The Labour Court rejected consultant surgeon Gerard Byrnes’s appeal over compensation for working on a public holiday, affirming the Rights Commissioner’s decision. The determination was dated 13 March 2006.
Byrnes argued that attending Ennis General Hospital for an emergency on St Patrick’s Day entitled him to an additional day’s pay or leave. The HSE Mid West Area said his contractual payments adequately compensated him. The Court found that only the hour spent working at the hospital counted as working time, and that his contractual package met the Act’s requirements. That package included an on-call allowance of €31.47 and fees of €136.78 for patients seen during his attendance, as well as annual payments of €3,651 for on-call liability and €5,278 for his rota.