Fórsa insists on safe return to workplaces
by Róisín McKane
 
Head of division Derek Mullen said “We are making it clear that Fórsa must be part of the selection process and we need sufficient representatives proportionate to the numbers of staff and workplaces within a department or organisation.”
Head of division Derek Mullen said “We are making it clear that Fórsa must be part of the selection process and we need sufficient representatives proportionate to the numbers of staff and workplaces within a department or organisation.”

Fórsa has sought and received official confirmation that civil service employers must abide by an agreed ‘return to work safety protocol’ as staff migrate back to workplaces after working remotely during the Covid-19 crisis.

 

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) has also confirmed that the protections apply to workers – like those in Intreo offices – who continued to attend workplaces throughout the crisis.

 

The ‘return to work safety protocol’, which was agreed between unions, employers and Government, underpins workers’ safety as they move back to their normal place of work. Fórsa recently updated its guidance, which was published last week. 

 

The head of Fórsa’s civil service division, Derek Mullen, welcomed the clarifications as departmental negotiations on the rollout of the protocol got underway last week.

 

Although many employees will continue to work remotely for some time, talks are in train in Revenue, the departments of social protection and justice, and elsewhere.

The union has resisted some management attempts to circumvent elements of the agreed national protocol.

 

Despite the important clarification won by Fórsa, a draft office notice from DEASP suggested that the protocol didn’t fully apply in social protection as staff had been working in offices all through the crisis. “We have made it very clear to them that it does, and we have proposed our own amendments to the notice,” said Derek.

 

The requirement to apply the protections in settings where staff had been working throughout the crisis was acknowledged last week in DPER guidance, which says: “Employers should ensure that the Return to Work Safely Protocol is reviewed for any additional issues that should be considered to ensure compliance with the protocol for those employees who are already working onsite.”

 

The protocol itself makes explicit provision for ‘customer-facing’ settings, which encompasses a range of civil service operations that have remained open to the public.

 

The protocol also insists that employers recognise at least one Covid-19 worker safety representative – and more in larger employments. This is an additional role to the safety representative function currently required under law.

 

Derek explained that discussions are underway on the selection of lead workplace representatives.

 

“We are making it clear that Fórsa must be part of the selection process and that, in large employments, we need sufficient representatives proportionate to the numbers of staff and workplaces within a department or organisation,” he said.

 

Fórsa officials are working across every Department to ensure the full application of the protocol.

 

Get more information on returning to your workplace safely HERE.

 

 

 

It’s never been more important – or more easy – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

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