Nurses must be paid millions of euro in back-pay

CASH-STRAPPED health boards will be forced to pay millions of euro in back pay to nurses after a landmark industrial relations ruling yesterday.

Thousands of nurses who provided temporary cover for senior staff such as matrons, ward sisters or their deputies are entitled to compensation of up to €3,000. Retired nurses who were not properly paid for similar cover could net more than twice that amount in pension and lump sum adjustments following a ruling by Rights Commissioner Tony Bregazzi. In a two-page judgment in the case taken by retired assistant chief nursing officer in Wexford, Eddie Kelly, Mr Bregazzi found the real difference between nurses' salary and that of the person for whom they were providing cover was not taken into consideration when calculating payment for taking on that extra responsibility.

He said nurses who replaced such staff should be compensated at a flat rate of €600 per year, up to a maximum of five years bringing their claim to €3,000. Arrears over and above the sum of €3,000 should be paid to nurses who lost out in retirement and pension benefits because of the error in the calculation of premium payments, he added. The Southern Health Board is the only board exempt from the ruling. Mr Kelly said the judgment marks a happy end to a case he first initiated in the 1970s. When he retired three years ago, he appealed further to the Department of the Environment. "This judgment confirms that I and others have been short-changed for work we had been doing for years.

"Anyone who acted in a temporary senior position, for a deputy ward sister or a matron or other senior staff member has a claim against their health board. They should contact their board or the Retired Nursing Association to confirm this and work out their payment."

The Health Services Employers Agency played down the matter and said in the scheme of things, the pay-out would not be significant. It said it would be difficult to quantify just how many nurses would be entitled to claim.

Irish Nurses Organisation boss Liam Doran said hundreds of nurses would be impacted in any one year and agreed the tally of claimants will run into thousands. The ultimate cost for health boards will run into millions. It will add significantly to their financial woes. "We more than welcome this Rights Commissioner decision. It makes good an omission by health employers over a long number of years."