The Workplace Relations Commission found that Harvey Allen’s discrimination complaint against Tipperary ETB was not well founded. The decision, dated 15 September 2023, concerned the refusal to recognise some of his previous UK public service for incremental credit.
Allen said he received incremental credit for his Grade 3 service but not for service at Grades 5 and 6. He described the treatment as discrimination because he was “too experienced”. Tipperary ETB said the decision about incremental credit was within the relevant government department’s remit and noted that Allen had not cited a ground covered by the Employment Equality Act.
At the hearing, Allen confirmed he was not claiming discrimination on one of the grounds specified in the Act. The officer found he had not linked the treatment to a listed ground and had not established facts that could support a presumption of discrimination. The Act requires a complaint to be connected to a protected ground, such as age, disability or race; the officer therefore found that discrimination under the Act had not been established.