Fórsa has called on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) to finalise the amalgamation of the staff officer (SO) and executive officer (EO) grades, following their consolidation in 2017.

The amalgamation of the two general service grades took place almost five years ago following discussions with the union. This ensured that the work undertaken by the SO grade, which had in effect aligned with EO work over a number of years, was properly compensated.

However, the full amalgamation has yet to be completed, and approximately 120 civil servants are still on the SO rate of pay.

“There are a number of professional and technical roles that are still attached to the now-defunct SO pay scale,” explained Fórsa official Seán Carabini.

“In the civil service, the grade-appropriateness of work is tethered to the agreed competency framework. In the past, when there were separate competencies for SO and EO, there was a choice to be made which pay scale technical and professional grades should be aligned with depending on the competencies of the role.

“But those grades were amalgamated in 2017, meaning that there are no more SO-only competencies. It makes no sense to continue to have people tied to a defunct grade when the competencies underpinning their job should now attach to a higher pay scale,” he said.

Fórsa has urged DPER to finalise the consolidation, and to allow all staff on the SO pay scale to be amalgamated with the EO rates.

The union has now lodged the case with the civil service arbitration board and is awaiting a hearing date.