The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Luarena Toland €7,500 after finding St. Vincent's University Hospital treated her less favourably as a fixed-term worker when it ended her acting-up role without basic fair procedures. The WRC decision was dated 2 May 2025.
Toland said she was removed from the temporary Grade VII HR Business Partner assignment without an opportunity to respond or use grievance procedures, unlike a comparable permanent worker. The hospital said the temporary assignment could end and that her higher-grade pay continued beyond it. The adjudicator found the hospital relied on her fixed-term status to bypass fair procedures. The WRC rejected her separate penalisation and Payment of Wages Act complaints, finding no protected grievance caused the disciplinary action and no further wages were payable after the assignment ended.