Forsa’s School Secretaries’ branch suspended its industrial action this week following confirmation that their employers would be represented in negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The union said the decision that representatives of the schools that employ the secretaries removed any barrier to the talks taking place under the Industrial Relations Acts.

The industrial action had been in place since Friday 20th September.

In a memo to members of the branch earlier this week, Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike said the union had received written confirmation that school management bodies will fully participate in WRC negotiations.

They also said they would recommend acceptance of any outcome to individual school boards of management, so long as the education department agreed to fund any agreement.

Andy added: “The WRC has now requested that our industrial action be suspended to enable talks to proceed. Fórsa has agreed to suspend the work to rule, which was suspended from Tuesday afternoon.”

Talks in the WRC will now take place today (Thursday) and are expected to continue for a number of weeks. Fórsa will continue to press the department for an agreement which ends the two tier pay system for school secretaries.

Andy paid tribute to the members who had stuck with the work to rule. “Since our campaign started in January membership has increased by over 40% and continues to grow. The industrial action has served a purpose in gaining us access to the WRC with the employers’ representatives and the department at the negotiating table,” he said.

Backlog

The union has advised members to deal with any backlog of work arising from the dispute within a reasonable timescale: “Any requests for additional hours to be worked to clear a backlog should only be facilitated on the basis that overtime is paid or an alternative arrangement is in place acceptable to the secretary,” said Andy

He said the union would request an extension to the P/POD deadlines and advised any member put under pressure by management to contact the branch executive as soon as possible.

Fórsa tabled a number of claims at the inaugural meeting of the newly-established national industrial relations forum for special needs assistants (SNAs), which met for the first time on 3rd October.

The forum is made up of Fórsa reps along with education department officials and representatives of school management bodies.

The union had already lodged a formal claim for the abolition of the obligation for SNAs to be available to work an additional 72 hours per annum.

The union’s education chief Andy Pike recently updated SNA activists about the forum’s discussion of the claim: “We informed the department that the rostering of staff for an additional 72 hours a year has the effect of lengthening the working week, and that we would seek to raise the issue in future national pay talks as part of any discussion on working time for public servants,” he said. 

The forum is to discuss ways to ensure the 72-hour obligation was used correctly across the sector. Further negotiation will take place on how to ensure the hours are correctly used and allocated ahead of the forum’s next meeting in December.

“A mechanism needs to be found to ensure use of the hours can be monitored within schools without the need for an individual whistleblower to report abuses,” said Andy, who also pledged that Fórsa would seek the abolition of the 72 hours in the next round national pay talks. These are expected to take place in the first half of 2020.

Fórsa has also raised its objections to the publication of a new sick leave circular, which fails to treat SNAs in the same way as teachers.

The union’s newly appointed assistant general secretary for SNAs, Eimear Ryan, said the department hadn’t worsened the sick leave provisions for SNAs, but they were refusing to improve them by bringing them in line with teachers’ arrangements.

“The provision to return to work on a phased basis is not included, and SNAs are required to submit a certificate after two days. Teachers don’t have to do so until after three or four days,” she said.

Eimear said there was no good reason for such a policy to persist, and said the union plans to either resolve the matter at the forum meeting in December, or refer it to the Workplace Relations Commission.

The Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) has called for the reintroduction of a review body to examine pay for senior civil and public servants, in order to address recruitment and retention issues.

In its final report, published last week, the commission said the existing ad-hoc approach to top-level staff in State organisations was neither desirable nor sustainable.

But Fórsa responded by saying this approach should not be confined to top earners.

The union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan said the report marked the end of the PSPC’s mandate under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA). But he added that unions and public service management were currently in talks regarding the implications for grades, groups and categories that were not considered by the PSPC, or didn’t benefit from its recommendations.

The PSPC report said a top-level review body was necessary to examine remuneration of senior posts, “given the complexity and variety of posts under discussion, as well as the range of issues affecting them.”

Kevin said the body was essentially calling for a return to the traditional approach to senior public service pay, which was interrupted by the abolition of a pay review body during the economic crisis.

“Historically, an objective evidence-based assessment process informed pay policy for senior public service grades up until 2009. I believe this approach should not be confined to senior posts. It’s needed for all grades covered by public service agreements as part of a new social dialogue structure,” he said.

From January 2020 employers will no longer be obliged to provide P60 documents to their staff. Instead, employees may have to access their P60 through Revenue’s online system, called myAccount.

The new arrangement marks another in a series of changes introduced by Revenue this year.

Changes introduced by the Revenue Commissioners last January means that every time employers pay their employees, they must report the pay and statutory deduction details to Revenue as part of the payroll process.

The new arrangement has been described as the most significant reform of the PAYE system since its introduction in 1960.

Online access

Fórsa official Geraldine O’Brien explained that the quickest and easiest way to manage tax affairs is through Revenue’s online system, myAccount which has many benefits for PAYE customers.

“Recent enhancements to myAccount allow the user to view their pay and tax details, download a secure pay and tax summary, claim an unemployment repayment and update civil status. Revenue is constantly updating their online services to ensure the public benefits from real time information.

