Working time agreement to be lodged
by Niall Shanahan
 
Éamonn Donnelly said the agreement is designed to take account of both the HSE’s winter plan and plans over the next 18 months to retain health services alongside Covid pandemic measures.
Éamonn Donnelly said the agreement is designed to take account of both the HSE’s winter plan and plans over the next 18 months to retain health services alongside Covid pandemic measures.

Fórsa and the HSE will lodge an agreement under Section 4 of the Working Time act with the Labour Court. The agreement will be lodged in respect of compensatory rest for health managers (Grade VIII and above), and will ensure a mechanism to facilitate appropriate time off is activated when managers work excess hours.

 

Fórsa’s head of health and welfare Éamonn Donnelly said the agreement is designed to take account of both the HSE’s winter plan and plans over the next 18 months to retain health services alongside Covid pandemic measures.

 

In August the union had raised concerns that the Department of Health was in breach of working time legislation by refusing to make provision for compensatory rest for health managers who had worked 60 to 70 hour weeks over seven days during the first wave of Covid-19.

 

Éamonn said the department could not continue to ignore its obligations under the law: “This issue developed from the union’s claim for staff at the level of Grade VIII and above, who work in areas such as primary and social care, who continuously worked excessive hours without adequate compensatory rest during an unprecedented and very demanding phase of health service delivery.”

 

Because no additional staff had been deployed to those areas, Éamonn said the workload was such that these workers were effectively unable to take the required rest periods between shifts of work, including weekends.

 

He added: “The agreement we’re lodging with the Labour Court will provide a satisfactory mechanism that ensures that when health managers work excess hours, it will trigger mechanism to facilitate appropriate time off.

 

“This is essential both to ensure compliance with the law, but also to ensure the health and safety of workers who will be making strategic decisions on a daily basis during this second phase of Covid infection that we are now witnessing,” he said.

 

The parties met again at the WRC yesterday, where it was agreed that a small, dedicated group, consisting of HSE and union representatives, will meet next Thursday (22nd October) to finalise details of the agreement to be lodged with the Court.

 

                                         

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