Department of Education defeats teacher’s €2,301.07 pay complaint

The Workplace Relations Commission found Catherine Martin’s complaint against the Department Of Education was not well founded in a decision dated 30 June 2023. She had claimed €2,301.07 gross over an increase to an allowance linked to the 10th point of the school principals’ scale. Martin, a national schoolteacher, had been seconded as director of the Education Centre in Carrick on Shannon. After returning to teaching when a five-year secondment limit took effect, she retained the allowance under an earlier adjudication. She argued that this arrangement linked her allowance to the principals’ scale and entitled her to later increases. The Department said her allowance was governed by the applicable circulars and was not covered by the sectoral bargaining increase for school principals. The adjudication officer found the 2018 outcome preserved the allowance for affected former centre directors but did not create an individual pay link to the principals’ grade. Centre directors were not included in the group covered by the later increase, the officer concluded.