The WRC recommended €5,000 compensation for a general practitioner after finding that his employment contract did not clearly explain how a travel payment would be handled. The decision was dated 24 May 2017.
The doctor said he understood the contract’s €3,089 annual travel payment to be an allowance and made financial decisions on that basis. The health service provider said payment depended on vouched expenses incurred during home visits and relied on a 2010 circular explaining that arrangement, which was not included with the contract when he signed in 2014.
The adjudicator found that the employer should have included the circular’s requirements in the contract terms. She accepted that the doctor reasonably relied on the contract wording and had acted to his financial detriment. In what she described as unusual and singular circumstances, she recommended €5,000 compensation.