Background:

The Complainant is a nurse working at the Respondent hospital. The Complainant said she worked 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, 8.5 hours each day. However, the Complainant’s contractual working hours were 39 hours per week, resulting in an average of 7.8 contractual working hours per day. Despite these contractual hours, it was agreed that the Complainant’s actual working hours were often, if not always, in the pattern described by the Complainant.

This disparity was relevant when the Respondent calculated the Complainant’s pay for public holidays which occurred on a Monday. The Respondent paid the Complainant 7.8 hours for those days, but the Complainant believed she should be paid 8.5 hours for them, as this represented her