WRC rejects Department of Social Protection worker’s higher duty allowance claim

The Workplace Relations Commission found Ian McBride’s Payment of Wages Act complaint not well founded in a decision dated 10 January 2025. No award was made. McBride said the Department of Social Protection stopped his higher duty allowance at the end of December 2023 while he continued doing the same work. The Department said the allowance covered temporary acting duties, had a stated end date and was not a contractual entitlement after those duties ended. The adjudication officer found McBride had accepted that the allowance could end when the acting work ceased and had returned to his Clerical Officer role and grade.