“Pay and tax details reported by employers are also accessible through myAccount. Only pay and statutory deductions are available as employers don’t report non-statutory deductions to Revenue, such as union subscriptions or credit union payments. If you notice any discrepancies between the information shown in myAccount and those on your payslip, you should contact your employer,” she said.

Geraldine described another new feature which allows the creation of a secure document summarising your pay and tax:

“The summary is password protected and is useful for providing proof of income to any bodies, such as a financial institution, a solicitor or local authority. It can be used for the purposes of applying for a loan, mortgage, grants or similar applications,” she said.

One or all of the following can be included in the document:

• Pay and tax details to date for the current year to date
• Details of any payments received from employer(s) for the last 1 – 3 months
• End of year statements (P21s) for the last four tax years.

P60 changes

Geraldine stressed that the most important development to be aware of is that employers are no longer obliged to provide P60s. Instead, they can be accessed via the employment detail summary, through PAYE services on myAccount.

“This document will contain details of pay and statutory deductions for all employments/pensions for the year and will be available in early 2020.

“Revenue will make a preliminary end of year statement available to all PAYE customers from 15th January 2020. This statement will be based on income and statutory deductions reported by all employers during the year and will show whether the correct tax has been paid. A short online return can be completed to claim additional tax credits or declare additional income,” she said.

Revenue has encouraged everyone to register for myAccount to take advantage of these enhancements and make it easier to manage your tax affairs.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has criticised the employment minister Regina Doherty for her decision to defer the implementation of a 30 cent increase in the national minimum wage.

The rise, which was recommended by the Low Pay Commission in July, was set to bring the national minimum wage for adults to €10.10 an hour – a first-time break of the €10 threshold – but it would still have been significantly lower than the living wage, which stands at €12.30 an hour.

In recent years, Low Pay Commission recommendations have generally been adopted by Government and implemented the following year. The minister linked this year’s deferral to the threat of a no-deal Brexit.

ICTU's general secretary Patricia King said that the decision to defer could only be described as “reprehensible”, and “effectively means that the Government has decided to penalise the 130,000 lowest paid workers of the state.”

Congress has continuously argued for further increases to the minimum wage in the event of a no-deal Brexit, given the likely negative effects on low paid and low income workers.

“Deferring the recommended 30 cent increase will mean that all workers on the national minimum wage will end up paying the price for Brexit,” said King.

For more information on ICTU's position click HERE.

For more information on the living wage click HERE.

The Financial Services Union (FSU) has launched a petition in support of legislation establishing the ‘right to disconnect’ – or to switch off from work-related emails and social media outside of reasonable working hours.

Like Fórsa and other trade unions, FSU sees the right to disconnect as a route to better work-life balance in the digital age. Legislation has already been passed in France.

At present, the department of business is reviewing the issue. FSU says it’s important to shape the direction of this review by supporting a call for legislation that would best protect workers.

It says: “If legislation is not introduced then the worst employers, whose workers need it most, will do nothing and will continue to expose workers to a harmful working environment. If you're tired of being 'always on' and would like to see legislation on the right to disconnect, please join the call by signing the petition today.”

You can sign the petition HERE.

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress – the British equivalent of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions – will be among the speakers at Fórsa’s first global solidarity school, which takes place in Dublin on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th November.

The Friday evening will see Frances talk about Brexit developments and their implications for workers here and in the UK.

She will be joined by ICTU’s assistant general secretary, Belfast-based Owen Reidy, and UK Labour MP Tony Lloyd, who is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

On Saturday, the conference will hear from Peadar King, the documentary filmmaker behind the RTÉ global affairs series ‘What in the World,’ which is part-funded by Fórsa through its developing world fund.

The event will also feature international campaigners from Justice for Colombia and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. And there will be a session on climate change, featuring one of the Irish students involved in last week’s global climate strike.

There will also be a social event on Friday evening.

The event is being staged by the union’s European and International Network, which was established in 2018 when Fórsa was launched. The group, made up of branch activists and senior elected representatives, says the event is an opportunity to involve more members who are interested in issueS like climate action, international affairs, and global solidarity.

Registration details will issue soon. In the meantime, you can register your interest by contacting hgavigan@forsa.ie.

Fórsa Trade Union’s Equality Committee will launch the Traveller Network event on the 9th November in Sligo Town Hall at 11am.

Speakers on the day include James O’Leary, CEO of INVOLVE and Martin Ward of the Galway Traveller Movement. Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

The launch of the Traveller Network follows on from the launch of previous Fórsa Equality Committee networks, including the Fórsa Women’s Activist Network and the Disability Network.

Fórsa official Lisa Connell explained: “The purpose of the event is to highlight many of the issues that affect Travellers in the workplace, including the depth of structural inequalities facing travellers from accessing the workplace, as well as socio-economic rights and a focus on public policy provisions.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Fórsa members and Traveller representatives to meet and discuss these issues,” she said.

For further information about the event please contact Lisa Connell.