Labour Court recommends process on HSE chefs’ pay

The Labour Court recommended a Workplace Relations Commission process to assess issues affecting chef and head-Chef Grades in the health sector. It said the process should start no later than three months after acceptance of the recommendation, with unresolved issues referred back to the Court. The recommendation was signed on 6 August 2019. Chef Grades, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, said chef pay was outside industry norms, contributing to recruitment and retention problems, and had not been reviewed since 2000. The union said it had commissioned a pay report with the HSE’s agreement. The Health Service Executive (HSE), A Department of Health, said it could not engage on the report because movement on the pay structure was not feasible at that time and it had not secured sanction.