LCR22803

1. Pay Claim for Household Staff in St Patrick's Hospital.

BACKGROUND:

2. This matter 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 matter was referred to the Labour Court on 4 May 2023 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 11 August 2023.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Court heard submissions from both parties.

The Union argued that the Workers concerned have not had any pay increase in 15 years and that the position of the Employer that no increase could be paid in the lifetime of the contract with the client hospital. i.e. up to end 2026, was not sustainable. Furthermore, the Union sought a mechanism for determining pay into the future.

The Employer argued that the Workers concerned had transferred into the company in a transfer of undertakings, that their pay and conditions were significantly better than those colleagues not covered by that transfer and that the contract with the client made no provision for increases in pay to the Workers concerned.

The Court spent some time in discussion with the parties.

The Court recommends that the pay of the Workers concerned be increased, as follows;

1% from 1 January 2021

2% from 1 January 2022

2% from 1 January 2023.

With regard to future pay determination after 2023, the Court believes that any increases should have some linked relationship with increases in the Employment Regulation Orders, (EROs), for the contract cleaning industry, without necessarily applying any such increases in full at all times. The Court recommends that the parties engage with a view to reaching agreement on how, precisely, effect might be given to this intention, having regard to the aspirations of the Union for a system of pay determination and the aspirations of the Employer to phase out, in the fullness of time, the pay differential enjoyed by these Workers over their colleagues.

If necessary, the State’s industrial dispute resolution machinery is available to assist the parties.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Tom Geraghty
TH	______________________
15 August 2023	Deputy Chairman