W
Woodstock
Guest
Hi. I need some advice urgently but I apologize in advance for being a tad cagey. We're just a fairly unique industry in Ireland and I have obvious concerns about confidentiality. I also sincerely apologize for the length of the thread throughout which my stress levels are blatantly apparent.
Our company is around 8 years old and employs around 100 staff. We are affiliated to the construction industry but our work comes from Local authority tenders. We have work in several counties in the Midlands and up North at present but have worked all over the country as well as the North.
Our biggest client has instructed us to liaise with unions to increase our pay levels. We suspect this is a political move linked to talks the L.A.'s will be having with various unions in early November.
We have been instructed to deal specifically with one union who are in turn only interested in representing about 60% of our staff, having no interest in the others although they will happily accept their union fees each month.
We don't have an established HR department (No time to get one either) as we have never had the need before now. I am a sort of HR administrator/ general cook-and-bottle-washer supervisor and have handled all the basics so far. I am proud to say that we have minimal staff turnover and, whilst any employee would love to earn more, not one employee has specifically complained that our wages are less than industry norm. I have also never felt that we were in the same class as Irish Ferries and Gama in terms of abusing employees,and our client is making us feel at fault for apparently short paying our staff (and yet they wont commit to the rate they want paid or where they got the rate from).
Our choice is to talk to the union or lose the contract (or future contracts). Of course the additional 30% of wages they're proposing was never built into our projections when we tendered......but that's a problem for another day.
We have a fairly relaxed atmosphere and have never been the clock watching military type of company. It is also impractical to try and nail down our staff because our staff are scattered to the winds every day. Trust has to be a feature. We loosely base our hours on 10 hours of pay for 8 hours of work averaging out over the seasons with longer days in summer and shorter in winter. We also pay for lunch & rest breaks at present.
My questions are:
1. If the Union gets an increase for the staff they're concerned for, what do I do with the other staff? I have staff with the same qualifications temping in other projects and they would fall through the cracks. I also battle with the concept of support staff being left out, e.g. stores, admin, safety, etc - morally if there's a windfall I want everyone to enjoy it; financially....O.M.G; legally can I get away with increases to only a percentage of our staff?
2. The unions are wanting union membership to be a compulsory condition of employment (for all staff). I can introduce this with future employees but how do I enforce this on my current staff? Freedom of association is also surely Freedom of disassociation? Union membership is not currently in our T&C of employment although around 4% of staff have asked for (and instantly received without hesitation) union representation, and have been paying for it for the past 7 years - we've never heard a peep from their unions and they are not the same union I have to work with now.
2.a If someone refused to belong to a union, would they forfeit their right to any increase negotiated or can they subsequently campaign for equal pay for equal work and equal qualifications?
3. Obviously we have to sit down and start negotiating with this union. No one in our company is qualified to do this effectively. Can anyone refer me to an Industrial Relations Expert who would be available at short notice to give advice and possibly take part in the negotiations?
4. Please don't laugh at my considerable naivety but is there an enforceable code of conduct for unions? So far we have been subjected to threats that if we don't co-operate they'll "close us down in the morning", and that they could do this through our client's employees refusing to co-operate with our staff - in other words before they have access to our staff so this isn't even a legal strike or picket line as I understand it? Can I complain to anyone?
5. What is a Union entitled to in terms of access to property and access to records?
6. Going back to question 2, we suspect the Unions will want to enforce membership of the Construction Industries pension for all staff - how can I add this to an existing contract of employment and is membership of a private pension an acceptable excuse for an employee?
7. The union is demanding exclusivity. Our position on unions has always been to allow equal representation by any union at the request of our employees. Can the union do this?
8. If the union achieves a significant increase, the company out of financial necessity, will have to tighten up on various Administrative systems such as the recording and paying of specific times worked (as opposed to our current "10 hours regardless" approach). This will entail changes to the T&C for all employees, not just the ones represented by the Union. I know I am at risk of legal exposure but am too stressed to calculate how much and from which direction.
9. We firmly maintain that we do not belong to CIF or any ERA or JLC leaving us with the usual statutory obligations. Can a union enforce sick pay, overtime rates, extra notice, pension contributions, special rates for driving (does that include passengers?) when we don't have a statutory obligation to provide any of this (even though we'd love to if we could afford it)?
10. Are Local Authorities and semi-government organizations exempt from the statutory H.R. obligations and legislation to which private organizations have to comply?
As you can see I am completely out of my depth, and the speed that this has happened has taken us completely by surprise. I cannot speak for our MD but I have always wanted the best for our staff subject to the limits of our financial situation. I don't resent anyone's efforts to campaign for a better salary but this is a bit too much like having a gun to the head whilst being asked for the combination of a safe I know to be basically empty. I have huge fears that the company cannot afford any of this, and for the union's efforts, another Irish company may have to close with a loss of 100 jobs.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.
