The WRC recommended that a health service provider pay two paramedics €1,200 each after it failed to complete the agreed grievance process. The recommendation, dated 16 April 2026, also says the provider should apply to them the subsistence rate used for colleagues for specified unpaid claims.
The paramedics were temporarily reassigned from L to S after L Community Hospital closed over safety concerns. The provider said S was the nearest base, travel was in an employer vehicle and the paramedics did not qualify for subsistence under its financial rules. It accepted that it did not complete the second grievance process.
The officer accepted the provider had to follow its financial regulations and noted the relevance of an 8km Labour Court ruling. She also said the rules were open to interpretation and that, if verified, SIPTU’s claim that colleagues received subsistence on a different basis would support an allegation of unfair treatment. She recommended applying the colleagues’ rate to the specified unpaid claims before and after 17 February 2025. The separate €1,200 recommendation compensates each paramedic for the grievance procedure breach.