Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

Bus Driver

Bus Company

Act

Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969

IR - SC - 00001065

31/01/2023

The worker is employed as a bus driver with the employer.  She commenced this role on 01/09/1999.  The worker believes that she should be classed as a “Euro Driver” which has a defined duty attached once she is “marked in”.  The employer disputes that she holds this status but submits that she had a historic arrangement which is known as a “Euro/Bogey” duty.  This dispute could not be resolved at local level and the matter was referred to the WRC on 31/01/2023.

By way of clarification a Euro status driver works Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm.  If a driver is “marked in” this means that they can’t, be asked to do another shift.  A Euro/Bogey driver works a protracted shift from 7am to 7pm with a four-hour break.

The worker commenced employment on 01/09/1999.   She believes that she achieved the status of “Euro” Driver in 2007.  She was “marked in” and worked a 5 over 7 pattern.  Her shift pattern changed in 2007 to a Monday to Friday arrangement and worked 7am to 7pm with a four-hour break.  She remained on this pattern for 15 years.  She disputes the employer’s position that she was a “spare Euro Panel driver”.  She is seeking a recommendation that she is restored to a Euro status.

The worker disputes the employer’s view that by confirming her as a Euro driver that it would either undermine or have any knock-on effect on the filling of these roles.

By way of background the employer explained that the Euro duties were created in 1999 and subsequently amended in 2003 and 2009.  The 2003 agreement provided for the creation of a “Euro Spare Panel”.  This also provided that a driver on this panel could revert to “spare” if the Euro duties in a particular depot were reduced.  The designation as “spare” means that a driver could be allocated to different routes and duties.

The employer submits that the worker in this dispute was facilitated with following either a Euro or Bogey duty since 2005.  A Bogey duty is a 7am to 7pm shift and designed to cover service demands at peak periods.

In 2009 the employer confirmed to the worker that she would revert to a “spare driver” category and would be required to work full shift patterns.  An arrangement was then made at that time to allow her to remain on her mixed duties and since that time she has worked a mix of Bogey and Euro duties.  It is the employer’s position that their roster records confirm this.  If the worker held a Euro status driver position, she would only have worked Euro shifts.

In 2002 the employer sought to end the specific arrangements which consisted of a mix of Euro and Bogey duties that the worker had. Following a review of this proposal the employer acknowledged that the worker had this arrangement since 2005 and confirmed that they would be prepared to continue this local arrangement with the worker.  At the hearing the employer’s representatives confirmed that this proposal to facilitate the worker to revert to her historic arrangement is still open to the worker. The employer clarified that this arrangement does not confer Euro status to the worker.

The employer also clarified that there is a collective agreement in place which allows a driver to become a “marked in” driver on the Euro panel based on seniority.  Any recommendation which would affect this agreement has a potential knock-on effect on that agreement.

The employer’s position is that the worker was never a “Marked in” Euro driver.  The employer believes that its proposal to the worker to retain her historic arrangement is reasonable.

In conducting my investigation, I have taken into account all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties and the information which was given at the hearing. In the exercise of orderly industrial relations, it is expected that the parties should effectively utilise their agreed grievance procedure in the first instance before initiating a referral of a matter to the WRC. I am satisfied that there was meaningful local engagement in relation to this matter. Having heard the submissions and responses from the employee and employer the role of the Adjudicator is to make a recommendation to try and resolve this dispute.

The issue in dispute is whether or not the worker is regarded as a Euro driver.  The worker believes that she is by virtue of her work pattern and duties since about 2007.  The employer believes that the worker was never a Euro driver and that her work pattern and duties demonstrate that she worked a mix of duties, and these were combined or evolved into a pattern which she retained.

I recognise that the status of Euro driver is a preferable option and that it brings consistency to the work pattern of an employee.  The employer has a collective agreement in place in relation to how any vacancies are filled notwithstanding that the employer believes that these duties are no longer fit for purpose.  I accept that the worker believes that she was a marked in driver, but this belief seems to have materialised because she had a particular shift pattern which the employer sought to change on two occasions.  It is clear from the information provided that a driver on a Euro duty would not perform other duties.  The workers shift history does not confirm this and at the hearing the worker herself described her shift as “Euro/Bogey”. 

I believe that this dispute has been protracted and needs to conclude.  While a Euro duty would give absolute consistency to the worker, I believe that the employer’s proposal will offer a level of consistency which does not change here existing arrangements.  I am recommending that the worker accept the employers offer whereby she will “on resumption of duty, to continue her current agreement whereby she works a mix of Euro/Bogey duties Monday to Friday”.  I am also recommending that the worker confirm her acceptance of this offer in writing to the employer within four weeks of the date of this recommendation.

Shift pattern.