Labour Court recommends St James’s Hospital offer Sunday shifts to staff before agency workers

The Labour Court recommended that St James’s Hospital offer additional Sunday shifts to directly employed staff before agency workers while it recruited 58 healthcare assistants. The recommendation was signed on 7 March 2017. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued that directly employed staff should get first access to extra shifts, citing practice at other voluntary hospitals and the HSE. St James’s Hospital said agency staffing was more financially efficient and maintained service quality. The Court noted that agency cover for Sunday shifts cost more than offering the work to hospital employees. It recommended that employees be offered those shifts first until recruitment was complete. The Court expected recruitment to finish by June 2017, with engagement on longer-term shift arrangements to be completed by the end of September.