One-in-three Irish travel insurance claims are lodged before a holiday has even started, which shows just how crucial travel insurance is for holidaymakers. Yet approximately half the people leaving Ireland on holidays this year won’t have made provision.

KennCo travel insurance offers Fórsa members single trip and multi-trip insurance for individuals, couples and families. Its low cost annual multi-trip travel insurance for Fórsa members starts from just €59, which includes cover for your partner and dependent children. Its single trip insurance pricing starts at €12.86.*

Now KennCo is offering Fórsa members the chance to win a set of Tripp suitcases. Simply send your name and phone number to travel@kennco.ie before 31st May 2018 to be in with a chance. The winner will be contacted by 1st June.

KennCo travel insurance features 

• Worldwide and European cover available
• 365-day medical assistance
• Lost baggage
• Public liability
• Missed departure 
• Medical & emergency expenses 
• Cancellation and curtailment
• Personal accident
• Winter sports & scuba diving included

*Dependent children of 17 years and under can travel independently for up to and including 21 days. Between 18-22 years they can still be covered under the family policy provided they are still in full time education and traveling with either parent. Annual cover applies to individuals from 18-69 years of age. Single trip cover applies to individuals up to and including 79 years of age. You must be living with your partner for at least 6 months. Terms and conditions apply.

For more travel insurance information check our website.
 

Contacts between unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) will continue over the coming weeks with a view to cracking the practical issues involved in shortening pay scales for staff who joined the civil and public service after 2010.

Unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) met with officials in Dublin the week before last to open the process. This was one week after Fórsa called on the Government to allocate funds in October’s Budget to begin shortening new entrant pay scales next year.

This would be significantly earlier than envisaged in the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which simply committed the Government to explore the issue.

The next round of meetings, between the officers of ICTU’s Public Services Committee and DPER officials, will focus on how to shorten the scales, which vary in length for different grades, Unions also want to ensure that any solution is fair to all new entrants, including those who have now gone beyond the two additional points added to the start of pay scales in recent years.

The April meeting was scheduled following the publication of a DPER examination of the scale of the problem and the cost of resolving it.

Although no money is budgeted to deal with the issue in 2018, Fórsa senior general secretary Shay Cody said he wanted the implementation of an agreed resolution to begin next year.

“This is an equity issue and, while no money has been allocated to resolve it in 2018, Fórsa believes it should be possible to start funding it next year, rather than delaying until 2020 or beyond. Pay equity is a priority for all trade unions, and every bit of progress in addressing this injustice has been achieved by unions collectively, through national pay negotiations and public service pay agreements,” he said.

The 60,000-plus new entrants now at work make up 19% of all public service workers. DPER says full equalisation of the pay scales would cost approximately €199 million.

Revenue staff have been reminded of the significant sanctions that will apply regarding improper access of taxpayer data when new EU general data protection regulations (GDPR) come into force later this month.

Fórsa members were given a presentation on GDPR and how it affects Revenue at a recent partnership meeting. It was initially thought that the new rules, which take effect on 25th May, might not strictly apply to Government departments. Now it’s been ruled that this is not the case.

The regulations are designed to give citizens more control over their personal data, and place limits on how organisations keep and use personal information. Substantial fines can be levied on organisations that fail to meet GDPR standards.

Meanwhile, the union has hosted industrial relations meetings in the regions, with another planned for the border-midlands-west (BMW) area. Fórsa highlighted the anxieties of members around Revenue realignment, PAYE modernisation, and possible changes in work practices.

Fórsa and other civil service unions are urging more detailed collaborative discussions on the changes and how they affect staff.

Issues relating to training, Brexit and customs, which were the subject of motions to the Revenue group annual conference, have since been discussed with the corporate services division.

Fórsa officials have contacted Garda headquarters to express concerns about the loss of specialist staff in the IT department. News that over a third of in-house Garda IT staff had left in recent years broke late last week.

The union says An Garda Síochána is struggling to recruit specialist staff because significantly better pay and conditions are available to IT workers in the private sector.

