WRC orders money advice service to pay €20k after refusing reduced hours for ill worker

Seán McCárthaigh

A money advice and budgeting service that covers Cork and Kerry has been ordered to pay €20,000 compensation to an employee over its failure to grant her request for reduced working hours after she had been diagnosed with a medical condition.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the South Munster Money Advice and Budgeting Service CLG had breached the Employment Equality Act 1998 by discriminating against staff member, Laura Beresford, on grounds of disability.

Beresford gave evidence that she became ill in April 2024 and was subsequently diagnosed with vestibular migraine – a condition that causes dizziness, headaches, nausea and fatigue.

The complainant told the WRC that the condition significantly impacted her ability to function, particularly when she was over-tired or working continuously without sufficient rest.

After she returned to work following sick leave in July 2024, Beresford said she informed her employer about her illness and formally requested to work fewer hours as her GP had provided a letter which suggested reduced working hours would help her condition.

Beresford said she had asked to move to a four-day week (28 hours from 35 hours) including one day working from home which she claimed was supported by an occupational assessment carried out for South Munster MABS.

However, the WRC heard the request was refused in August 2024 on the basis that the company’s funder, the Citizens Information Board, only permitted work contracts of either 17.5 or 35 hours.

Ms Beresford claimed her employer had carried out no proper assessment of her individual circumstances.

She argued its decision had amounted to a blanket reliance on a policy rather than an assessment of her needs.

The complainant told the WRC that she had to use her annual leave to take off one day per week to manage her symptoms.

Ms Beresford said she found lodging a formal grievance process in October 2024 was stressful and it resulted in another refusal.

South Munster MABS’ regional manager, Ursula Collins, told the WRC that the complainant had been treated in line with standard procedures for staff returning from illness.

Collins claimed an occupational assessment had not identified Ms Beresford’s condition as a recognised disability under employment legislation.

She also claimed that the recommendations made by her GP only suggested what might be beneficial rather than being medically necessary or permanent.

Ms Collins said the company was subject to strict financial and HR controls by the CIB as it provided funding for all operational costs including staff salaries.

She gave evidence that the CIB imposed a funding rule that restricted work contracts to either 17.5 or 35 hours per week so that South Munster MABS had no discretion to award a permanent 28-hour contract, which could jeopardise its funding.

Ms Collins claimed Ms Beresford had been provided with a range of accommodations, including a phased return to work, reduced workload, remote working, ergonomic adjustments and breaks as well as a temporary four-day week subject to operational feasibility.

In her ruling, WRC adjudication officer Úna Glazier-Farmer said vestibular migraine was a disability in a case before a UK employment tribunal, although there did not seem to have been any similar case in Ireland.

While neither Beresford’s GP nor an occupational assessment had labelled her condition a “disability,” Ms Glazier-Farmer said she accepted that the determination is a legal rather than a medical question.

The WRC official said she accepted that the complainant’s condition “constituted a malfunction affecting bodily function and had more than a trivial or temporary impact on her ability to carry out normal working duties.”

She said the evidence demonstrated that South Munster MABS had not properly assessed the feasibility of Beresford’s request for reduced working hours.

Glazier-Farmer said the company had relied on a general funding rule without demonstrating that it had explored whether flexibility or exceptions could be applied.

She said that reliance did not discharge it from its obligations under employment equality legislation.

“There is insufficient evidence of a substantive, individualised assessment of whether a 28‑hour arrangement could be implemented on a temporary or longer‑term basis,” said Ms Glazier-Farmer.

She noted that South Munster MABS had also not demonstrated that granting the requested burden would have imposed a disproportionate burden on it.

The WRC ordered the company to pay €20,000 compensation to Ms Beresford and to review its working arrangements with a view to providing her with appropriate reasonable accommodation.

South Munster MABS was also directed to review its policies and procedures on requests for reasonable accommodation.

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