Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Nurse

A Health Care Provider

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Dispute seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969

CA-00016217-001

08/12/2017

The worker has been employed by the employer since 1983 as a Registered General Nurse. The dispute concerns a request from the worker to be rostered permanently on night duty on a red circled basis.

The worker is seeking a permanent transfer to night duty on a red circled basis. The worker stated that she was diagnosed with Osteoporosis of the spine in 2008 and while working the day shift is difficult for her due to the increased manual handling responsibilities that exist, working on the night shift is more manageable. The worker stated that she has worked exclusively on night shift since 2015 with the agreement of management. The worker stated that in 2017 management sought to rotate her to day duty citing contractual obligations despite her many years of working exclusively at night. The worker is seeking to be rostered permanently on night duty on the basis of the custom and practice that has developed in recent years.

The employer’s position is that following a request to be rostered permanently on to the night shift in 2017, the worker was referred for an Occupational Health Assessment. The employer stated that the Assessment did not recommend that the worker could only work at night. The employer stated that all staff are rostered to work both day and night shifts and that the worker has availed of a facility to swap with other staff who do not wish to work on the night shift. The employer stated that it is not in a position to concede to the worker’s request for permanency on the night shift as the flexibility of swapping shifts is something that all staff should have access to. The employer also stated that rosters are agreed collectively under the Public Service agreements and it is not in a position to operate outside of that collective process.

I note that the worker has worked almost exclusively on the night shift since 2015 and that there have only been three occasions since that time when she was unable to swap shifts.

I accept the employer’s contention that it must operate within agreed practices in terms of rostering and that red circling arrangements would create difficulties within the organisation such as other staff seeking to be permanently rostered onto their preferred shifts etc. This would undermine the principle of the collectively agreed rostering arrangements currently in place.

At the adjudication hearing the employer stated that it was willing to explore alternatives with the worker without changing the current rostering arrangements. Accordingly, and as this issue does not arise very often, I am of the view that the employer and the worker should re-engage at local level in an attempt to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the issue in dispute.

Having considered the submissions of both parties, I do not recommend that the worker be rostered permanently onto the night shift on a red circled basis as this would be at variance with the principles of nationally agreed rostering procedures.

Permanent Night Shift