Fórsa official Shane Lambert said the service would need to improve pay and conditions to recruit and prevent a further haemorrhage of staff to private companies.

“An Garda Síochána will struggle to prevent the loss of top IT staff to private companies, and even public service bodies, if they don’t compete with the stronger pay and conditions on offer,” he said.

Fórsa has made contact with Garda human resource management, the Policing Authority, and the Garda Inspectorate to highlight the issue.

The news of staff losses has also raised concerns about a dependence on private companies to operate essential computer systems and databases. Fears were expressed in a letter from the Garda headquarters to the justice department, which sought more resources to address the issue.

RTÉ reported that up to €50 million a year is being spent on IT resources provided by private companies. The union says this will likely increase if staffing issues remain unaddressed.    

Some months back, Fórsa made a written submission to the Public Service Pay Commission, which is examining recruitment and retention problems in parts of the civil and public service. The union put forward evidence to show that the civil service is struggling to recruit staff in many areas because salaries are not keeping pace with those available in comparable private sector jobs.

Despite falling unemployment, there’s a common perception that the Department of Employment and Social Protection is one of the toughest places to work in the Irish civil service.

That’s according to Fórsa’s DEASP executive grades branch secretary Teresa Barrett, who says the impression is borne out by the number of queries and concerns raised by Fórsa members working in social welfare offices.

“There are major workload and stress issues, but this is difficult to convey because of the perception that there is less work and less need to fill vacancies because the numbers on the live register have fallen significantly.

That’s most certainly not the case. Being over-burdened and under-trained are the most frequent complaints from our members,” she says.

Teresa says there have been many changes in the way services are delivered, leaving staff with the feeling that quantity takes precedence over quality.

“Like many departments, the workforce churn is becoming significant, and with it a loss of corporate knowledge,” she argues.

On the plus side, Teresa says there have been more promotional opportunities lately. “It’s surely a very good thing when members say there are too many promotion competitions,” she says.

In March, Fórsa reported that the department had agreed to give permanent contracts to a number of temporary staff working on its public service card project. The breakthrough came after the union won a number of cases on behalf of temporary clerical officers it believed should be on permanent contracts, or ‘contracts of indefinite duration.’

Fórsa is also working with the department to improve access to work sharing, amid concerns that family friendly initiatives are restricted by the requirement to provide a year-round service.

Teresa welcomed comments from social protection minister Regina Doherty, who recently said people shouldn’t be berated for doing their job well.

“The work of the department is challenging in itself, and that was good to hear. But, regrettably, some advocates for customers feel it’s okay to question the integrity of staff and describe them in the most scathing of terms,” she said.

It’s been reported that regulations requiring organisations with over 250 employees to disclose their average hourly gender pay gap will go before cabinet this month, with legislation expected later this year.

Last weekend, RTÉ reported that the threshold may be reduced to 150 employees after two years, and to 50 a year after that. The new law will also cover bonuses, and will apply to part-time employees and those on temporary contracts.

Fórsa, and the unions that amalgamated to form the new organisation, have campaigned strongly for legislation to oblige significantly-sized employers to publish details of the average gap between pay of the men and women they employ.

The union won support from a wide range of organisations, and has worked closely with employers’ body Ibec on the issue in recent times.

Delegates at the inaugural Fórsa Civil Service Divisional conference were welcomed into the hall by a sea of green ribbons in support of See Change’s ‘green ribbon campaign,’ which kicked off this month.

See Change is a group of organisations working together through the National Stigma Reduction Partnership to bring about positive change in public attitudes and behaviour towards people with mental health problems.

Their aim is to help facilitate a cultural shift in the workplace so that employers and employees feel supported and secure in discussing mental health. The campaign, which runs for the month of May, will see more than 500,000 ribbons disseminated nationwide, encouraging conversations about mental health.

Recent studies show that one in four employees may experience mental health difficulties at some time. But, sadly, there is still a stigma associated with mental health issues.

People affected by struggles with mental health can be very reluctant to disclose their difficulties or seek help in the workplace for fear of stigma and discrimination. See Change wants to tackle this head-on, by getting people talking about mental health, reducing stigma one conversation at a time.

