The Labour Court has issued a significant ruling on compensation for medical laboratory scientists in the public service who are set to lose up to €15,000 a year due to reforms under the Croke Park Agreement.
The Health Service Executive expects the restructuring of overtime and payment for work outside 9am-5pm to save around €5m a year.
Prior to the Croke Park Agreement, medical scientists received a ‘sessional’ payment of €262.88 for work between 5pm and midnight.
Between midnight and 8am, they received a fee per test of €25.
Sources said that the combination of overtime, allowances and fees meant some staff were earning over €30,000 a year in addition to their average salaries of €50,000 a year.
However, restructured overtime payments will result in some staff losing up to €15,000 a year.
In future, scientists will receive an overtime rate of time and a sixth between 5pm and 8pm - a lower rate than previously.
The ‘fee per item’ system will be abolished and replaced with an hourly overtime rate of €47.50.
In a year's time, staff will receive a compensatory lump sum worth one and a half times their actual loss of annual earnings.
The first half of this one-off lump sum will be paid 12 months after the new working arrangements become operational - to allow actual losses to be established - with the remaining half paid six months later.
While this recommendation only applies to allowances and fees for medical laboratory scientists, observers believe it may eventually become a template for calculating compensation packages for public sector workers facing loss of earnings as Croke Park reforms are implemented.
