Labour Court upholds recommendation against porters’ regrading appeal

The Labour Court affirmed the recommendation against a regrading claim by three unnamed porters at St Vincent’s University Hospital. The decision was signed on 9 June 2010. The porters sought evaluation of their Pharmacy Department posts against the supplies officer grade, saying their duties had changed and should be compared with similar roles in other hospitals. The hospital said the supplies officer role differed from porter duties and the claim would increase costs. The Court said the nationally agreed evaluation process did not allow an alternative system. It noted the workers could have sought re-evaluation after a year if circumstances had changed, but had not done so. The recommendation that the complaint was not well founded was affirmed and the appeal disallowed.