In 1999, the Labour Court upheld a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation that the Eastern Health Board move a long-serving worker to the top of the pay scale, from £38,714 to £39,580, effective 1 June 1999 on retirement. The Court called the recommendation a reasonable response to the union’s claim and understood it to require a retrospective pay adjustment.
Amalgamated Transport And General Workers' Union appealed, seeking long-service increments for the worker, who had 38 years’ service and had been an Acting Chief Environmental Health Officer since 1987. The Board said the post no longer existed, reassignment remained unresolved and staff in acting positions did not normally receive increments. The Labour Court heard the appeal on 24 September and signed its decision on 11 October 1999.