Claim by gardaí for unsocial hours allowance while self-isolating ‘wholly without merit’

A claim taken by the Garda Representative Association on behalf of members who sought to be paid an unsociable hours allowance for a period during which they were off work and self-isolating with Covid-19 has been rejected as “wholly without merit” by the Labour Court.

It found the claim, lodged on behalf of 22 members, was essentially pursued due to a human resources manager suggesting in a meeting that the money would be paid. The court said An Garda Síochána disputed that this suggestion was made and the sides agreed that even if the manager had said it, she would been wrong to make such a commitment.

The recommendation in the case, which was referred to the Labour Court after a failure to resolve it in conciliation talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, was published on Thursday.

The court said it was accepted by both parties that unsocial working hours allowances are paid only when a worker “actually works during unsocial hours”.

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“It is also accepted by both parties that none of the claimants worked during unsocial hours while self-isolating at home in January 2021. In fact, it appears to be accepted by both parties that no duties were assigned to the claimants at all while self-isolating at home albeit they were in receipt of their basic pay throughout.”

It said significant numbers of the workers nationally were likely to have been required to self-isolate at home during the pandemic in circumstances similar to those experienced by the claimants.

“There is however no submission before the court that any such worker was in receipt of unsocial working hours allowances during such periods of self-isolation when they did not actually work during unsocial hours.”

The court said that had the human resources manager given the disputed commitment that the allowance would be paid, she “would have been in error having regard to relevant circulars in place at the time and having application to this employment and all public service employments”.

“The association nonetheless claims that solely on the basis of a disputed commitment which, it is acknowledged, would have been erroneous if it had been made, all claimants should be paid unsocial working hours allowances for the period of their self-isolation at home in January 2021,” it said.

Given the undisputed fact in the case, the court concluded “none of the claimants had an entitlement to receive unsocial working hours allowances during their period of self-isolation in January 2021 and, as a result, the within claim is wholly without merit”.