Senior HSE managers who missed out on a 5 per cent pay increase due to the economic crash are to receive up to €32,000 in back pay under terms recommended by the Labour Court.
Its recommendation will benefit 350 current and former managers working for the HSE and voluntary hospitals.
The retrospective decision concerns an increase that was implemented last year.
The decision has its roots in a 2007 report by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector.
READ MORE
This report had recommended implementing a 5 per cent pay increase for cohorts of managers across various departments and organisations, including assistant national directors in the health service.
While the increases were generally applied elsewhere, the HSE did not pay them due to cuts in public spending after the crash.
The union involved, Fórsa, continued to pursue the cuts. It wanted full retrospective payment of the money, which would now amount to 18 years of back pay. The HSE argued the amount involved was prohibitive.
The sides differed on whether Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation prohibited retrospection.
After talks last year at the Workplace Relations Commission, a deal was recommended, with implementation of the 5 per cent increase worth up to €8,000 a year to the staff involved. It recommended this should be paid for one retrospective year only.
The union then brought the issue to the Labour Court, which recommended the 5 per cent increase should be paid for four retrospective years. This decision will bring the maximum back payments to be made to €32,000.
The exact cost to the HSE is not immediately clear, but if all of the managers received the maximum amount then it would surpass €10 million.
It is understood a financial provision for settlement of the dispute was made previously, so the money is not expected to come out of current budgets.
The Labour Court recommendation, which was originally reported in Industrial Relations News but is not yet published, was described as “significant” by Fórsa on Thursday.
The union has written to the HSE asking for a timeline for the money to be paid.
