Fórsa has established a new digital tool, which gives SNAs easy access to concise advice on a range of important workplace issues including the 72 hours, working time, breaks, complex care, and June working.

Exclusively available to Fórsa members, the advice sheets provide standardised information that clearly explains SNA entitlements and agreements, as well as union positions. They cover the main issues experienced by SNAs, including:

72 hours

Break times

Career breaks

Complex care

Disciplinary procedures

Job sharing

June working

Notice periods

Supervision

Unpaid leave

Working hours

Assistant general secretary Eimear Ryan said SNAs who are Fórsa members can get representation on the back of this tool, if they are not getting their legal entitlements or those set out in union-negotiated agreements.

“The SNA advice sheets can be followed by a letter from the union, and if necessary, a written instruction on the issue,” she said.

The education requirements to become a special needs assistant (SNA) should be revised to reflect the fact that the skills and experience required in the role have increased in recent years, according to Fórsa. The union has submitted a claim to the education department, seeking revised educational requirements for all new SNA posts.

Entry requirements for SNAs haven’t been revised since 1979, when the assistant childcare scheme was introduced.

Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike said the skills and experience of SNAs had increased substantially since then. “The union wants to professionalise the grade to reflect this. Examining and changing the educational requirements for new SNAs is a necessary part of that. It would raise the status of the SNA in our schools and enable progress to be made in number of other areas,” he said.

The union’s claim seeks a relevant QQI level six qualification (advanced or higher certificate level), or equivalent experience as essential criteria for new SNAs.

The union has said the current level of qualification is outdated and doesn’t reflect the competencies required. But it acknowledges that it will take time to progress the claim as it will require funding for courses and consensus with school employers on the appropriate level of qualification.

“While there’s consensus that the SNA role should be professionalised, the parties are likely to be far apart on how to achieve that objective,” said Andy.

The union’s claim is not designed to affect existing staff.

Fórsa has secured an agreement on the engagement of a facilitator to assist with the design of the new higher education job evaluation scheme. The facilitator role has been put out to tender.

The job evaluation scheme, which the union won in talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) last year, will see the evaluation of 10% of education-sector clerical, professional and library jobs each year. Staff whose jobs are upgraded as a result will be designated to a higher grade if they have four years’ continuous service in the evaluated post.

Job evaluation is an internationally-recognised method of independently and fairly assessing roles, and ensuring that they are graded to reflect the ‘size’ of the job – the skills, responsibilities, knowledge and educational attainment that a worker brings to their daily work.

Fórsa members took industrial action last year in a campaign to get the scheme in place. The education department had failed to do so despite a commitment won under the Lansdowne Road Agreement in 2015.

A one-year pilot of the new ‘school inclusion model’ is now up and running in 75 schools in Dublin and surrounding counties. Fórsa is working to ensure the pilot strengthens the SNA allocation model, improves job security, and reduces post fragmentation.

The scheme is also the subject of consultation with the department linked to the union’s claim for the new qualification level. (See link below.)

Fórsa’s head of education, Andy Pike, said the new allocation model replaces the annual student assessment with a ‘frontloading approach,’ with allocations confirmed for three years rather than the existing single school year. “This has the potential to substantially improve job security for SNAs,” he said,

The new model has seen an increase of 29 whole time equivalent (WTE) SNA posts in the areas participating in the pilot scheme this year.

Andy said the pilot did not aim to change the role of SNAs. “It’s designed to bring in additional supports to schools, such as occupational and speech and language therapy, as well as address the issue of SNA allocations and SNA professionalisation,” he said.

The main elements of the new model are the introduction of therapy and psychology supports in the schools, the development of a new national nursing service for schools, a new SNA national education programme and a new allocation model for SNAs.

Consultation on the pilot scheme is continuing with monthly meetings between Fórsa and the department.

Fórsa has postponed its forthcoming global solidarity school after its main speakers pulled out to work in the snap UK general election. Trade Union Congress (TUC) chief Frances O’Grady and Tony Lloyd, the Labour shadow secretary for Northern Ireland, who were scheduled to speak on Brexit, will instead be on the campaign trail.

Organisers say the event, originally scheduled for 15th and 16th November, will now take place early in the New Year. “For understandable reasons, our key speakers became unavailable at very short notice and it simply wasn’t possible to replace them with experts of a similar calibre in time for the event to go ahead. We’ll soon be announcing dates for the event early in 2020, with an excellent programme of speakers,” said one.

