ADJUDICATION OFFICER RECOMMENDATION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00023665
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | Consultant/Employee | Health Service Provider/Employer |
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-00030221-001 | 13/08/2019 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 20/01/2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Janet Hughes
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 employee is employed in a clinical discipline in the Mental Health Services. The dispute relates to a claim for payment of what is terms a structured weekend payment under a national contract dated 2008. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The employee is in receipt of Factor B payments for weekend working. Given the level of work required of the employee at weekends, the nature of that work as described at the hearing and the length of time on duty, the claim is that the structured payment is more appropriate for this work. Communications with management promised a review but the claim was rejected each time. Correspondence was received from the relevant Clinical Director stating that the work performed at weekends was in line with structured weekend working. The employee is aware that other clinical staff in the same category and in the same hospital group received structured payments for weekend working. The value of the underpayment was put at more than €10000 at the time of the hearing. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The employer that they are willing to pay the C rate to the employee if claimed. However, in relation to the claim for payment of the structured weekend rate, this is not agreed. Reference was made to guidelines issued to the guidance given to managers on the implementation of the contract of 2008, which stated at section 12 that the employer is the sole decision maker as to whether structured commitments are required. Management in this instance had not authorised structured commitments, such a decision wold have budgetary implications locally and potentially nationally as structured payments have not been authorised for the particular discipline of employee in any area. The manager of the service spoke of extensive engagement with another employee in the same discipline, represented by another organisation and confirmed that no payment was agreed or paid to that other employee. An additional cost for implementing the payment claimed in the employee’s area was given as €300k. Regarding the payment of a structured payment to others in the area, this was covered by a national agreement with the same national category but in a different discipline and type of service. |
Findings and Conclusions:
This is a collective issue, affecting as it does the organisation and scheduling of work in the service, significant budgetary considerations locally and possibly nationally and consequential claims by other employees in the same position as the employee in this discipline and in this case. As such, an adjudicator of the WRC has no jurisdiction to address this claim as though it were an individual employee issue. I cannot and do not recommend a remedy to resolve the dispute regarding a claim for structured payments for this employee. Whether or not the employee submits a claim for the C rate which the employer has acknowledged would be due, if claimed, is a matter for the employee. |
Recommendation:
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.
Based on the conclusion that this is a collective issue with implications for other employees and the employment locally and possibly nationally, I do not have jurisdiction to recommend a resolution to this claim. |
Dated: 05-02-2020
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Janet Hughes
Key Words:
Structured payments/collective issue |