This case came before the Adjudication Officer as a result of a dispute over the Complainant’s pay grade. The Complainant was employed at a senior level as an Assistant National Director specialist in Public Health Medicine since 2005. In May 2016, he was asked to take on a Director role in addition to his existing duties and he filled this role until July 2019. The Director role attracted an allowance of €50,000. As well as this significant role, the Complainant had also taken on many other responsibilities on top of his original role.

Despite the extra responsibilities, the Employer never sought to review the Complainant’s grade. The Complainant submitted that he raised this issue numerous times. The Employer recommended that the Complainant receive an allowance from the time he covered for the National Director in 2016, but this was not approved.

The Employer acknowledged the extra workload taken on by the Complainant for the period May 2016 until July 2019 when he took responsibility for the Director role. This was reflected in the business case they put forward to the Government Department in August 2019, which recommended payment of an allowance from June 2018 and that the payment should be backdated to May 2016.  However, approval was not obtained from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). They concluded the allowance sought was historically only paid to those at Consultant level. They agreed to apply the allowance to a permanent appointee to the Director role which the Complainant covered but would not approve its payment to someone covering the role temporarily.

The Adjudication Officer considered the Complainant’s claim in relation to the additional responsibilities he had taken on, particularly from May 2016 until July 2019.  In doing so, the Adjudication Officer was cognisant of the business case put forward on the Complainant’s behalf by the Employer. Having considered all the circumstances of the Complainant’s case, the Adjudication Officer recommended that the Clinical Director Allowance (from October 2020, €50,000 but previously €46,000) be applied to the worker from May 2016 for the period he covered the Director role until July 2019.

Furthermore, the Adjudication officer recommended that the payment of this allowance be continued thereafter on an ongoing basis, in recognition of the additional responsibilities the Complainant continues to undertake. This allowance should be paid at least until the implementation of whatever is the conclusion of the current discussions about the applicability of Consultant status to senior doctors in Public Health. The Adjudication Officer highlighted that when that time comes, the Employer should fully review the Complainant’s role and ensure that he is graded and rewarded appropriately.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2021/january/adj-00027118.html