Labour Court upholds recommendation on Children’s Health Ireland biochemist’s regrading claim

The Labour Court upheld a recommendation that Children’s Health Ireland take no further action on a worker’s claim for promotion to Senior Biochemist, including retrospectively. The worker had been employed as a Basic Grade Biochemist at the hospital since 1979. In a decision dated 22 January 2021, the Court found that a 2008 change to a laboratory department staffed predominantly by medical scientists made continued application of a 2004 grading report moot. It found no basis to recommend the claim. The worker’s union argued she had effectively worked single-handedly after the Principal Biochemist retired in 2009 and sought retrospective upgrading. The employer disputed that she had worked alone and pointed to changes in the department. Neither side provided a copy of Circular 102/12, so the Court said it could not comment on the circular’s details or the worker’s interpretation of it.