LCR23085

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Alleged breach of collective agreement governing use of medical assessments (Retained Fire Fighters)

BACKGROUND:

This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 16th September 2024 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.

A Labour Court hearing took place on 5th November 2024

UNION'S ARGUMENTS:

1. The Union submitted that this dispute arose from the employer’s breach of a collective agreement in respect of medical assessment for retained firefighters.
2. The Union is seeking that its members are reimbursed in an appropriate way for any loss of income

EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:

1. The Employer side has accepted that it was in breach of a collective agreement but say that once a firefighter has been deemed medically unfit for work the employer simply cannot reinstate them without being passed fit by a medical practitioner. All firefighters have now returned to work.
2. The Employer asks the Court to find against the union in their dispute.

RECOMMENDATION:

The dispute before the Court relates to a breach of a collective agreement by the Employer which effected 6 SIPTU members. The Union submitted that there is a collective agreement in respect of retained fire fighters’ physical fitness assessment in place since 2010 which indicates that the Chester Step Test is the agreed assessment method. However, the Employer for a number of years was using the Sharkey test and on foot of that test, the six members covered by this claim were stepped down in and around December 2022.

 The Union first raised the issue with the Employer by letter of 16th January 2023 and again raised it at a meeting of 31st January 2023. They informed the Employer at that point that the members had been incorrectly stepped down and should be reinstated.   At the meeting the Council advised that it was following the 2003 and 2005 agreements between SIPTU and the Local Government Services Board. 

The Union in March 2023 informed the Employer that a clarification document to the 2003 and 2005 collective agreement was issued in 2010, and that document clarified that the appropriate step test to be used was the Chester Step Test.  Following on from this there was an ongoing exchange of correspondence between the parties and in August 2023, the Employer confirmed that the Chester Step was now in use and that the Fire fighters who had been stood down would be scheduled for re-examination using that test.

 The Union sought compensation for the members who had been stepped down. However, they did not quantify what was being sought or what loss each member had.  The Employer stated there was no basis for compensation once a member was stepped down, they could not be reinstated until they had successfully passed a further assessment.

 It was accepted that at the time of the Court hearing the Employer was now using the Chester Step Test and with the exception of one member who had retired the other members had at various stages passed the Chester Step Test and returned to duty.

 The Court having considered the submission of the parties both written and oral, notes that there was a delay between the 2010 collective agreement being brought to the Employers attention (March 2023) and the Chester Step Test becoming available (August 2023) which meant the firefighters who had been stepped down could not be retested during that period. Taking all of the above into account the Court recommends that €500 compensation be paid as a goodwill gesture to each of the six firefighters covered by the dispute.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Louise O'Donnell
CC	______________________
5th December 2024	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Ceola Cronin, Court Secretary.