Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Procurement Buyer

A Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00029281-001

25/06/2019

The Worker has been employed by the Employer as a Procurement Buyer since February, 1989. The Worker claims that he was re-graded to a lower grade role within the organisation following a restructuring of the company in 2018. The Worker is seeking to have this adjudicated upon by way of a trade dispute in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.

The Worker submits that he was required to apply for a new role within the organisation in 2018 after being made redundant as a result of a process of restructuring. The Worker claims that his new role has been graded at a lower level than his previous role even though both roles are very similar in nature. The Worker is seeking to have his new role re-graded to the higher grade commensurate to the post that he had previously held within the organisation.

The Employer disputes the claim and contends that the Worker’s role was made redundant in 2018 after it was centralised and transferred to operations within another country. The Employer contends that the Worker has successfully applied for another role within the organisation. The Employer submits that the Worker’s role has changed following the restructuring and that there may be opportunities for him to secure another role at the higher grade in the future.

This dispute was referred to the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and concerns a claim by the Worker for a re-grading of the role that he currently holds within the organisation.

The parties confirmed at the oral hearing on 19 December, 2019 that they were still engaging in the internal grievance procedures in relation to this dispute. In the circumstances, I informed the parties that I could not adjudicate on this matter until they had fully exhausted the internal grievance procedures. This was in keeping with the well-established principle applied by both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court that they do not intervene in a dispute under Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 until all internal grievance procedures have been fully exhausted.

I informed the parties at the hearing that I would afford them a period of three months until 19 March, 2020 within which to conclude the internal grievance procedures in relation to this dispute. I requested the Worker to confirm to the WRC on, or before, that date if the matter has been resolved via the internal procedures or if he wished to proceed with the adjudication of the dispute in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969. The Worker informed the WRC on 12 March, 2020 that the internal procedures still had not been concluded in relation to this dispute.

In the circumstances, I recommend that the parties should conclude and fully exhaust the internal grievance procedures in relation to this dispute prior to seeking to have the matter adjudicated upon under the provisions of Section 13 of the Act.

I recommend that the parties should conclude and fully exhaust the internal grievance procedures in relation to this dispute prior to seeking to have the matter adjudicated upon under the provisions of Section 13 of the Act.

Industrial Relations Act, 1969 – Section 13 – Trade Dispute – Internal Procedures Not Exhausted