Labour Court supports withdrawal of ‘twilight’ pay

The Labour Court has turned down a demand by workers at a major regional hospital that they should continue to be paid a "twilight" allowance.

Unite, representing the 22 catering assistants at Waterford Regional Hospital, made the demand that the “twilight” allowance continue to be paid in spite of the workers in question no longer working evenings.

The twilight allowance was worth €1,430 per annum to each worker and, as compensation to the workers for the loss of the allowance, the Labour Court has recommended that the workers receive an aggregate €31,460 or €1,430 each in two lump sum payments over a six-month period.

The dispute between Unite and the Health Service Executive arose from the HSE ceasing payment of the twilight allowance due to the outsourcing of the evening shift to agency workers on April 28, 2013.

According to the Labour Court, the union argued that under Section 8 of the Appendix: Service Delivery Options of the Public Service Agreement the payment should continue to be paid to the workers.

However, HSE management pointed out that it is unreasonable to expect payment for a shift that is no longer worked.

The dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission.

The two parties could not reach agreement at the LRC, so the dispute was referred to the Labour Court.

In their argument before the Labour Court, Unite argued that the workers have suffered a reduction in wages as a result of the outsourcing of the evening shift.

In response, the HSE stated that the decision to outsource the evening shift was not taken lightly, but there was no alternative given the reduction in catering staff levels.

The HSE argued: “Twilight hours payment is a premium payment, but basic pay has not changed. It is management’s position that the move does not worsen rates of pay.

“It is management’s position that compensation based on the loss of earnings from 29th April until 1st July 2013, when Twilight Hours ceased as per the Haddington Road Agreement, should be paid as per the PSA mechanism.”

In response, the Labour Court said it noted that the premium payment is no longer paid, as the hours are no longer worked.

The Labour Court stated that, therefore, in accordance with that formula, it was recommending that 50% of the identified loss should be paid now, with the second 50% paid at the end of October.