LOss of Shift Payment

[TheFatMan]

I manage a team in a large multinational here in Ireland. Great employer with a good attitude to employees, pretty successful and they look after their staff which is 2 sides to the same coin. We've never had need of a union here.

Historically, for at least 8 years, we have worked shiftwork and been compensated pretty well for it. There have been some changes to the hours and payment in that time but nothing too major.

The nature of the work we are doing is about to change and the need for shift work will slowly disappear over the coming 2-3 years. Anyone that has been working shift has effectively worked 2 weeks out of 6 on unsocial hours and has been paid 15% extra on top of their base salary for the inconvenience.

People have come to depend on this extra source of income.

Anyone got any suggestions or experience on what and how employees should expect to be compensated for this loss in earnings?

 

[Leo]

The 15% extra was paid to compensate for the unsocial hours involved in the shift work. With the shift work going away, then the 15% extra also goes away. I don't see how/why compensation should be paid for that.

 

[vandriver]

Countless thousands of workers used to depend on overtime/bonuses etc which are no longer paid.I don't think that being used to the higher wage is a valid reason for compensation.

 

[ontour]

Even if there is no entitlement to be compensated it is probably worth discussing the impact with management. There may be a willingness to phase out the payment rather than bringing it to a sudden end. Is there any form of employee representation that can discuss such topics with management?