Government snub ‘a matter of concern’ to Labour Court

Department of Enterprise officials were advised by the Department of Public Expenditure not to attend a hearing into a claim for higher fees sought by Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) external adjudicators.

Thirty-one external adjudicators were looking for an increase in their fees, from €525 to €600, as well as an increase in the maximum 48 writing-up days they are allotted to pen their rulings.

The limit of 48 days means those who pass it must wait until the following year to publish their decisions, resulting in serious delays.

Kevin Foley, chairman of the court, said the court recognised that employers were free to participate or not in the State’s industrial relations framework.

But, he said, the system “relies upon parties who value the orderly resolution of industrial relations trade disputes demonstrating respect for the institutions of the state by participating in the procedures employed by those institutions”.

Governments since 1946, he noted, have endorsed this way of doing things.

“Against that background, it is a matter of grave concern that the DPENDR [Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform] should instruct/advise a government department to decline an invitation from the court to attend the hearing of the court in this matter,” he stated.

“It need hardly be stated that, at minimum, the failure of the alleged employer in this alleged trade dispute to attend the hearing of the court has deprived the court of the opportunity to fully comprehend the position of that party in relation to the matters in dispute.

“This lack of engagement is particularly problematic when the statutory obligation resting upon the court is to issue a recommendation regardless of whether the alleged employer participates in the hearing or not.”