Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

Job Coach

Not for Profit Organisation

Representatives

Jemma Mackey Siptu

 Chairperson of the Board of Directors

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-00051150

10/05/2021

The employee commenced employment as a Job Coach with the employer on 05 October 2015.  She worked a 39 hour week and was paid €3,100 gross per month.  The employee claims she was due to be paid an increment effective 01 July 2020, but she did not receive an increase in pay.  She submitted a dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission on 10 May 2021.

The employer is a not for profit organisation providing support services for people with disabilities to secure and maintain employment on the open labour market.  The employer is funded on an annual basis by the Department of Social Protection and is overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors.  The employer’s position is that due to the funding arrangements in place the company did not have the necessary funds to award increments for any staff in 2020 or 2021.

The employee commenced employment with the employer on 05 October 2015.  She was employed as a Job Coach working with people with disabilities to secure and maintain employment on the open labour market. 

In 2017 the employee requested a review of her contractual terms and conditions.  She requested the review as, when compared to other employees, she was working more hours, and had less annual leave and sick leave benefits.  There was no progress on her request and as a result she sent a formal request to the Board by letter dated 20 December 2018.  She sent a further request by letter dated 19 March 2019.  The matters raised remained unresolved. 

In February 2020 the employee was advised that the yearly increment, due in July 2020, could not be paid as it was not accommodated in the budget for 2020.  The employee wrote to the Chairperson on 20 February 2020 again raising the issue of her terms and conditions and the potential non-payment of her increment on 01 July 2020.

As the funding of the employer is provided by the Department of Social Protection the employee wrote to her local TD and the relevant Minister seeking a resolution of the matter.  The Department replied that the terms and conditions of employment are solely a matter between the employee and employer. 

The employee’s union representative wrote to the Chairperson of the Board of Directors on 17 September 2020 seeking a meeting concerning the non-payment of the annual increment.  The union representative wrote again on 08 April 2021 as the matter of the increment and the other terms and condition remained unresolved.  The Chairperson replied on 26 April 2021 stating that despite many attempts to discuss the issue with the Department the respondent had not been able to resolve the issue of underfunding.  The Chairperson also advised that the employee now had the same annual leave as others in the company and that her hours of work would be 37 hours per week, effective from 03 May 2021. 

The employee contends the employer has an obligation to pay the increment due on 01 July 2020.  The employee had received increments in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.  The employee requests payment of approximately €2,300. 

The employer company was founded in 2004.  It is a not for profit organisation providing support services for people with disabilities to secure and maintain paid employment in the open labour market.  The service was funded by FAS until 2011 when responsibility for funding was transferred to the Department of Social Protection.

The company is now funded on an annual basis with no guarantee of future funding other than for the year mentioned in each contract for service.  Historically the pay scale for the post of Job Coach was a 9 point incremental scale and an employee would receive a pay increase each year on the anniversary of their first date of employment.  This practice was approved by FAS and initially by the Department.  In 2019 it became apparent there was a funding problem.  At the end of 2019 the business plan for 2020 was submitted to the Department.  An additional pay allocation was required to meet the award of the increment.  This request was denied by the Department.  The respondent suggested a transfer of unused ‘non pay’ allocation to the ‘pay’ allocation but this was refused by the Department.  The employer was forecasting a deficit at year end due to the payment of the increments awarded in 2019. 

The employer respects the great work undertaken by all its employees.  Due to the funding arrangements in place for the company and the current position taken by the Department of Social Protection the company does not have the necessary funds to award increments for any staff in 2020 or 2021.

In conducting my investigation, I have considered all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties.

The employee contends that she was entitled to receive an increment on the 9 point scale effective 01 July 2020.  The employee received an increment on the scale in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.  She submitted a dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission on 10 May 2021 claiming €2,108 (the next increment on the scale) had not been paid to her on 01 July 2020.

The employee raised the matter of the potential non-payment of her increment in her letter of 20 February 2020 to the Chairperson.  The employee and her union representatives engaged in correspondence and meetings with the employer in the following months.  The matter of the non-payment of the increment was raised formally by her union representative in letters to the Chairperson, dated 17 September 2020 and 08 April 2021. 

The employer is a not for profit organisation that is funded on an annual basis by the Department of Social Protection.  When the employer company was established in 2004 it was funded through FAS.  The employer operated in compliance with Operational Guidelines of the funding scheme issued in 2001, 2005 and 2011.  The employee was employed in 2015 under the 2011 guidelines.  The employee was appointed to the post of Job Coach and was paid an increment each year until 2019.  No increment was paid in 2020. 

A funding problem arose for the employer in 2019 which was discussed with the Department.  The employer submitted a business plan for 2020 which required an additional pay allocation as the award of the increment would take the company over the pay allocation.  This request for an additional pay allocation was denied.  The funder also refused to allow any of the non-pay allocation be used to pay increments.  The employer stated the increment for the employee would have been paid in July 2020, but the company did not have the funds to do so and was forecasting a deficit for the year.

Conclusions

The employee had a legitimate expectation she would be paid the next increment on the nine point scale based on the incremental payments made to her in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. 

The employer agrees that the increment was due and would have been paid except for their funding problem. 

I acknowledge the employer has an issue with funding as they have only one source of funding but that should not cause the employee to suffer a loss.  The employee was the only one due an increment as other employees were already on the maximum point of the scale.

I was advised at the hearing that the employee resigned on 02 July 2021.  She was at the loss of the value of the increment for a full year.  The increment had a value of €2,108 before tax and statutory deductions.

It is my opinion that the employee should have been paid the increment of €2,108 gross effective from 01 July 2020.  I note the employee is no longer on the payroll budget as she has resigned from her employment.

IR Dispute

Payment of increments

Lack of funding