Mayo HSE staff get 3 days off for giving up unofficial tea break

Porters and other support staff at a Mayo HSE health facility are to get three additional holiday days in exchange for surrendering a long-established but unofficial noon tea break.

The Labour Court recommended that the workers at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar give up their additional morning break in exchange for two additional holiday days in the current leave year and one extra day in the next leave year.

The recommendation to grant the additional days off to the workers drew an angry reaction from the chief executive of ISME, Mark Fielding, who said: “The gravy train rumbles on. Three days’ holidays in exchange for an unofficial tea-break.