Labour Court does not recommend location allowance for 140 St John of God assistants

The Labour Court did not recommend extending a location allowance to 140 Recreational Programme Assistants employed by St John Of God Hospitaller Services. Its recommendation was dated 27 February 2007. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued that the assistants worked closely with patients and faced challenges similar to nursing staff who received the allowance. The employer said the allowance was limited to specified nursing grades and locations, and that extending it would bring significant costs and wider effects. The Court noted that the allowance had not been paid to other health-service grades and said it could not justify extending it to the assistants at that time.