Labour Court recommends St Vincent's porters accept €600 allowance and €250 voucher

The Labour Court recommended that four kitchen porters at St Vincent's Private Hospital accept the employer's proposal of an annual non-pensionable €600 allowance and a one-off €250 voucher. The recommendation was signed on 23 March 2018, with the allowance to take effect from 1 July 2017. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union had sought a higher pay grade, saying the porters took on additional duties after a head porter left. The hospital said the disputed tasks fell within kitchen porter duties and pointed to a national job evaluation scheme. The Court noted that the former head porter's duties had been distributed among the porters, and that the union accepted they did not perform the full range of a chef's duties or hold the required qualifications. The union had rejected the hospital's offer at conciliation.