Worker

Employer

Anonymised Parties

A Worker

An Employer

Representatives

Julia Sweetnam SIPTU

Keith Irvine Local Government Management Agency (LGMA)

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 - 00003457

22/11/2024

The Worker stated that although he has been acting up in a supervisory role for several months of every year since 2017, he has remained at point 1 of the salary scale of the acting up role.

The Worker has been employed as an Artic Driver by the Employer since March 2008. Although he has been working in an acting up capacity as a General Services Supervisor (GSS) for approximately five or six months every year since 2017, he has remained on point 1 of the GSS scale when he has done so. He asserts that this is unfair.

The Worker has been employed with the Employer as a General Operative since March 2008 and is currently employed as a General Operative Grade VII Driver per his contract of employment.

On a number of occasions, he acts as a General Services Supervisor (GSS) and, in particular, during some seasonal road works programmes which typically last from April to the end of August each year. When he acts up to the GSS role he does so on the basis that he is remunerated by way of acting allowance set at the 1st point of the GSS scale. He only receives the allowance for the days on which he acts up and does not get the allowance when he does not.

The Employer also highlighted that the Worker has applied for various GSS positions in the last number of years and refused the offer of a permanent role in 2024.

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

While I accept the assertion made by the Worker’s representative that he is entitled to bring this dispute in an individual capacity, I cannot ignore that a recommendation in his favour would have broader implications for other Workers employed by the Employer. Specifically, a favourable recommendation would inevitably result in similar claims from other of the Employer’s temporary GSS workers seeking increases in their incremental point on the scale. Accordingly, I cannot recommend that the complaint be conceded.