Labour Court varies Rights Commissioner recommendation in Grade VIII dispute

The Labour Court varied a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation in a dispute between HSE Dublin / Mid-Leinster and a worker over regularisation to Grade VIII. The decision was signed on 10 December 2012. The original recommendation proposed a €15,000 payment in full and final settlement; the varied recommendation instead asked the HSE to choose one of two proposed resolutions by 31 January 2013. The HSE appealed the €15,000 recommendation, while the worker’s appeal was outside the six-week time limit, so its merits were not decided. The Court found that a 2005 agreement and a binding adjudicator decision supported the worker’s entitlement to regularisation at Grade VIII. It could not resolve whether the adjudicator’s decision had reached the HSE before the recruitment moratorium. Based on the evidence in the worker’s favour, it recommended that the HSE select one of the two options proposed by the worker’s solicitors. The HSE’s appeal failed.