Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Bus Driver/Acting Supervisor

A Public Transport Provider

Representatives

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 - 00003137

17/09/2024

The worker says he has been treated unfairly in relation to ‘acting up arrangements’ within his role as Acting Supervisor.

The worker is a bus driver who also works as an Acting Supervisor. This dispute arises from what he describes as unfair and irregular handling of acting-up shifts. His primary concerns are:

·        He is often given his roster only 2-3 days in advance, while permanent supervisors are aware of their shifts for the entire year. Also, permanent Supervisor rosters are not publicly displayed, which allows them to swap shifts internally. This limits the worker’s access to better shifts.

·        The worker says he has repeatedly been excluded from secondment opportunities at a particular location.

·        Despite raising these issues through internal channels the worker says the employer has failed to provide any meaningful resolution.

·        Having raised the issues internally the worker was concerned about retaliatory actions and potential discriminatory practices based on his nationality.

The worker provided a lot of documentation, rosters and correspondence, in support of his contention that he has been unfairly treated. I have considered all the documentation as part of my investigation.

The employer says the worker commenced employment with them in June 2019 as a temporary Bus Driver and became permanent in June 2020. In October 2023 he commenced training in the role of Acting Supervisor.

The local area has 9 Acting Supervisors. In early 2024 local management confirmed a rotation to be applied for all Acting Supervisors to ensure they all receive an equal opportunity to fill days acting.

The employer says this is a heavily unionised organisation and there are well documented agreements and well-established custom and practice arrangements. They say all Acting Supervisors are allocated work consistent with these.

The employer accepts that it is custom and practice for the permanent Supervisors to have the first opportunity to claim a duty which is floating or uncovered. Currently this cannot be deviated from, because of an existing agreement between the parties. However, the matter has been raised and is now the subject of national discussions.

The secondment opportunities at a particular location arose in February 2023, before the worker was an Acting Supervisor. Subsequently, a permanent vacancy was advertised and the worker applied.

The employer says the rosters of the permanent Supervisors are available on the ’P Drive’ which is available to all Supervisors and Acting Supervisors.

The employer says they fully engaged with the worker’s grievance and gave a response to the issues he raised.

In conducting my investigation, I have taken into account all relevant submissions presented to me by the parties.

I am very conscious that I have no jurisdiction to inquire into collective issues. The employer’s representatives confirmed that the issue regarding permanent Supervisors getting the first opportunity to claim a duty which is floating or uncovered is a collective issue and is scheduled to come to the conciliation service of the WRC shortly after the hearing. I therefore confirm that I cannot look into this part of the dispute.

The other areas of the dispute revolve around the worker’s concerns that his treatment is personal and that he might be subject to recriminations for raising this dispute. Having listened to the worker and the employer, and considered their submissions, I can find no concrete evidence that either of these has taken place.

Await outcome of national discussions