Haddington Road) Agreement: Staff who choose to reduce their annual leave entitlements under the Haddington Road Agreement instead of taking a reduction in pay will incur even greater losses of discretionary annual leave days which is unacceptable.
MANAGEMENT'S ARGUMENTS:
4 1 Equity of Application of Annual Leave: Management's proposals on this issue are in line with analogous employments within the public service and are compliant with the Organisation of Working Time Act with respect to taking annual leave entitlements
2 Lists of excluded grades: It would be very difficult to compile lists of excluded grades given the number of organisations and categories of staff across the public service.
3 Impact of the Public Service Stability (Haddington Road) Agreement: Management cannot separate non discretionary closure days from annual leave entitlements as this would be contrary to the purpose of introducing a harmonisation agreement.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court notes that it is agreed between the parties that this dispute has come before it under the terms of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 and the Recommendation of the Court is binding on the parties.
In line with the terms of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 regarding harmonised terms and conditions of employment an agreement was reached between the parties in December 2011 that there would be standardised annual and related leave arrangements within the public sector. In drawing up a Circular to cover non-academic staff in the Education Sector a number of issues remain outstanding and are the subject of this dispute.
The Unions identified the following issues in dispute:-
Equity of Application of Revised Annual LeaveArrangements
The Unions submitted that the proposal to incorporate a standardised allocation of 4 days for Christmas and 1.5 days for Easter into annual leave allowances will have a detrimental effect on non-academic grades when compared to academic staff and they sought the introduction of a more flexible arrangement instead.
Management submitted to the Court that the proposed standardise leave arrangements for non-academic grades in the Education Sector is in line with similar and analogous grades common across the public service.
Having considered the submission of both sides the Court notes that the methodology used to decide on the number of days to take account of in respect of the allotted days for Christmas and Easter was devised on the basis of the average over a period of 21 years and accordingly should in general be reflective of the norm. The Court is satisfied that the proposed arrangements as outlined in the draft Circular is in line with that which applies to similar and analogous grades across the public service, therefore the Court recommends in favour of the proposals as outlined in the draft Circular and should be accepted by the Unions involved.
List of Grades Excluded
The Unions submitted that they required a list of grades to be excluded from the new Circular, as they maintained that there are a number of grey areas.
Management gave details of the grades which will be impacted by the Circular and stated that due to the number of institutions which will be covered by the Circular and within these institutions there are so many grades it would be difficult to organise such a list.
Having considered the submission of both sides the Court recommends that the list of excluded categories from the Circular should be devised by management at local level and the Unions concerned should be supplied with the lists.
Impact of the Public Service Stability (Haddington Road) Agreement
The Unions submitted that the impact of the Public Service Stability Agreement whereby certain members of staff may decide to opt for a reduction in annual leave instead of a pay reduction will have the effect of reducing discretionary annual leave for some employees to an unacceptably low level.
Management submitted that omitting non-discretionary closure days in the annual leave allowances would lead to wide disparities among similar grades, contrary to the objective of the standardisation agreement.
Having considered the submission of both sides the Court is of the view that the application of reduced annual leave under the Public Service Stability Agreement applies across all grades to those who opt for this arrangement and accordingly does not recommend in favour of special arrangements in this case, therefore the Court recommends in favour of the proposals as outlined in the draft Circular, and should be accepted by the Unions involved.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Caroline Jenkinson
7th January 2014______________________
AHDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Andrew Heavey, Court Secretary.