Labour Court rejects union’s job-sharing claim for Night Sister

In 1991, the Labour Court rejected the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claim that Southern Health Board had constructively dismissed a Night Sister by ending job-sharing in her supervisory post. The union argued that the change left her with a choice between full-time work and a lower-grade role. The Board said supervisory posts required continuity and that the job-sharing arrangement allowed it to require a return to full-time work. The Court found the arrangement was conditional and accepted that the nurse’s hospital responsibility and reporting duties could not be adequately carried out when she attended only one week in four. The decision was dated 12 November 1991.