Care staff may have pay docked after being told not to go to work during Storm Ophelia

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Sinead Ryan

Care staff who were instructed by their employer not to come to work on Monday due to Hurricane Ophelia found their pay may be docked or a day's annual leave deducted when they returned to work on Tuesday.

The HSE-funded St Vincent's Centre on the Navan Road in Dublin provides adult day care services for the disabled.

The Status Red warning issued by Met Éireann on Sunday night led the Daughters of Charity management, which runs the centre, to send a text message to 15 nursing and administrative staff telling them not to present for work. However, when they arrived on Tuesday morning, they were told that a day was being taken out of their annual leave as a result.

"Many of us don't have any annual leave left this late in the year, so we are getting a day's pay docked," one nurse told the Irish Independent. "We weren't given a choice. Fifteen of us were rostered to work on Monday, nurses and admin staff, and we got a message on Sunday night telling us not to come in because of the hurricane...We assumed we would be paid for the day just like HSE workers."

Natalya Jackson, HR director with the Daughters of Charity, said: "During the height of the storm, staff were informed that in accordance with an adverse weather policy, staff may take annual leave, time in lieu or build up time for Monday. However, it was clearly indicated to all staff on Tuesday that the service position regarding the day's leave would be clarified by HR. Currently, we are awaiting a circular from the HSE clarifying how the day will be granted, which we will circulate as a memo to all staff."

Last year, the Daughters of Charity received €105m from the HSE and €187.9m from the Department of Education.