The Labour Court has ruled that it could find no merit in a decision, made by management in the HSE South in 2012, to enforce a unilateral withdrawal of consolidated leave entitlements for staff.

The dispute originated in the decision to withdraw leave that had, prior to 2006, been granted to IMPACT members in HSE Kerry who worked in locations where race meetings or festivals took place. In 2006 IMPACT Kerry Branch entered into an agreement with the HSE South to abolish these concession days, and an additional 1.5 days annual leave was granted in lieu on a personal to holder basis. Staff who joined the HSE South Kerry after 2006 did not have an entitlement to the additional annual leave days.  In 2010 the agreement was applied to physiotherapist members.

IMPACT assistant general secretary, Marie Levis, explained “In 2012 the HSE South removed these additional annual leave days from members and applied compensation of 1.5 times the annual loss as a once-off concession.  The HSE South claimed the standardisation of annual leave arrangements in the public health sector in 2012 allowed it to remove these days, and apply a once-off compensation, as local leave arrangements such as festival days and race days were to be abolished.

“IMPACT advised that no such concession days had existed following the collective agreement in 2006 which had abolished them. The HSE refused to reinstate the annual leave days. At the Labour Court, we argued that management’s actions amounted to a breach of the collective agreement which had been entered into in good faith in 2006” she said.

The dispute was heard by the Labour Court in September and the Court  found that the HSE had abolished the additional leave associated with festival and race days for all new employees and had converted it into annual leave for staff in employment in the affected grades in 2006 and in 2010. 

The Court stated management were now seeking to reverse that decision and to treat that annual leave as” festival or race day” leave.  The Court stated that while the relevant leave for the affected staff may have had its origin in festival or race day leave, it was converted into annual leave in 2006 and 2010 respectively and that decision cannot be undone.

Marie said that IMPACT has written to the employer, seeking confirmation that it will implement the decision of the Court, and reinstate the annual leave to affected members.