Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Doctor

A Public Body

Representatives

Irish Medical Organisation

 Corporate Employee Relations Services

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-00043402-001

06/04/2021

The Worker is seeking to be placed on a different pay scale because she is currently on a pay scale that is defunct.

The Worker stated that upon her appointment by the Employer in October 2017 she was given an individual contract that contained a defunct salary scale. This salary scale she had been appointed to was so redundant that it took until 2020 to have five years of pay increases applied to her salary.

The Worker stated that it is inappropriate that she is retained on this defunct pay scale and asserted that she should be moved to the pay scale that applies to colleagues in other specialisms given the importance of the speciality she is working in.  

The Employer submitted that a number of colleagues of the Worker in the instant dispute who are working in the same speciality are on the same pay scale that she is. This dispute therefore covers the pay scale of a body of workers and is therefore non-compliant with section 13(2) of the Industrial Relations Act.

Specifically, it was highlighted that section 13 (2) of the Act, is very clear on what an Adjudication Officer can and cannot investigate, namely:

‘ Subject to the provisions of this section, where a trade dispute (other than a dispute connected with rates of pay of, hours or times of work of, or annual holidays of, a body of workers) exists or is apprehended and involves workers within the meaning of Part VI of the Principal Act, a party to the dispute may refer it to a rights commissioner’

It was also highlighted that the issues in dispute are with the line department for consideration and deliberation as part of an on-going engagement with the Employer, following on from the employer engaging with the Worker’s union, and that this has been ongoing since 2021.

Accordingly, individual third party referrals, such as the instant matter, are premature in light of pending deliberations.

I can understand both the Worker’s frustration that she is being treated differently to colleagues in different specialisms and that she is on a pay scale that is long defunct. It also regrettable that there was no firm indication from the Employer at the hearing as to when this matter might be resolved.

Nonetheless, it is clear that this dispute is connected with the rates of pay of a body of workers and I am therefore precluded from investigating the matter in line with section 13(2) of the Act.

Given that adjudication is precluded under section 13(2) of the Act in respect of disputes connected with the rates of pay of a body of workers, I find that I cannot make a recommendation in respect of this dispute.