Labour Court sets aside HSE South worker’s grade upgrade recommendation

The Labour Court set aside a recommendation to upgrade a retired HSE South social researcher and directed a national review of the grade’s pay rate. The decision was dated 6 July 2012. HSE South had appealed a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation to upgrade the worker to Principal Social Worker. Her union, the Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union, said comparable colleagues had been upgraded and the claim could affect her pension. HSE South said it did not contest the claim’s validity but lacked the money for an upgrade. The Court found there was no national agreed rate for the job and directed HSE to establish one after a review within 12 months; the worker’s claim should then be addressed in that context.