The WRC recommended that a healthcare service provider repay a staff nurse €1,200 net in sick pay and pay €3,000 compensation over its handling of her certified sick leave. The recommendations were dated 19 October 2023.
The employer said sick pay was discretionary and questioned the timing of the absence after annual leave was refused. The adjudication officer found that the nurse followed the sick leave procedures and that her manager did not question whether she was sick. The employer relied on assumptions without an investigation, and the Director of Services, who held discretion over sick pay under the contract, was not involved in the decision.