Labour Court recommends Grade IV scale for hospital coders

The Labour Court recommended that West/North West Hospital Group (HSE) place coders on the Grade IV scale from the recommendation date and credit them for years spent exclusively on coding work. The recommendation, signed on 21 October 2014, followed a dispute with the Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union. The union said workers paid at Grade III did the same work as Grade IV colleagues and sought regrading with retrospective effect. The hospital group argued the claim was barred by public service agreements and the recruitment and promotion moratorium, and warned of wider implications. The Court said the workers sought application of the established Grade IV rate for their jobs, rather than a pay increase or regrading.