The Labour Court ordered the HSE National Ambulance Service to change its policy on 11-hour rest between shifts, while finding David O’Connor’s complaints about specific missed breaks not well founded. The determination was signed on 23 September 2014.
O’Connor, an Advanced Paramedic Team Leader, argued that late-running shifts could leave him without 11 hours’ rest and that he could not take breaks while on call. The service said emergency work made shift end times uncertain and that it provided compensatory rest.
The Court found no breach on the two occasions raised under section 11: O’Connor took an 11-hour break after the September shift and took sick leave after the October shift. It ruled that the service could not rely on a standing instruction requiring staff to report for work without 11 hours’ rest; each case required an assessment of objective reasons. The Court ordered the service to bring its policy into line with the Act.
On the separate section 12 complaint, the Court found that O’Connor had adequate opportunities to schedule breaks while doing administrative work at the ambulance base, so that complaint was not well founded.