Labour Court sets aside €36,000 recommendation but recommends €5,000 payment to worker

The Labour Court set aside a €36,000 recommendation for a worker who sought incremental credit while acting up as a Grade VIII, but recommended that the Health Service Executive (HSE) pay her €5,000 over a director’s intervention. The decision was dated 27 February 2019. The worker argued that she should receive the progression given to her line manager and two colleagues. The HSE said 150 to 200 other people in its North East area had acted up without incremental progression. The Court found the HSE had applied the terms inconsistently, but the claim could not succeed because those terms generally applied across the organisation. It set aside the earlier recommendation. Separately, the Court recommended €5,000 after finding the director’s support for the claim shortly before the appeal created confusing and contradictory positions for the worker.