LCR22652

1.Pay and Pay Progression.

BACKGROUND:

2.This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of Conciliation Conferences under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 12 February 2022 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 4^thApril 2022 and 30^thSeptember 2022.

UNION’S ARGUMENTS:

3. 1. The cohort of workers should have been included in job role review carried out by the employer in 2021

2. The workers’ rates of pay are out of line with similar roles in the industry

3. The Union is seeking a minimum rate of €12 per hour for all workers from 4^thDecember 2021

EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:

4. 1. The job role review was only in respect of those in the Patient Food Service Care

2. All employees have received a 7% pay award during 2021

3. The company is not in a position to agree to any additional cost increasing measures

RECOMMENDATION:

The issues in dispute between the parties and jointly referred to the Labour Court are pay and incremental progression as set out in the proposal arising from WRC conciliation which was balloted on and accepted by SIPTU members in December 2021. A job role review was carried out by the employer in November 2021 which resulted in approximately 200 workers’ getting an increase in their hourly rate with effect from the 4^thDecember 2021 and the implementation of a three-point scale for jobs that were retitled as Patient Food Service Care Assistant

A Court hearing took place on the 4^thApril 2022 and was adjourned to allow the parties with the help of the WRC clarify the issues properly before the Court and to clarify the categories of worker’s covered by the claim. In the intervening period both parties made further submissions to the Court. A further hearing took place on the 30^thSeptember 2022. The Union is seeking as a minimum that all worker’s be moved to €12 an hour. It is the Union’s submission that approximately 53 workers were excluded from the job role review and are currently on less than €12 an hour which is the new minimum rate for the category of Patient Food Service Care Assistant.

The Employer submitted that those jobs were not involved with Patient Food Service Care and the review was only in respect of those specific roles. The increases for worker’s involved in Patient Food Service care was to recognise the uniqueness of this role and the patient care element. All staff working in Patient Food service care signed up to a new job description. The Employer confirmed that worker’s in other areas could apply for positions in the area on the new higher rates and if they were assigned there either temporarily or to do overtime, they would receive the higher rate of pay. The Employer submitted that all its workers in the Saolta group had received a 7% pay award during 2021.

The Union submitted that it was not disputed that worker’s received a 7% pay award, but that the Union’s main focus now was the 53 (approximately) workers who do not have incremental progression and are all on less than €12 an hour. The Union stated that this cohort of worker’s pay rates are significantly out of line with similar roles in the industry and particularly with directly employed staff. While it was not disputed that to date worker’s may have been able to move into the Patient Food Service care role not everyone wanted to work in that area The Workers who received the uplift, while they signed a new job description, did not take on any additional duties and for the Workers who did not receive the uplift they could see no logic as to why they are being treated differently.

Discussion

It would appear from the information provided to the Court that within the cohort of roughly 53 workers there are seven different rates of pay ranging from €10.71 to €11.78 with the majority of staff being on either €10.92 an hour or €11.33. It was also acknowledged by both parties that the minimum wage rate is increasing to €11.30 from 1^stJanuary 2023 and that this is something that the Employer will have to address.

Having considered all the submissions both oral and written the Court recommends a streamlining of pay rates for this cohort of worker’s as follows:

With effect from 1^stDecember 2022 worker’s earning €11 euro or less per hour should move to a rate of €11.55 per hour. Worker’s earning €11.01 per hour or more but less than €12 per hour should move to a rate of €12 an hour.

The Court notes that the Employer indicated that their new financial year commences 1^stOctober 2022 and that internally they are currently considering pay related issues for the forthcoming year. Any benefits arising generally for worker’s from those or other similar discussions should apply in equal measures to the cohort of worker’s covered by this recommendation.

The Court so recommends

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Louise O'Donnell
OC	______________________
04 October 2022	Deputy Chairman