Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Michal  Badowicz

Bus Eireann

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Representatives

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994

CA-00066039-002

17/09/2024

The complainant says he was not notified in writing of a change to his terms of employment.

The complainant submits there was a lack of clarity and adherence to his terms of employment in relation to his work as an Acting Supervisor. Specifically in relation to rostering issues, shift allocation, double rotation for AVL secondments, exclusion from AVL secondments, failure to provide written notice of changes.

The respondent submits that the complainant is a permanent Bus Driver since June 2020. He became an Active Supervisor in August 2023. His substantive role remains that of Bus Driver and he carries out Acting Supervisor duties when required. In these circumstances the respondent did not consider it necessary to issue the complainant with a revised contract.

The conditions of the Acting Supervisor role were outlined clearly throughout all stages of the recruitment process, reconfirmed in correspondence, contained in the role profile and various agreements between the parties.

The respondent submits all rostering of Acting Supervisors is done so consistent with the current suite of agreements and long-standing custom and practice.

Section 5 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act state: “(1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever a change is made or occurs in any of the particulars of the statement furnished by an employer under section 3, 4 or 6, the employer shall notify the employee in writing of the nature and date of the change as soon as may be thereafter, but not later than— (a) the day on which the change takes effect, or (b) where the change is consequent on the employee being required to work outside the State for a period of more than 1 month, the time of the employee’s departure.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a change occurring in provisions of statutes or instruments made under statute, other than a registered employment agreement or employment regulation order,] or of any other laws or of any administrative provisions or collective agreements referred to in the statement given under section 3 or 4.”

In this claim changes were not made to the complainant’s original contract as a Bus Driver that would have required the written notification as set out in section 5. The complainant carried on his original Bus Driver duties and took on additional duties as an Acting Supervisor, as and when required.

The complainant was issued with a document, Acting Supervisors Terms and Conditions which sets out some of the Terms of Employment relating to this new work. The complainant was made aware of the other requirements of this legislation some verbally and others in writing. However, to comply with the legislation it is my conclusion that the complainant should have been issued with a written statement setting out the terms of the new duties.

For the reasons set out above I find the complaint is well founded and I award the complainant €1,500 compensation for the breach and order the respondent to issue Terms of Employment for the role of Acting Supervisor to the complainant within 30 days of the issue of this decision.