FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : GALWAY PEOPLES RESOURCE CENTRE - AND - THREE COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT SCHEME SUPERVISORS (REPRESENTED BY SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION) DIVISION : Chairman: Ms O'Donnell Employer Member: Ms Connolly Worker Member: Ms Treacy |
1. Ex-Gratia Redundancy Terms.
BACKGROUND:
2. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 14 December 2017 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.
A Labour Court hearing took place on the 21 February 2018.
UNION’S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. A national agreement between the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and the Trade Unions provides that funds will be made available to enable sponsors of CE projects to make redundancy payments where such sponsors do not have adequate funds available.
2. Following an agreement in 2005 redundancy terms were calculated based on statutory entitlements plus 3.35 weeks per year of service.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The company applied to the Department for the enhanced payment and this was refused.
2. The Company is unable to fund the ex-gratia redundancy payment.
RECOMMENDATION:
The matters before the Court concern claims for an enhanced redundancy payment for the three Claimants who were employed as Community Employment Scheme Supervisor and Jobs Clubs employees with the Galway Peoples Resource Centre. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection was the sole funder of the Centre but ceased its funding on the 12thMay 2017. Their respective roles became redundant on that date. The redundancy of the roles, according to the employer, arose from the decision of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to cease funding the Centre.
The Union sought the application of redundancy terms as set out in an agreement made nationally in 2002 and updated in 2005 between Trade Unions, FAS and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment which was the relevant Government department at the time. This agreement related to CES Supervisors initially but has been applied to employees of Jobs Clubs since at least 2011 The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is now the relevant department. Those agreed terms are 3.35 weeks' pay per year of service plus statutory redundancy entitlement.
The Employer has set out to the Court that it does not have the financial capacity to pay the terms sought by the Trade Union. It acknowledges that the agreement should have application and indicated that it has met with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on a number of occasions in an attempt to resolve this issue. The Department has refused to provide the funds to allow payment to the Claimants of the terms contained in the national agreement.
The Court has difficulty in relating the reported position of the Department to the terms of the national agreement and in the absence of the Department the Court was not, at its hearing, in a position to secure any clarification of this matter.
The Court has examined the text of the national agreement which is in place and operational between the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Trade Unions. The Court is satisfied from the information available to it that the agreement as written applies to the redundancies which arose from the Department’s decision to cease funding the Galway Peoples Resource Centre. In all the circumstances the Court recommends that the Claimants be paid the enhanced redundancy terms set out in the national agreement.
In order to implement the Recommendation, the parties should jointly approach the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection with a view to securing the necessary funding to pay the recommended ex-gratia payment.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Louise O'Donnell
LS______________________
09 March 2018Deputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Louise Shally, Court Secretary.