Labour Court varies hospital recommendation on worker’s return to full-time hours

The Labour Court varied a recommendation concerning an unnamed worker’s return to full-time hours at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. It said management should accommodate her return if a suitable vacancy arises at her grade. The recommendation had called for a return to a 35-hour week in her original post or another suitable hospital position. The hospital had appealed. The Court found the worker’s entitlement to resume full-time hours at her discretion expired in September 2003, and that she later worked reduced hours without an express right to return at her discretion. It also found management had failed to set out the terms of the reduced-hours arrangement, with both sides sharing responsibility for the resulting uncertainty. The recommendation was dated 23 March 2015.