LCR23231

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral under Section 26 (1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1990.

BACKGROUND:

This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under

the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 18th November 2025 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.

A Labour Court hearing took place on 23rd February 2026.

UNION'S ARGUMENTS:

1. The Union seeks the roster change go through the Joint Review mechanism provided for under the Public Service Agreement as this procedure was put in place specifically to address issues arising from working an extended day and changes to rosters.
2. The Union claims that is a collective issue and should be processed In line with agreed   procedures.

EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:

1. The Employer states that majority employed In the Unit where so on an informed basis that changes to the working hours were imminent.
2. The Employer claims that only 8 people are covered under the original Circular by the HSEHR 003/2009, setting out the agreed three tier dispute resolution process, and the process should only apply to them.

RECOMMENDATION:

The issue in dispute between the parties is in respect of a management proposal to extend the operating hours in its Renal Department to maximise the availability of treatment bays and improve access for patients requiring dialysis.

The Union submitted that they had concerns about the impact of the proposals on the staff and in particular the requirement to travel to and from work late at night or in the early morning. The Union position is that the proposed roster changes should be processed through the Joint review Mechanism provided for under the Public Service agreements. This procedure was put in place specifically to address issues arising from working an extended day and changes to rosters.

Circular 009/2025 from the HSE entitled Extended working Day/Week Framework to enable provision of Services to Patients on 5/7 basis, sets out the principles for extended hours service. It states that local management shall utilise all existing agreed arrangements and that in the event agreement cannot be reached the matter shall be resolved in accordance with the Matching Working Patterns to Service Needs (extended Working Day/Week Arrangements). That arrangement sets out a three-stage process.

The Union submitted that by email of 25 September 2025 they had requested that the Employer utilise the procedures set out in circular 009/2025 and that they had also raised this at conciliation. However, the Employer by email of 23 January 2026 indicated that they did not believe the joint review group process was the way to go as they believed they could divide the group into two separate groups and that the majority of staff would be contractually obliged to work the new rosters. It is the Unions position that this is a collective issue and should be processed in line with the agreed procedures.

IBEC on behalf of the Employer submitted that they had put forward several proposals which had all been rejected by the Union. It is management’s position that the majority of workers involved in the dispute were hired into the unit in the informed knowledge that proposed changes to working hours were imminent and that they are contractually obliged to accept the revised opening hours of the unit. In total 62 out of the 72 workers have a clause in their contract which the employer believes means they have to work the new roster hours.

The Employer submitted that only 8 people were covered by circular HSEHR 003/2009 which was the original circular setting out the agreed three tier dispute resolution process, and the process should only apply to them.

They indicated that they were prepared to compensate workers for any loss of earnings at a rate of 1.5 times the projected loss.

Discussion

In response to questions from the Court the employer confirmed that they are covered by the Public Sector Agreement and by circular 009/2025 issued by the HSE.  The Court notes that circular states at section 11 “In the event that agreement cannot be reached matters shall be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution process and timeline set out in Appendix 1”. This circular applies to all staff and does not exclude from its processes any staff based on date of commencement or the nature of the contract signed.

Both parties confirmed to the Court that they accepted that local negotiations had been exhausted. On that basis the Court recommends that the parties move to the second stage of the agreed dispute resolution process and seek the intervention of a Joint Review Group.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Louise O'Donnell
AL	______________________
27/02/2026	Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be in writing and addressed to Ms Amy Leonard, Court Secretary.