ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00008234
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | An Employee | Ambulance Service |
Representatives | SIPTU | Inhouse |
Complaint(s):
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-00010955-001 | 25/04/2017 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 13/09/2017
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and/or Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).
Background:
The complainant is a grade VI officer on the respondent’s ambulance service. The dispute concerns the fact that he was placed on two recruitment panels without being offered a promotional opportunity. The parties made written and oral submission to the hearing. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant submits that he was placed on two recruitment panels for specified grades in a campaign initiated by the respondent in late 2011. He raised a grievance concerning his non-appointment to a promotional position on the basis that Grade VII positions were vacant. He was unsuccessful at stage 1 and stage 2. The grievance officer at stage 2 indicated that the panels referred to were closed by the National Recruitment Office. The stage 3 hearing took place on the 19th of December 2016 and the complainant asked that it would be noted that he had not received notification of the closure of the panels and that a relevant Grade VII position had been filled without reference to the panels. The decision of the grievance officer at stage three reflected that made at stage 2 (closure of panels) and the fact that “the decision made regarding the expiration of National Panels cannot be altered, amended, or dealt with via the grievance procedure.” The complainant became aware through FOI that the panels were live as late as April 2017. The complainant petitions that I make a recommendation to the effect that the respondent accepts that both panels remain live and that it would communicate the same in writing to the complainant. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The respondent submits that the matter is collective in nature and therefore falls outside of my jurisdiction under the Act. Furthermore, the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA – governing body on all matters relating to public service recruitment) Code of Practice requires that panels must cease after two years of operation but cannot be utilised after 3 years. The issue of the expiration of National Panels and future filling of vacancies has been the subject of national conciliation discussion. A new recruitment competition planned for 2017 has been communicated to staff. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.
I am not in a position to undermine the rules governing the operation of recruitment panels within the respondent’s remit and therefore unable to make a recommendation favourable to the complainant as petitioned. |
Dated: 9th July, 2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael Hayes