Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Manager

A Government Body

Representatives

Eimear Ryan Fórsa Trade Union

none 

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-00038986-001

31/07/2020

The worker commenced employment with the employer in 1984. She assumed additional duties and responsibilities on top of her existing role in January 2017 but did not receive any additional payment as a result.

The worker assumed additional duties and responsibilities on top of her existing role in January 2017. While she did not receive any additional payments for these, she was assured by her line manager that he would regularise the situation when he had the opportunity to do so.

In 2019, the worker highlighted a vacant role on a higher salary scale that she believed would give her line manager the opportunity to increase her salary and regularise the situation as he had promised but this did not materialise.

The worker’s representative also highlighted that this was not a cost increasing claim as the worker is not looking for a pay increase but is only looking to be paid the appropriate rate of pay that reflects the role she is fulfilling.

The employer acknowledged that the worker has operated at the same grade since 2003 and that even though she was appointed to a new role in January 2017 wherein she assumed additional responsibilities, she did not receive any additional remuneration.

The employer also stated that they could not move the worker into the new role she identified on the higher salary scale without carrying out a selection competition for the position.

While it was acknowledged that concerns were expressed by the worker when she assumed her new duties in 2017, the employer stated that it was unable to find any mechanism to pay her for fulfilling these because this would have been at odds with both the public sector agreements as well as the relevant codes of practice wherein cost increasing claims are prohibited.

I note that the worker has been fulfilling additional duties and responsibilities above and beyond the pay grade of her role since January 2017 but has not received any remuneration in respect of these. 

I note also however that while some attempts were made by her to resolve the matter soon after her appointment, the matter was not referred to the WRC until 31st July 2020 and that no reasons was presented to explain this delay.  

In light of my findings above, I recommend that an increase in the worker’s remuneration should be backdated to 1st January 2019. This should be in the form of a pensionable ‘Personal Allowance’ equal to the difference in her current annual salary and the corresponding point on the requested salary scale effective from 1st January 2019. This uplift should also be reflected in her pension and other entitlements.

This recommendation is made solely in the context of this worker’s unique and particular circumstances and should not be considered to have any implications for any other worker.