The WRC recommended that a health service pay a paramedic €3,500 after finding that unclear terms for a temporary assignment and a delay in clarifying them cost him a training opportunity. The recommendation was dated 6 January 2025.
The advanced paramedic sought travel and subsistence payments and a chance to attend assistant tutor training. The health service said the assignment location had become his work base, so travel and subsistence were not payable, and release for training depended on service needs. The WRC agreed that travel and subsistence did not apply because the new location had become his base.
The WRC found the health service should have clarified the assignment’s location, duration, terms and restrictions when it was advertised and when he took it up. Clarification came only after a delay and a grievance, by which time the training opportunity was lost.
The WRC recommended €3,500 in full and final settlement. It also recommended clearer information for future temporary assignments, including their terms, duration, restrictions and work base, and whether workers could return to their substantive posts.