– In January I was at a meeting at SEV, where I asked the CEO, what engineers who work at SEV should have in salary and seasonal pay. Now six months later I still have not received a response from the manager.
I am surprised that the energy company cannot answer this simple question, because if mechanics cannot rely on their paychecks, how can the Faroese rely on their electricity bill?
This is what Arnfinn Bech, chairman of the Icelandic Mechanical Engineers Association (MF), asks now that the association has been waiting for a year and a half for SEV to take a position on a demand to pay its mechanical engineers a total of three million ISK, which they have received too little overtime and salary from the last five years. last fall to count. The claim is limited to five years, because unpaid debts expire after five years.
MF has proof
– The matter is about a lot of money, which our members have to benefit, and besides, the matter is of great fundamental importance. Therefore, it must not be allowed to die in sin, and if it is not dealt with immediately, we will go to court with it, says the MF chairman.
Last autumn, MF asked for access to all the payslips – and thus the time records – of the engineers at SEV five years back. The company then spent about two months checking every single time sheet, and it was immediately that the suspicion was confirmed.
– We can document that overtime and shift fees are not deducted in accordance with the agreement. We have come up with these three million by just taking what is completely public, and leaving what requires more labor-intensive analysis, says Arnfinn Bech.
– We also have no reason to believe that SEV did not pay seasonal wages in accordance with the agreement before the current management took over, he adds.
Forháling
The survey of the timesheets was completed shortly before Christmas last year, and on 8 January MF presented the results at a meeting with SEV and the Municipal Employers’ Association (KAF). However, the employers wanted to get a more detailed insight into the survey and the material from MF before they wanted to take a position on any claim. They have received that material.
27. In February this year, SEV announced that it was now KAF that took care of the case, but it has not set the pace of the case up – on the contrary.
– SEV is hiding behind the skirt fold of KAF, and we will provide material and answer questions about this and that. The matter has also been out in the payroll department at the Ministry of Finance and vent, we have understood. Now it’s just a matter of delay, because the matter is fully informed, says Arnfinn Bech.
SEV does not teach the treaty
The stick over the i was when SEV turned to him and asked if the Maskinmeistarafelagið could provide them with the contract that was in force when the shift system was made.
– Then the hook fell on my chest, and I could hardly believe my own ears. SEV has for decades had a shift system, which they say was made in accordance with the agreement. However, they cannot point to any written agreement on this, and now it turns out that they do not even have a copy of the old treaty that was in force at that time.
– But whether the shift system was in accordance with the agreement or not, it must be clear to all parties that such a system can never just overturn provisions on working hours and overtime pay, says Arnfinn Bech.
– It must be clear to all parties that such a system can never just overturn provisions on working hours and overtime pay, says Arnfinn Bech, chairman of the Maskinmeistarafelagið
This is what a working week for an engineer at SEV’s Vágsverk looked like in February 2021. The working week is 37 hours according to the agreement, but this engineer has worked for about 51 hours and is only registered for one and a half overtime hours. A large part of the number of hours is weekend work, where seasonal wages – 100 per cent of the hourly wage – must be paid in addition to the normal wage. However, this engineer has only received shift fees in return. Shift 1 is 18 percent of the hourly wage, and shift 2 is 36 percent of the hourly wage
This is what a working week for an engineer at SEV’s Vágsverk looked like in February 2021. The working week is 37 hours according to the agreement, but this engineer has worked for about 51 hours and is only registered for one and a half overtime hours. A large part of the number of hours is weekend work, where seasonal wages – 100 per cent of the hourly wage – must be paid in addition to the normal wage. However, this engineer has only received shift fees in return. Shift 1 is 18 percent of the hourly wage, and shift 2 is 36 percent of the hourly wage