The issue of mental health and wellbeing was at the forefront of many members’ minds at last month’s Civil Service conference. The green ribbons atop each seat sparked numerous encouraging conversations, and delegates sported them with pride.

Civil Service Divisional Executive committee member, Daniel Copperthwaite received rapturous applause when he took to the floor to discuss a motion on the matter, speaking passionately and bravely about his own experience.

Fórsa fully supports See Change in its work to end the stigma associated with mental health. Green ribbons will soon be available in all Fórsa buildings in support of the green ribbon campaign. Wear yours with pride.

For more information on the campaign, and to see how you can get involved, please click here.

Shift workers, especially those who work nights, are at higher risk of suffering workplace injuries, according to new research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Health and Safety Authority.

The study also found that a longer working week could contribute to risk, with employees working more than 40 hours a week seeing a significant increase in the risk of a work-related illness or injury.

Launched last month, the report - which can be accessed here – found that health workers are most likely to be out of work due to work-related illness and injury.

It examined work-related illnesses and injuries across a range of high-risk sectors including health, construction, transport, manufacturing and agriculture, forestry and fishing.

It tracked experiences from 2001 to 2014, and found that these sectors accounted for 41% of overall employment and 56% of all work-related injury.

Health sector workers were most likely to be absent from work due to work-related illness, with an absence rate of 92,000 between 2001 and 2014. Similarly, health ranked highest when the issue of work-related injury was explored.

Manual handling was a serious cause for concern with musculoskeletal issues accounting for 46% of work-related illnesses. Stress, anxiety and depression were also more prevalent among health sector workers, with 22% of workplace illnesses attributed to this, compared to 16% across all other sectors combined.

Shift workers, especially those who work nights, were at a higher risk of injury, while new recruits were more at risk than their more experienced colleagues. In addition, a longer working week was also noted as a contributing factor, with employees working more than 40 hours a week seeing a significant increase in the risk of a work-related illness or injury.

Fórsa launched its 2018 small grants fund for the Dublin north-east inner city area last month. The fund, established to support projects in the community around the union’s Nerney’s Court office, has an annual budget of €50,000.

The funds are allocated to projects in the areas of education and intercultural development, with a maximum of €1,000 granted to successful organisations. The figure was set after local groups said they needed small grants with minimum red tape.

Over the year, the scheme has supported educational workshops and seminars, equipment for homework clubs, computer training programmes, community weeks, festivals involving foreign national young people and their families, and social events encouraging intercultural mixing. Priority is given to groups working with marginalised and disadvantaged people.

The scheme previously ran under IMPACT, one of the three unions that amalgamated to create Fórsa. Speaking at the launch, Paddy Quinn of the small grants fund committee said: “We’re hoping the amalgamation might facilitate an expansion of the fund into the regions.”

Fórsa member Fergus McCabe, who works with Young People at Risk North Inner City, said the format of the small grants fund lends itself to easy applications that people find very effective.

“The idea of the fund is that it’s non-bureaucratic. Many people who look for funding elsewhere find it’s a nightmare with forms but the great thing with this is that it’s based locally, the forms are simple, and you get a quick decision,” he said.

Local groups and organisations from within Dublin’s north east inner city are invited to apply by filling in a form and returning it to Fórsa before Monday 21st May.

Get the form HERE.

The European Public Services Union (EPSU) reported last week that a final deal, covering all public sector workers in Denmark, had finally been agreed after months of uncertainty.

Negotiations had previously gone to mediation and looked set to escalate to industrial action and a threatened lockout by employers in March.

Unions had planned targeted strike action involving 10%-15% of workers. In response, the employers threatened to retaliate with a massive lockout of 50% of municipal and 90% of state workers.
However, the mediation worked and the unions were able to secure an overall package worth 8.1% over the next three years.

The overall package includes a commitment to ensure pay developments in line with the private sector, accounting for 0.71% of the wage improvements. This replaces a rule which only guaranteed the public sector a proportion of the value of private sector increases.