Written answers
Thursday, 8 November 2018
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Workplace Relations Services Staff
Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the allocation to the Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court in each of the years 2015 to 2018 broken down between current and capital funds; the amount expended in each year and to date in 2018; the 2019 allocation; and the number of civil servants in the Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court by grade in tabular form. [46387/18]
Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body which was established on 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The WRC assumes the roles and functions previously carried out by the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA), Equality Tribunal, Labour Relations Commission and the first-instance functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
The WRC’s core services include the inspection of employment rights compliance, the provision of information, adjudicating on complaints under employment protection, equality and industrial relations legislation and the provision of mediation, conciliation, facilitation and advisory services.
As the WRC was established late in the 2015 fiscal year, the budgets of the individual workplace relations bodies remained unchanged until the following year. The pay/non-pay budget allocations of the individual workplace relations bodies which were amalgamated to form the WRC in 2015 were as follows:
Table 1:
Pay and non-pay budget allocation and expenditure for Workplace Relations Bodies 2015:
| 2015 | Non- pay€000 | Pay €000 | Total€000 | Expended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) | 862 | 5,183 | 6,045 | 6,177 |
| Labour Relations Commission (LRC) | 814 | 4,130 | 4,944 | 3,494 |
| Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) | 422 | 2,960 | 3,382 | 3,015 |
| Equality Tribunal (ET) | 239 | 1,460 | 1,699 | 1,186 |
The budget allocation for the WRC is made up of pay and non-pay elements in support of the work activities of the Commission. Details of the WRC’s funding in terms of pay and non-pay and expenditure for 2016, 2017 and 2018 are set out at table 2.
Table 2
Pay and non-pay budget allocation and expenditure for WRC, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
| Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) | Non- pay€000 | Pay €000 | Total €000 | Expended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,489 | 10,081 | 12,570 | 12,328 |
| 2017 | 2,314 | 11,065 | 13,379 | 13,237 |
| 2018 | 2,314 | 11,700 | 14,014 | 10,976* |
*Expenditure to end of October 2018
The functions of the Labour Court have been altered and extended over the years, including by the Workplace Relations Act 2015 which provides that the Labour Court is now the sole appellate body in disputes under employment rights legislation in addition to its roles under the industrial relations legislation.
As part of the reform of the workplace relations bodies in 2015, and in anticipation of an increased workload, the Labour Court was expanded to include an additional Division to bring the composition of the Court to four Divisions. Each Division of the Court comprises a Chair or Deputy Chair and two ordinary members.
The Labour Court budget allocation for pay and non-pay and it expenditure in 2015, 2016, 2017 and to end of October 2018 are set out at table 3.
Table 3
Pay and non-pay budget allocation and expenditure for the Labour Court 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
| Labour Court | Non- pay €000 | Pay €000 | Total €000 | Expended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 291 | 2,357 | 2,648 | 2,255 |
| 2016 | 291 | 2,400 | 2,691 | 2,624 |
| 2017 | 300 | 2,698 | 2,998 | 2,586 |
| 2018 | 300 | 2,800 | 3,100 | 2,324* |
* Expenditure to end of October 2018
The WRC and Labour Court are staffed by civil servants who are part of the overall staffing of my Department. Tables 4 and 5 set out the number of civil servants by grade working in the WRC and the Labour Court at end of 2015, 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018.
Tables 4 and 5: Staffing in WRC and Labour Court from 2015-2018
| Table 4: WRC | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 to Date | 2018 to Date | End 2017 | End 2017 | End 2016 | End 2016 | End 2015 | End 2015 | |
| Grade | PC (personCount) | FTE(Fulltime equivalent) | PC | FTE | PC | FTE | PC | FTE |
| Chief Operations Officer (ASEC) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| PO | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Legal Advisor (PO) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Solicitor (AP) | 1 | 0.73 | 1 | 0.73 | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 |
| AP | 22 | 21.3 | 19 | 18.4 | 16 | 15.6 | 18 | 17.6 |
| AO | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HEO | 14 | 13.5 | 12 | 11.33 | 12 | 11.1 | 13 | 12.1 |
| HEO(ITM) | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| EO | 18 | 17.06 | 14 | 13.13 | 12 | 11.5 | 15 | 14.8 |
| Inspectors(EO) | 50 | 50 | 53 | 52.8 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 48.8 |
| SO | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| CO (including TCO’s) | 61 | 56.4 | 59 | 53.69 | 56 | 50.56 | 58 | 52.06 |
| Total* | 181 | 174 | 172 | 164.1 | 161 | 153.4 | 167 | 159 |
| Table 5: Labour Court | ||||||||
| 2018 to Date | 2018 to Date | End 2017 | End 2017 | End 2016 | End 2016 | End 2015 | End 2015 | |
| Grade | PC | FTE | PC | FTE | PC | FTE | PC | FTE |
| AP | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HEO | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 2 | 1.5 |
| EO | 9 | 8.1 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| CO | 7 | 6.4 | 7 | 6.4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Total* | 20 | 18.0 | 18 | 16.4 | 17 | 14.5 | 15 | 12.5 |
* The Chairperson, Deputy Chairpersons & Members of the Labour Court are fixed term appointments and warrant holders. These account for an additional 13 staff of the Labour Court. The Registrar of the Labour Court and the Director General of the WRC are unestablished posts in the Civil Service rather than Civil Servants. The WRC also has a cohort of 32 external adjudicators/rights commissioners who adjudicate on employment rights, equality and industrial relations cases.
Furthermore, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is currently processing a new panel of 16 external adjudicators for the WRC and additional funding has been allocated to the WRC in the Department’s 2019 estimate to provide for the extension of the WRC’s remit to An Garda Síochána and Civil Servants.
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