Courts / Ireland / Report

HSE worker left reporting to nobody for 15 years

Summary

The Health Service Executive (HSE) was ordered by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to pay a former estates manager, Martin Beirne, €31,666.78 for 104 days of untaken annual leave that had accumulated over 15 years of service. Beirne had been left without a line manager after his position was abolished in 2008, and he managed a team of five independently, with no senior manager to approve or advise on his holiday entitlement. He logged all hours and leave in the HSE's computerised system, but the HSE argued that it had not denied his leave and that he was responsible for managing it. The WRC found that the lack of effective line management prevented Beirne from taking his full leave, and ruled the complaint well‑founded. The decision also acknowledged a separate earlier dispute in which the HSE paid Beirne €80,000 for unpaid travel and subsistence expenses, which was unrelated to the leave claim.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: HSE worker left reporting to nobody for 15 years. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• April 2022 Other
• 2008 to 2009 Other
• 2012 to 2022 Other
• 2007 to 2022 Other
• 2024-02-01 Publication

Why: " The adjudicator was "satisfied in the absence of any evidence to the contrary" that Mr Beirne did not take his full leave because of "work demands" and ruled his complaint to be well-founded. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report