The Department of Social Protection (DSP) has been ordered to pay €10,000 in compensation for disability discrimination to a Fórsa member after failing to properly examine how it could accommodate them when a full-time remote work arrangement ended.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that the Department made an "obvious error" by not obtaining a medical report on the worker's disabilities. They also found that the Department did not do enough to assist the member and to find appropriate solutions for their disability.

Fórsa brought the case to the WRC after numerous efforts were made to resolve the matter through internal civil service procedures.

The member had been on sick leave for almost a year before the beginning of the pandemic. Due to their increased health risk the member was allowed to work from home and was also provided with an office in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, which had an attached toilet that suited their needs.

The dispute arose when the DSP tried to re-locate the employee to an office in Thurles which lacked the necessary bathroom facilities.

The case was disputed by Fórsa officer Donna Mooney who commented that the outcome of the case was justified: “We are very happy that the adjudicator recognised the Department’s failure to take our member’s disability into account, despite numerous offers to resolve the matter through internal civil service dispute resolution procedures.

“We hope this decision will have a positive impact in how the Department engages with us on reasonable accommodation issues when they arise going forward.”