ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00009700
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Healthcare worker | A Healthcare provider |
Representatives | Self | Conor O'Gorman IBEC |
Complaint(s):
Act | Complaint/Dispute Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00012697-001 | 21/07/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 14/09/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.
Both complainant and respondent attended the hearing as scheduled.
Background:
The complainant commenced employment with the respondent in December 2001 in the position of Staff Nurse and was placed on a pay scale similar to a comparator in the HSE. Any and all adjustments made to pay scales in HSE were reflected in the complainant’s remuneration. During recent years the complainant was subjected to pay reductions in line with HSE staff. Pay restoration for HSE commenced in April 2017 and it is the complainant’s contention that this should also be the case for her. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
Commenced employment just over 15 years ago and has always received remuneration in line with HSE grades. Reference job description issued in July 2006 that she would be in line with staff nurse grade. Has made attempts internally via the respondent’s grievance procedure to achieve this objective but felt that she was left with no option but to lodge a complaint to WRC. The complainant raised the issue of nursing staff being on different pay scales in recent years and this would make her a “stand alone case”. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent is not a public sector employer and is not reckoned by the Lansdowne Road Agreement. The respondent hopes to restore pay to all staff and is currently attempting to secure funding for this purpose. The process of pay restoration will be done in a sustainable and equitable fashion across the organisation. It would not be equitable to provide a single member of staff with a pay increase at this point. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The complainant has an expectation that her pay will be restored and in having such an expectation she is not being unreasonable. She has followed the internal grievance procedure as set out. The respondent employer hopes to be in a position to restore pay to all staff but has yet to secure funding to enable this. The respondent is reluctant to make a special case with regard to the complainant and wishes to address the subject in a fair and equitable fashion including all staff members at the same time. The respondent is currently seeking funding for pay restoration and is unable to commit to anything at this point. I fully accept this position. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
For the reasons outlined above the complaint fails. |
Dated: 14th November 2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Jim Dolan
Key Words:
Pay restoration |