LCR22684

1. Pay Increase, Restoration Of Increments, Full Restoration Of Christmas Bonus


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 22 August 2022 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 17 November 2022.


UNION’S ARGUMENTS:

3. 1. Pay rate increments and two weeks Christmas bonus have been frozen since 2008/09. With only a restoration of one and a half weeks Christmas bonus

2. Staff can no longer live on the wages they are currently receiving

3. The union are seeking a 3% pay increase, restoration of increments and full restoration of the Christmas Bonus

EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:

4. 1. The Company are not in a position financially to implement any of the requested proposals

2. Inflation, the energy crisis, the cost of raw materials and product transport are affecting the Company’s financial capacity

3. The Company proposes to add 2 further days to the Christmas bonus and full restoration in 2023. A review of the increment suspension in 2023 and the possibility of a 3% increase in 2024

RECOMMENDATION:

The dispute before the Court relates to Mandates claim for a 3% pay increase and reinstatement of the remaining element of the Christmas bonus and re-instatement of increments.

Union submission

In 2016 the Molloy’s took ownership of the store under a transfer of undertakings. At that time pay rates had been frozen, increments had been frozen, and the Christmas bonus had not been paid. In February 2017 the Union commenced engagement with the new owners. Following a number of meetings, the Employer put forward a proposition that they would restore one week of the bonus and increase the staff discount to 10%. This was accepted by the Workers.

In 2018 there were further discussions at which time the Employer asked for time to improve the shops performance and the Union members agreed to that. Further engagement took place in 2019 which resulted in a position emerging from conciliation under the auspices of the WRC which the Workers accepted. It was agreed to make some small adjustments to the pay scale and to restore an additional half a week of the Christmas bonus.

In 2020 the Union sought to meet with the Employer but were asked to defer the meeting as there were things happening in two other stores that the Employer had which could impact on the negotiations. A WRC Hearing took place on the 21^st September 2021. It was not possible to reach a resolution, so the matters were referred to the Labour Court. The Worker’s in this employment have been very patient but have not had a pay increase for a number of years and are still waiting for the restoration of increments and the full restoration of the Christmas bonus. The Union believe that their claim is reasonable and should be conceded in full.

Employer submission

The Employer is still facing challenges in respect of the business and has over the period attempted to restore the benefits when it was in a position to do so. The current financial state of the business is precarious bearing in mind the rising energy costs they will be facing into over the winter months. They have had to cut trading hours and one of the owners is driving the delivery van in order to save costs. They are not in a financial position at this point to agree to a 3% pay increase.

There are 41 staff in total and a number of them will receive increases in January arising from the increase in the minimum rate of pay. The Employer is prepared to consider restoration of the Christmas bonus with the restoration of two additional days this year and full restoration in 2023. They also propose that they would engage with the Union in the final quarter of 2023 in respect of lifting the increment suspension, with engagement in the second quarter of 2024 in respect of the 3% increase. The Employer stated that they were not in a position to the proposals as put forward by the Union at this time.

Discussion

The Court notes that the Workers have engaged positively with the Employers over the last number of years to ensure the stability of the business and have foregone general pay increases during that period. In all the circumstances of this case and understanding the financial challenges facing the Employer the Court recommends as follows.

In respect of staff who will benefit from an increase in their hourly rate of pay arising from the increase to the minimum wage with effect from 1^st January 2023 the Court is not recommending any further increase.

In respect of staff who do not benefit as set out above, the Court is recommending an increase of 1.5% on basis pay to be paid with effect from the 31^st December 2022 in respect of the pay claim for 2022.

The Court recommends acceptance of the Employers proposal in respect of the Christmas bonus in that a further two days be paid this year and full restoration of the Christmas bonus in 2023.

In respect of the restoration of an incremental scale. The increases in the minimum wage from 1^st January 2023 will mean that the first five point on the scale are the same. The Court is recommending that in third quarter of 2023 along with looking at restoring increments the parties take the opportunity to consider the scale as it is currently constructed.

The Court so recommends.

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