WRC recommends public body help worker return to construction plant fitter role

The WRC recommended that a public body make a genuine effort to assist a worker’s request to transfer back to his Construction Plant Fitter role, while he watched for suitable vacancies. The recommendation was dated 22 June 2022. The worker said he understood his 2006 transfer to a General Operative role would be temporary and sought a return to fitter work and compensation for distress and lost income. The public body said he accepted the General Operative role and could return to fitter work only if a vacancy arose and he passed a selection process. The WRC found he knew or should have known he was transferring to the General Operative role, and found no concrete basis for an expectation of an early return to fitter grade. It concluded that the public body had not changed his terms and conditions without his knowledge or consent. The WRC also decided it had jurisdiction to hear the dispute.