ADJUDICATION OFFICER Recommendation on dispute under Industrial Relations Act 1969

Investigation Recommendation Reference:

Parties:

	Worker	Employer
Anonymised Parties	Worker	Employer

Representatives

Cara O’Neill SIPTU

Judy McNamara IBEC

Dispute(s):

Act	Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969		21/09/2021

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Conor Stokes

Date of Hearing: 13/06/2022

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 (as amended)following the referral of the dispute to me by the Director General, I inquired into the dispute and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any information relevant to the dispute.

Background:

The employer is an Irish food company with a portfolio of consumer brands. The group operates a number of manufacturing and warehousing facilities around the country.

Summary of Workers Case:

The worker submitted that he was passed over for selection for overtime on two occasions, the first in August 2020, the second in September 2020.

Summary of Employer’s Case:

The employer submitted that the passing over of the complainant for overtime in relation to the August period was an oversight. In relation to the September period, the reason given by the employer was that overtime was assigned on a departmental preference basis in that full time staff in the position were offered the overtime in that department first before others were offered the chance to do the overtime.

Conclusions:

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

During the hearing, the worker accepted the suggestion that not being offered the August overtime was due to an honest oversight.

The employer submitted that the operation of the overtime allocation was based on a departmental preference basis, and to make any recommendation as to changing the system to reflect the seniority of the worker would have a knock-on effect on other staff members. The parties agreed that any recommendation made in relation to this incident would have an impact on a class of workers and suggested that perhaps further discussions are necessary in this regard.

Recommendation:

Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 requires that I make a recommendation in relation to the dispute.

As it is accepted that the first incident was due to a genuine oversight, I have no recommendation to make.

As any recommendation regarding the second incident would have an impact across the facility and perhaps throughout the larger company, I am not in a position to make a recommendation.

My final recommendation is that the parties engage in further discussions at a local level to try to resolve any disputes that arise due to the assignment of overtime at this location.

Dated: 16TH OF June 2022.