A journalist with "an extraordinary sense of entitlement" has lost a bid for additional money and an upgrade in his job title, writes Helen Bruce.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the male journalist, who was not identified but is understood to have worked for RTÉ, was already "compensated more than appropriately".

Adjudicator Breiffni O'Neill noted that the man, whom he said had a "huge sense of self-importance", was paid €84,630 per annum. The journalist claimed he was entitled to additional compensation for a project he had worked on, beginning in 2010.

He said this was because of the significant contribution he made to it, and promises he stated were made to him in 2009 by the director of news. He said his work had benefitted his employer hugely, and he had been promised in advance that he would be appropriately rewarded.

He also claimed he should be reclassified at a higher grade.

He explained he was currently paid as a multi-media journalist (MMJ), but the newscasting work he did was on top of responsibilities that came with his existing grade. He believed he should therefore be paid at a higher grade, either as a newscaster or assistant editor.

O'Neill said the broadcaster had acknowledged the journalist's good work on the project, but had pointed out that this was a team effort and not just the work of the one journalist.

It said other employees had also made significant contributions to the project. It was also asserted that the journalist was, and continues to be, compensated through the Special Responsibility Allowance and the Additional Responsibility Allowance being made pensionable in respect of the work he did on the project.

O'Neill said this was a very valuable benefit in terms of the enhanced impact on future pension entitlements - valued at €100,000. The broadcaster denied the director of news made promises, and there was no documentation to back up that claim.

The broadcaster also said the MMJ role required the person to read radio bulletins, and this was an accepted part of the job, performed by several other MMJs on a rota basis. It said the duties and challenges associated with a newscaster role were quite different, requiring different skills.

It also said the complainant had been paid an Additional Responsibility Allowance for duties as acting chief sub editor since 2007. O'Neill noted: "It is clear that the worker in the instant dispute has an extraordinary sense of entitlement and a huge sense of self-importance, both in respect of the work he did on the project and the work he does as an MMJ.

"This was highlighted by his repeated references to the names of people he worked with in the employer, apparently employed in very senior roles, without referring to their job titles. This was despite my repeated requests for him to refer to these individuals by their job titles rather than by their names, as I had no knowledge of who they were, which he apparently found very difficult to believe."

He did not agree that the journalist was not "more than adequately compensated" considering the agreement to make two of his allowances pensionable. He refused to grant the grade upgrade for the newscasting duties, noting those duties were willingly performed by other MMJs at the same grade.

"Granting such an upgrade would have broader implications beyond this individual case, as there are other workers who also perform newscasting duties without receiving compensation at the newscaster grade," he said.

"Consequently, I am also unable to make a recommendation in his favour regarding this aspect of the dispute."

(Pic: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie)