FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : ENABLE IRELAND (REPRESENTED BY IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION) - AND - FORSA SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION IRISH NURSES' AND MIDWIVES' ORGANISATION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Hayes Employer Member: Mr Murphy Worker Member: Mr McCarthy |
1. Non-payment of pay restoration under the HRA & LRAs.
BACKGROUND:
2. The case before the Court concerns a dispute between the Employer and the Unions in relation to the alleged non-payment of pay restoration in line with the terms agreed under the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road Agreements to employees in Enable Ireland. The dispute relates specifically to the Unions' claim that the Employer has failed to restore the pay rates of approximately 180 of its members who have an established pay relationship with comparable grades in the HSE. The dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference held under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 10th October, 2017, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 7th February, 2018.
UNIONS' ARGUMENTS:
1. Pay levels in this employment mirror those that apply to comparable grades in the HSE.
2.When the HSE reduced its pay levels in line with the reductions imposed on the Public Service by the Oireachtas, Enable Ireland was obliged to introduce similar reductions to comply with its funder's directions and to retain the pay alignment with the HSE.
3. As the pay cuts in the Public Service generally and the HSE in particular are reversed, staff in this employment are entitled to have those pay adjustments reflected in their pay scales also.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
1. Management acknowledges that in the past it has aligned its pay levels with those in the HSE.
2.Management submits that such an alignment was only possible while it was being sufficiently well funded by the State to do so.
3. Management submits that as its funding levels were cut in the course of the recession and have not been restored it cannot meet the cost of the Unions' claims as to do so would have serious adverse consequences for the provision of services to its Clients and put the very survival of the organisation at risk.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court has carefully considered the extensive written and oral submissions of both parties to this dispute.
Based on those submissions the Court finds that there is a long-established pay relationship between the HSE and Enable Ireland. That relationship resulted in both wage increases and wage reductions in Enable Ireland in line with pay movements in the HSE.
As a result of recent agreements between the Unions and Management in the HSE the pay of comparable grades has increased in line with the terms of relevant Public Service Pay Agreements.
On this basis the Court finds that there is merit in the Unions’ claim to have those increases applied to the staff of Enable Ireland.
Collaterally the Court notes that Enable Ireland has suffered a reduction in its funding from the state and is not currently in a position to meet the Unions’ claim without significantly reducing the level of service it provides to its Clients.
In this context the Court recommends that the Parties engage with a view to a) requesting the funding agencies to restore the level of subsidy in line with the increases provided for in the Public Service Pay Agreements and b) examining, within the context of the employment protection provisions of the relevant Public Service Agreements, other efficiencies that would enable the Body to begin the process of bringing pay rates back in line with those that apply to similar grades in the HSE.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Brendan Hayes
27th March 2018______________________
SCDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Sharon Cahill, Court Secretary.