Our company is around 8 years old and employs around 100 staff. We are affiliated to the construction industry but our work comes from Local authority tenders. We have work in several counties in the Midlands and up North at present but have worked all over the country as well as the North.
Our biggest client has instructed us to liaise with unions to increase our pay levels. We suspect this is a political move linked to talks the L.A.'s will be having with various unions in early November.
We have been instructed to deal specifically with one union who are in turn only interested in representing about 60% of our staff, having no interest in the others although they will happily accept their union fees each month.
We don't have an established HR department (No time to get one either) as we have never had the need before now. I am a sort of HR administrator/ general cook-and-bottle-washer supervisor and have handled all the basics so far. I am proud to say that we have minimal staff turnover and, whilst any employee would love to earn more, not one employee has specifically complained that our wages are less than industry norm. I have also never felt that we were in the same class as Irish Ferries and Gama in terms of abusing employees,and our client is making us feel at fault for apparently short paying our staff (and yet they wont commit to the rate they want paid or where they got the rate from).
Our choice is to talk to the union or lose the contract (or future contracts). Of course the additional 30% of wages they're proposing was never built into our projections when we tendered......but that's a problem for another day.
We have a fairly relaxed atmosphere and have never been the clock watching military type of company. It is also impractical to try and nail down our staff because our staff are scattered to the winds every day. Trust has to be a feature. We loosely base our hours on 10 hours of pay for 8 hours of work averaging out over the seasons with longer days in summer and shorter in winter. We also pay for lunch & rest breaks at present.
My questions are:
1. If the Union gets an increase for the staff they're concerned for, what do I do with the other staff? I have staff with the same qualifications temping in other projects and they would fall through the cracks. I also battle with the concept of support staff being left out, e.g. stores, admin, safety, etc - morally if there's a windfall I want everyone to enjoy it; financially....O.M.G; legally can I get away with increases to only a percentage of our staff?
2. The unions are wanting union membership to be a compulsory condition of employment (for all staff). I can introduce this with future employees but how do I enforce this on my current staff? Freedom of association is also surely Freedom of disassociation? Union membership is not currently in our T&C of employment although around 4% of staff have asked for (and instantly received without hesitation) union representation, and have been paying for it for the past 7 years - we've never heard a peep from their unions and they are not the same union I have to work with now.
2.a If someone refused to belong to a union, would they forfeit their right to any increase negotiated or can they subsequently campaign for equal pay for equal work and equal qualifications?
3. Obviously we have to sit down and start negotiating with this union. No one in our company is qualified to do this effectively. Can anyone refer me to an Industrial Relations Expert who would be available at short notice to give advice and possibly take part in the negotiations?
4. Please don't laugh at my considerable naivety but is there an enforceable code of conduct for unions? So far we have been subjected to threats that if we don't co-operate they'll "close us down in the morning", and that they could do this through our client's employees refusing to co-operate with our staff - in other words before they have access to our staff so this isn't even a legal strike or picket line as I understand it? Can I complain to anyone?
5. What is a Union entitled to in terms of access to property and access to records?
6. Going back to question 2, we suspect the Unions will want to enforce membership of the Construction Industries pension for all staff - how can I add this to an existing contract of employment and is membership of a private pension an acceptable excuse for an employee?
7. The union is demanding exclusivity. Our position on unions has always been to allow equal representation by any union at the request of our employees. Can the union do this?
8. If the union achieves a significant increase, the company out of financial necessity, will have to tighten up on various Administrative systems such as the recording and paying of specific times worked (as opposed to our current "10 hours regardless" approach). This will entail changes to the T&C for all employees, not just the ones represented by the Union. I know I am at risk of legal exposure but am too stressed to calculate how much and from which direction.
9. We firmly maintain that we do not belong to CIF or any ERA or JLC leaving us with the usual statutory obligations. Can a union enforce sick pay, overtime rates, extra notice, pension contributions, special rates for driving (does that include passengers?) when we don't have a statutory obligation to provide any of this (even though we'd love to if we could afford it)?
10. Are Local Authorities and semi-government organizations exempt from the statutory H.R. obligations and legislation to which private organizations have to comply?
As you can see I am completely out of my depth, and the speed that this has happened has taken us completely by surprise. I cannot speak for our MD but I have always wanted the best for our staff subject to the limits of our financial situation. I don't resent anyone's efforts to campaign for a better salary but this is a bit too much like having a gun to the head whilst being asked for the combination of a safe I know to be basically empty. I have huge fears that the company cannot afford any of this, and for the union's efforts, another Irish company may have to close with a loss of 100 jobs.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.
