Fórsa has completed its submission to the adjudicator on the recent claim management have made to implement a two-year rule on staff who transfer to a new location.

Currently union members can relocate to vacancies that may be closer to their home location.

Fórsa says the proposal from management’s side was not agreed by the union or the Veterinary Officers Association (VOA) and will now be dealt with through an Adjudication hearing.

The management had put forward the proposal as part of their Civil Service Action Plan and claimed they were entitled to make the changes under the recently agreed Building Momentum pay deal.

The union submission subsequently identified the lack of opportunity for technical grades in the proposal as numbers have reduced drastically over the years vacancies are few and far between.

The union also raised the difficulties members face commuting from one side of the country to the other and the car journeys that are involved flying in the face of current Government policy to reduce car journeys and emissions.