Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Clinical Nurse Specialist

A Hospital

Representatives

Niall O'Sullivan Psychiatric Nurses' Association

Cait Lynch IBEC

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

 CA-00045503

3rd August 2021

The Complainant alleges that she is entitled to a Community Allowance payment. The Respondent concedes the point but is only willing to make a retrospective eighteen months payment.

 In December 2017 the Complainant, following completion of four years Masters, she achieved the title of Clinical Nurse Specialist.

In March 2019 she met up with her Colleagues. During that she discovered that she was not being paid an allowance. She then invoked the grievance procedure. Many e-mails went back and forth. Earlier this week her claim for the Community Allowance was conceded. It will be paid from the 01st January 2023. Arrears have been offered back to July 2021. Arrears should be paid from the 14th December 2017.

The Respondent refused to engage in the grievance process. Despite trying to get the Respondent to engage, to resolve the matter, they were extremely slow to do so and failed to respond to many emails.  It wasn’t until this week that they conceded the payment should have been made to the Complainant.

The Respondent relies on their submissions. In summary stated as follows:

4.The Respondent continuously engaged with the Complainant providing updates on the progress they had made in relation to queries she had regarding eligibility to qualification allowance, location allowance and community allowance. Through their investigation the Respondent sought feedback from-

a)       The salaries department

b)      XXX Hospital

c)       The XXX

d)      The XXX

Having investigated the matter it was confirmed to the Complainant that she should have been in receipt of the location and qualification allowances. Retrospective payments were processed in relation to these. In relation to the community allowance, it was communicated to the Complainant, as confirmed by the Governing Body, that such allowance does not apply to an acute setting which is what the Respondent Hospital is.  This was confirmed by two of the Governing Bodies Corporate Employee Relations. 

Up until the 23rd January 2023 it was the Respondent’s position that no employees of the Hospital

are in receipt of the allowance. The Respondent argues that although some allowances apply to

some CNS’s (which the Complainant is) the community allowance is not one of them.

However, on 23rd January 2023 the Governing body confirmed that the Complaint is and was

eligible for the allowance. An offer was made to make an eighteen months’ retrospective payment.

This was rejected by the Complainant on 26th January 2023.

The confusion arose due to the dual nature of the Complainants role. She works partly in the

community and partly in the hospital. The Respondent is unable to make unilateral decision on such

matters and most seek the approval from their Governing body prior to communicating any

decision.

As can be seen from the documentation submitted the Respondent did engage with the Complaint’s

grievance and did try to get clarity on the matter from their Governing Body.

The Complainant seeks a recommendation in relation to two complaints. Firstly, she alleges that she was entitled to an allowance which was payable from December 2017 when she took up the post of Clinical Nurse Specialist. Secondly, she is seeking compensation for the delay caused by the Respondent’s lack of engagement with her Grievance.  

At the hearing this morning the Respondent stated that they have been trying to get clarity on the issue from their governing body since March 2019. It wasn’t until Monday of this week that they got that clarity. Their governing body confirmed that the Complainant is entitled to the allowance she seeks. However, they only gave authority to make the retrospective payment for the previous eighteen months. No explanation was forthcoming as to why such limitation was put on the payment. There is no logic to the offer made. Either the Complainant is entitled to the payment, or she is not. As it has been conceded that she is entitled to it, then it should be paid to her in full going back to the date she commenced the role, December 2017.

I recommend that the Respondent pay to the Complainant her allowance in full, from December 2017 to date and that the payment should be made on or before the 28th February 2023.

The Complainant is also seeking compensation for the delay caused by the Respondent’s alleged non engagement with her grievance. She formally invoked the grievance on 12 March 2019. There were numerous emails going back and forth from the parties in relation to the issue from that date and throughout the entire period leading up to today’s hearing. I accept that the Respondent cannot make unilateral decisions on such matters and needs the approval from their governing body. I also accept that the majority of this time period was in the pandemic and that the governing body was under the inordinate pressure at that time. That said, to leave an employee over three years with no answer to her grievance is not acceptable, particularly in circumstances where there were nurses in other hospitals carrying out the same role in the same circumstances, who were paid the allowance.

In assessing the appropriate amount of compensation that should be paid, I have considered the length of the delay, the complexity of the grievance against the Respondent’s need to get approval from their governing body and the inordinate pressure that body was under at that time due to the pandemic.  In all of the circumstances I am recommending that the Complainant should be paid the sum of € 2,500.00 compensation by the Respondent, which said sum should be paid in full on or before the 28th February 2023.  

I am making the following recommendations:

1.       The Respondent is pay to the Complainant her allowance dating back to December 2017. The payment is to be made on or before the 28th February 2023.

2.       The Respondent is to pay the sum of €2,500.00 compensation. The said sum is to be paid in full on or before the 28th February 2023.