The long-awaited auto-enrolment pension system is to be introduced on a phased basis from 2022, according to a recent announcement from the Department of Employment Social Affairs.

Under the new arrangement, all workers will be automatically enrolled in an occupational pension scheme – with contributions from their employer and the State, as well as the employee – when they start a job.

The scheme will apply to all employees aged between 23 and 60 earning more than €20,000 a year who are not already in a workplace pension scheme.

Under the scheme, workers will start paying contributions equal to 1.5% of salary, rising to 6% of salary in their tenth year of employment. Employers will be compelled to make matching contributions.

The level of Government contribution has yet to be finalised.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) social policy officer Laura Bambrick, who has given a broad welcome to the scheme, told RTÉ’s Today at Sean O’Rourke programme that the scheme had been discussed for nearly two decades. “Less than half of all workers have a pension, and in the private sector less than one in three workers have a pension”, she said.

Listen to Laura on RTÉ HERE.

Read the Congress guide to auto-enrolment HERE.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has teamed up with the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) to jointly demand that the Government commits to passing the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill before Christmas. The legislation has effectively stalled, making no progress since before the Dáil’s summer recess.

The bill would compel employers to report on the gender pay gap – the difference in the average pay of male and female staff – in their organisations. It would also require reporting on differences in bonus pay, part-time pay and the pay of men and women on temporary contracts.

Fórsa has been at the forefront of the trade union campaign for legislation on gender pay gap reporting, which it says would encourage employers into tangible action to bridge the gap. The union has criticised the slow pace of the legislative process.

NWCI director Orla O’Connor said the proposed legislation would properly shine a spotlight on organisations’ pay imbalance for the first time.

“The gender pay gap of 13.9% in Ireland has serious implications for a woman’s lifetime earnings,  her life and career decisions and her ability to live in older years with a decent income. The experience from other countries shows that harder measures are needed to combat pay inequality.

“While this legislation in and of itself will not close the gender pay gap, it is an extremely important step and one which needs to be implemented with haste,” she said.

David Joyce of ICTU believes that the bill can also advance Ireland’s commitment to the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.

“Government appointed both Congress and the NWCI to be sustainable development goal champion organisations. Goal five concerns achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, while goal eight commits to decent work for all. Therefore, we will continue to campaign for decent work and equality for all women and men in Ireland and beyond,” he said.

Trade unions have welcomed the launch of a workplace menopause policy by British TV station Channel 4. The initiative aims to support staff who experience the sometimes-debilitating side effects of the condition.

The development comes amid a growing recognition, among unions and HR specialists, of the need for employers to accommodate women who are dealing with menopause.

Recent research by the Welsh Trade Union Congress (TUC) indicates that many women feel their managers don’t recognise the problems associated with the condition, which can be exacerbated by ignorance and misunderstanding.

It found that many women find that inflexible working arrangements make it difficult to deal with problematic symptoms. This can result in increased sick leave or women cutting their working hours, which can mean missed training and promotional opportunities and a widening gender pay gap.

The Channel 4 policy aims to create a flexible working environment to help workers manage symptoms, while also destigmatising and normalising the subject.

Roughly a third of women have either experienced menopause or are currently going through it. Approximately 80% of women will experience noticeable symptoms. While some women will cope well with the physical and emotional changes, almost half with find the symptoms difficult to deal with.

Fórsa Equality Officer Geraldine O’Brien said the Channel 4 move was progressive, and should be an example to other employers. “Unions are at the forefront of the fight for equality, working hard to ensure that working women have supports in place to remain healthy and safe in the workplace,” she said.

For more information on the Wales TUC survey click HERE.

Fórsa youth network will host this year’s Fórsa Quiz Night in Dublin on 12^th December and the proceeds will go to Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), a non-profit organisation supporting the trans community in Ireland.

The quiz commences at 5.30pm and costs €100 for a table of four. The youth network has asked branches to either take a table or donate €100 to support this worthy cause.

You can get further details HERE. 

To register a table, contact the youth committee here or send cheques (made out to the Transgender Equality Network Ireland) to Michael Kerrigan, Fórsa, Nerney’s Court, Dublin DO1 R2C5.