HSE wins staff nurse’s complaint over €1,789.89 salary deduction

The Workplace Relations Commission found Anthony Corbett’s complaint against the Health Service Executive was not well founded. The case concerned a €1,789.89 deduction from his salary to recover pension contribution arrears. Corbett, a staff nurse, accepted that the arrears were due but objected that the money was taken without his knowledge or consent. He also challenged a loan issued for the same amount after the deduction, saying he had not agreed to it. The HSE acknowledged errors in implementing the adjustment and loan, said it had acted in good faith, and apologised. The adjudication officer found that recovering the arrears was not an illegal deduction of wages properly payable under the Payment of Wages Act. The matching loan also did not breach the Act. The complaint failed, and the WRC decision was dated 17 August 2023.