LCR22664

1.On Call In The Maintenance Department.

BACKGROUND:

2. The within dispute concerns the manner in which the on-call arrangements included in a collective agreement negotiated in 2000 are being operated by electricians and plumbers (‘the Workers’) within the University of Limerick Hospitals Group.

Discussions have taken place between the Union and Management during which a range of proposed revised arrangements - including payment of a lump sum by way of a buy-out of the current practice - have been considered but rejected by the Workers.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Union submits that the established custom and practice is that a craftsperson is remunerated for each emergency call-out he or she is required to attend to when rostered on-call (at the rate of three hours at double time) and additionally and separately for any other emergency dockets that issue while the craftsperson is present in the hospital attending to the original call.

The Union submits that it is willing to continue to explore alternative arrangements to those currently in place but only if the current earnings of the Workers are protected. It has proposed that one method by which this could be achieved is through the introduction of an annualised hours system.

Management Submission

Management submits that it is imperative that a streamlined and less expensive means of ensuring an effective on-call system be found. It says it is willing to compensate the Workers for the resulting loss of income through a once-off payment but that it cannot negotiate an annualised hours agreement at local level.

Discussion and Recommendation

The Court recommends that the Parties apply the following provision of the 2000 agreement going forward: “(1) Three hours at Double Time to be paid for first call after normal finishing time and all other calls to be paid at the appropriate rate”, subject to reaching agreement in relation to a once-off lump sum payment to buy-out the current custom and practice described above.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
IK	______________________
8 November 2022	Deputy Chairman