Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

An instructor

A health services provider

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-00028713-001

28/05/2019

The Complainant is an instructor working with the Respondent organisation since January 2000.

This complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 28th May 2019.

The Complainant lodged a formal grievance regarding her pay-related issues under the Respondent’s grievance policy. The issues were not resolved and the issue was referred to the Workplace Relations Commission on 28th May 2019.

In relation to the background to this claim both the Complainant and Respondent have provided information in relation to same in their respective submissions. As the information contained in both submissions is, to a very great extent, similar. I will not go into a lengthy version of same.

The Complainant was successfully appointed to a new position as a Councillor in July 2019,   the pay related issues remain unresolved, this has impacted on her current role and rate of pay.

The Complainant is seeking the matters resolved, to have her pension contributions rectified and to be placed on the correct hourly rate for her current post so that her long-term earnings are not impacted.

The Complainant raised the issues about her salary and pension when she was redeployed to another section of the organisation. Neither the Complainant or Management noticed the errors in her pension until 2016. The issues were formally raised in 2018 at which time Management requested the Payroll Department to examine the issue.

Payroll responded with a comprehensive response in July 2019. The response was in the form of an excel spreadsheet which included details on all calculations of payment. This response was provided to the Complainant and her union in order that the Complainant could examine the figures and respond with any queries.

Following on from the issue of the aforementioned report the Complainant responded that not all her payslips were taken into account in the calculations. This response was provided to payroll at the end of August. However, the payroll manager was on annual leave until mid-September and has only examined the queries since his return.

The main issue which is now in dispute is the hourly rate payable to the Complainant. It is the intention of management that the Complainant will be paid correctly and in accordance with the terms and conditions of her employment.

Management are happy to share all information in relation to how payroll have carried out their calculations in order that the Complainant is satisfied over the accuracy of the payroll calculations. It is expected that the payroll manager will have concluded his examination in the next few days.

Conclusion.

The Complainant is paid under a unique salary scheme in that she is on a Department of Education Salary Scale. There have been administrative errors in relation to her superannuation which have now been corrected. Neither the Complainant nor the Respondent noticed these errors until 2016. When these were noticed immediate action was taken. The Respondent is committed to ensuring that the Complainant is correctly paid and in accordance with her contract of employment. The Respondent will share all calculations and information in relation to the Complainant’s issues and this should be available next week

At the time of hearing the complaint it was obvious that genuine efforts had been made by both the Respondent and the Complainant to resolve the issue.

I asked the parties to meet each other one more time with updated information and inform me if progress had been made.

On receiving feedback from this meeting, I recommend as follows:

From 1st July 2013 until 31st March 2017 – an hourly rate of €38.60.

From 1st April 2017 until 31st December 2017 – an hourly rate of €39.72.

From 1st January 2018 until 30th September 2018 – an hourly rate of €44.22

From 1st October 2018 until 8th July 2019 – an hourly rate of €44.66 – date of commencement in new role.

Her starting salary in her new role should be adjusted because of this.  She should go on to the top point of her current salary scale.

Any monies due to the Complainant should be paid as quickly as possible and without delay.

I would like to thank all involved in the hearing of the complaint for the professional manner in which they behaved throughout.

As outlined above.