Labour Court rejects HSE worker’s appeal over long-service increment

The Labour Court disallowed a worker’s appeal against a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation on eligibility for a long-service increment. The decision was signed on 24 October 2006. The worker, an Emergency Medical Technician represented by Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, argued that earlier service should qualify him to skip the three-year wait on the eighth pay point. The HSE said his earlier porter and ambulance relief work did not meet the agreement’s requirement that staff be in the ambulance service on 1 November 1998. The Court agreed with the Rights Commissioner’s interpretation that the worker did not meet that requirement, affirmed the recommendation and disallowed the appeal.