Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A worker

An employer

Representatives

Marie Corcoran

HR 

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-00030866-001

12/09/2019

The worker is employed at General Manager level in a public service organisation and this dispute revolves around her claim that she is carrying out her role at Assistant National Director level.  All local avenues of dispute resolution have been exhausted.

This hearing took place remotely.

The worker submitted that she has been carrying out the duties of her former line manager since he took a career break in April 2012.  At the time it was anticipated that this would be a short-term arrangement, lasting up to 5 months. His job was at Assistant National Director level.

The worker was assigned a different Asst. National Director to report to for that period.  This situation continued year on year and the worker submitted that this net Asst. National Director did not take on the duties of her former line manager in any meaningful way.  This new reality continued for a number of years until her former line manager retired in December 2017.  She then began to report to a National Director.

The worker submitted that she raised the matter with her employer in 2016 but did not receive a response.  However, upon the retirement of her former line manager, the worker immediately commenced discussions with her National Director regarding regrading and recognition of the out of hours work she was required to undertake.

The employer submitted that the worker did not assume all the duties of her former line manager.  These duties were assigned to another line manager at a similar level, that of Asst. National Director. That manager retired in January 2018.

The employer noted that during the periods referenced in this dispute, it was undergoing significant change and transformation, including developing new ways of working for the business at all levels.

The employer rejected the claim that the worker was undertaking the duties of her former line manager.  Although the employer did not dispute that the worker’s role changed at the time her former line manager left, it submitted that much of the responsibilities at Asst National Director level transferred to the new Asst National Director assigned those responsibilities.

The employer submitted that under Para 1.10 of the Croke Park Agreement there is a clear requirement on all public servants to do more for less.  Essentially all public sector workers faced challenges in terms of their levels of responsibility and workload.  As expected, arising from this agreement the workers role changed and grew.  The employer asserted that although the worker relies on the growth of her role and responsibilities for a regrading, in itself this change does not necessarily guarantee that a regrading will follow.

The employer pointed out in its submissions that that there is no formalised job evaluation scheme for the ‘complainants’ grade and notes that this is irrelevant to this complaint.

Having considered all the written and oral submissions presented in relation to this dispute, I note that although the workers position changed temporarily in 2012, she sought to regularise matters in 2016 and although the employer notes this in its submissions, it makes no reference as to how that inquiry was dealt with and resolved.

I also note that the worker is now reporting to a different operational pillar (following the national report on the organisations structure in 2017). However, she is now reporting to a National Director rather than an Asst National Director.  I note that the employer mentions in its submissions that it is not unusual for a General Manager to report directly to a National Director, however no concrete examples were provided.

I note that the employer indicates that the lack of an evaluation scheme is irrelevant to this dispute.

Having considered all the written and oral submissions in relation to this dispute, I conclude that there are specific factors at play in relation to this workers role and level and that, in respect of this position, it would be useful to undertake a job evaluation to ascertain whether this role being carried out by this worker is at General Manager or Assistant National Director level.

Having regard to all the written and oral submissions made in relation to this dispute, my recommendation is that a job evaluation is undertaken to ascertain whether this role being carried out by this worker is at General Manager or Assistant National Director level.

Industrial relations, job evaluation, specific circumstances.