HSE ordered to pay nurse €3,485.44 over parental leave notice breach

The Workplace Relations Commission awarded staff nurse Sowmya Paul €3,485.44 after finding the Health Service Executive breached the Parental Leave Act by failing to provide a confirmation document more than four weeks before her leave began. The decision, dated 1 February 2023, said the compensation equalled three weeks’ remuneration. Paul had taken six hours of parental leave every fortnight for about seven years. In March 2021, the HSE reduced this to six hours a month. She also challenged the six-month reapplication requirement, the suggestion that she reduce her scheduled hours instead, and the notice given for the change. The HSE said it had reviewed parental leave to maximise frontline staffing and could not restore her previous arrangement. The adjudication officer found the previous arrangement depended on the HSE’s agreement and was subject to six-monthly review. The officer found a breach over the late confirmation document, but said the reasonableness of withdrawing the earlier arrangement was not actionable under this legislation. The complaint was partly well-founded.