Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

 (Complainant)

 (Respondent)

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969

CA-00010821-001

13/04/2017

The Complainant is employed with the Respondent since the 9^th of April 1973. He currently works as a District Traffic Executive. In taking up this position, he was advised that he was going to be paid monthly by way of electronic fund transfer. He has objected to this form of payment. He failed to resolve the matter with the Respondent and he filed a complaint with the Workplace Relations Commission on the 13^th of April 2017.

The Complainant’s representative stated that the Complainant was seconded to the role of District Traffic Executive in 2013. On the 8^th of July 2015 he was appointed to a permanent position in this role. However, part of the conditions of appointment was that the payment of his wages would be made on a monthly basis by way of electronic fund transfer. He objected to this condition as he had been paid on a weekly basis by cash since his employment began on the 9^th of April 1973. He believes that he should be appointed to the permanent position without having to accept a monthly payment of his wages and that he should continue to be paid by cash on a weekly basis.

The Respondent stated that discussions took place on pension scheme issues where there were a significant number of people who had to take up positions on secondments, and all of those have been offered the same terms in relation to the method that their wages would be paid. The vast majority of the employees involved in this have accepted the terms that they will be paid on a monthly basis rather than on a weekly basis. A small number of employees (16) are still refusing to be paid by the month. The Complainant is one of these. At a recent meeting it was outlined to the individuals concerned that they would have until the end of September to agree to accept their positions on the basis outlined i.e. monthly wage payments, or the company would have no option but to return them to their previous working positions.

I find that the complaint taken by the Complainant is currently being processed in a collective manner by their trade union. Therefore, I am unwilling to adjudicate on a collective matter that is already in process. As an adjudicator, I can only adjudicate on individual complaints and not on collective complaints.