The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Caroline Naughton’s complaints of discrimination and less favourable treatment as a fixed-term worker by Galway Roscommon Etb, in a decision dated 8 May 2024. The adjudicator found that the evidence did not establish discrimination and that Naughton’s tutor grading was linked to the programmes she worked on, rather than her contract status.
Naughton said she performed work she considered teacher duties while being paid at the tutor rate, and argued that she had been treated less favourably because of her fixed-term hours. She also said she was not given a teacher contract after applying for teaching posts.
The ETB said it generally assigned tutors to traineeship programmes and teachers to VTOS courses, regardless of whether staff were permanent or fixed-term. It said Naughton’s permanent tutor contract began in 2020, with additional fixed-term hours, and that she had declined an offer of maternity cover in a teaching role. The adjudicator said her complaint about the promised teacher appointment might be suited to an industrial relations grievance, but it did not establish a claim under the fixed-term work law.