Labour Court upholds doctor’s appeal for on-call rest compensation

The Labour Court upheld a doctor’s appeal against Mercy University Hospital and recommended that it calculate his outstanding on-call rest hours from 5 May 2014 and compensate him under the Consultant Rest Agreement. The decision was dated 30 November 2017. The doctor, represented by the Irish Medical Organisation, said he had not received compensation for rest accumulated since May 2014. The hospital said it paid in lieu of rest and argued the dispute should be handled collectively. The Court found the claim concerned applying the agreement to this doctor and noted that the hospital had records of his on-call hours. It recommended compensation for on-call incidents, excluding telephone consultations.