Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Caretaker

A Local Authority

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-00026884-001

07/03/2019

An Oral Hearing into the Complainant’s complaint, as received by the Workers Relations Commission on 7 March 2019, took place on 27 May 2019, following which the below recommendation issued on 24 June 2019:

“Having carefully considered all of the evidence adduced and based on the considerations/findings as detailed above, I make the following recommendation:

Given all the circumstances, I recommended that the parties engage in direct discussions at local level in an effort to resolve the matters at issue. This process should contain of the following elements:

·         The Complainant will provide a Respondent with all details in relation to callouts covering the period 2018 and 2019 to date.

·         On receipt of the above, the Respondent will review same in the context of the application of the relevant National Agreements and Circulars and with specific reference to the particular circumstances that may apply in relation to the Complainant’s work location/local situation.

·         Both parties will apply themselves to the addressing and, hopefully, resolution of the Complainant’s claim, at local level, by the end of August 2019.

In the event that agreement is reached between the parties by the above date, no further action will be required. In the event that the local discussions do not provide for mutual agreement and resolution of the Complainant’s claim, he should contact the WRC in this regard and request a substantive recommendation on his complaint, on the basis as set out under complaint reference ADJ 20332 at the Hearing on 27 May 2019.”

On 17 October 2019, correspondence was received at the WRC from the Complainant’s Trade Union, advising as follows: “the timeline contained in the [Adjudication Officer’s] recommendation is now exhausted without agreement, and as per the provisions of his recommendation dated 24 June 2019, we now require a substantive recommendation in respect of the complaint lodged on behalf of our member.”

In line with this request, I set out below my substantive recommendation, which should be read in conjunction with the earlier recommendation which issued on 24 June 2019.

As no further submission has been received from the Complainant or his Trade Union representative, the summary of his case is as set out in recommendation issued 24 June 2019.

As no further submission has been received from the Respondent, the summary of his case is as set out in recommendation issued 24 June 2019.

Having carefully considered all of the evidence adduced and the respective submissions made on behalf of the Complainant and the Respondent at the Oral Hearing on 27 May 2019, I now issue the following substantive recommendation:

(a)    that the 2005 national agreement with regard to “On Called Provision – General Operative and Related Grades”, as it relates to “Emergency On-call” (as defined in that agreement) and as amended by Circular Letter E.L. 06/2012, in relation to New Beneficiaries, should be applied to the Complainant, with effect from 1 January 2020.

(b)    that the Complainant should receive retrospective remuneration, in line with the 2005 agreement, for the years 2018 and 2019, provided he can provide verifiable evidence of being called out on or in excess of the minimum 12 call-outs per annum, as stipulated in Circular Letter E.L. 06/2012.

(c)     that compensation for all other call-outs shall be calculated in line with the terms of paragraph 31 of the Complainant’s Contract of Employment.

That completes my recommendation.

Industrial Relations Act

On-call allowances