Labour Court says HSE sick-pay dispute should be addressed nationally

The Labour Court recommended that a dispute over the HSE’s coordination of sick pay with social welfare entitlements be addressed through normal industrial relations procedures at national level. The recommendation was signed on 14 April 2014. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union sought a reversal of the policy and retrospective payments for affected staff. It argued that the HSE deducted the value of Illness Benefit from sick pay even where workers were not entitled to receive that benefit. The HSE said its financial rules required it to reduce sick pay by the value of a benefit where an entitlement existed. The Court said the issue was not appropriate for a referral under section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969, and recommended that it be dealt with nationally between the parties.