Restoration of Haddington hours recommended
by Bernard Harbor
 
Fórsa devised the strategy for addressing the issue and, working with other unions, insisted that it was included on the agenda for the Building Momentum public service deal, which was agreed last year.
Fórsa devised the strategy for addressing the issue and, working with other unions, insisted that it was included on the agenda for the Building Momentum public service deal, which was agreed last year.

Fórsa has welcomed a recommendation that working time be restored to pre-austerity levels for virtually all public servants, including many working in non-commercial State agencies, from 1st July 2022. The recommendation will apply to all staff in the grades affected, including those recruited after additional working hours were introduced in 2013.

 

Clerical, administrative, professional, technical, and analagous grades in non-commercial state agencies are covered by the recommendation, as are Road Safety Authority driver-testers.

 

The additional working time was introduced for thousands of civil servants and State agency staff, as an alternative to a third pay cut, under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement (HRA). Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said last week’s recommendation would remove a longstanding and debilitating drain on morale and productivity.

 

“The additional hours introduced under the HRA fell hardest on women with caring responsibilities, and they have been increasingly counterproductive in terms of service delivery, morale and productivity.

 

“Since its formation in 2018, Fórsa has worked tirelessly to get this issue on the agenda and to get it resolved, often in the face of scepticism over the prospect of success. This recommendation allows the Government to remove a deep grievance among many, mostly lower-paid, workers,” he said.

 

The additional working hours were imposed from 1st July 2013, when the standard working time of civil and public servants increased to 39 hours for those who previously worked between 35 and 37 hours, and to 37 hours for those who previously worked 35 hours or less. The hours of those working 39 hours or more per week were unchanged.

 

Speaking to RTÉ last week, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the unpaid hours were unfair and “never intended to be permanent.” Labour’s Brendan Howlin, who was public expenditure minister when the hours were introduced, has also confirmed that they were seen as a temporary emergency measure.

 

Michael McGrath, the current Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, also responded positively saying he would consider the independent body’s full report when it issues later this month.

 

The recommendation, which was made by an independent body charged with resolving the issue, would see a return to the pre-July 2013 hours albeit with a minimum working week of 35 hours. If accepted by the Government, it will unwind the final element of the HRA’s austerity measures.

 

Fórsa devised the strategy for addressing the issue and, working with other unions, insisted that it was included on the agenda for the Building Momentum public service deal, which was agreed last year. Throughout 2021, the union held out to ensure a concrete outcome from the HRA hours process set up under the agreement.

 

Building Momentum earmarked €150 million to make a start on restoring the hours in 2022, with a commitment that any outstanding issues would be discussed as part of a successor to the current agreement. In the event, the Independent Body recommended the full restoration of the hours this year, with a price tag of €180 million in 2022.

 

Kevin Callinan said he was confident that the return to pre-austerity arrangements could be achieved without excessive cost or damage to public service quality or output.

 

“These workers have shown their mettle during the pandemic. In any case, the technological and work-practice environment in which public services are delivered has altered beyond recognition since the unpaid working time was imposed almost nine years ago, on the basis that a pay cut was the only alternative,” he said.

 

The independent body said it had taken account of the nine-year period in which the additional hours have been worked, the strain on the staff working the hours, and the “truly committed efforts of staff during the last two years in meeting patient, healthcare, population vaccine, security needs and the requirements of delivery for existing and new social welfare and pandemic payment measures.”

 

It said the additional hours had “undoubtedly contributed significantly to the national effort to recover from the global crisis of the last decade.

The body also said that no compensatory claims should be pursued or conceded in respect of any grade arising from the implementation of its recommendations.

 

“These recommendations effectively conclude any further negotiations to restore pay and other conditions of employment, either imposed by a combination of FEMPI legislative enactments, or agreed through a difficult series of overarching public sector agreements addressing pay, pensions, working hours and public service modernisation requirements over the last decade,” it said.

 

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