The Administrative Officer Industrial Relations Committee (AOIRC) was founded with Fórsa to represent the interests of administrative officers (AOs) and AO equivalents from across the Civil Service. In particular it helps to play a part in the union and pay negotiations with DPER.

Based on the feedback of its members, the AOIRC would have two primary priorities. Firstly, to ensure AOs receive fair and adequate remuneration, and secondly to ensure the AO grade is structured and treated in a matter which is respectful and appropriate.

The AO grade is one with a great deal of diversity across Department and Civil Service bodies. While most entered through the general streams, many specialists are also graded as AO, such as for ICT. In particular, some AOs lead teams of their own, while others have no opportunity to gain managerial experience, which can have implications for promotion. There can be overlap between the AO and higher executive officer (HEO) roles, especially in Revenue.

Certain concerns have been raised regarding how the AO grade has often been styled as a graduate role, despite the variety of ages and past experiences of AOs, and in addition, how many AOs can remain in that grade for their entire career. It is felt improvements could possibly be made to the official guidelines, and that there is room for a greater level understanding of the place of AO role in the Civil Service.

Equity concerns have been raised pertaining that while the duties of an AO and HEO can overlap, there is a difference of starting salary of over €20,000, despite having the same max pay scale. Fórsa has previously successfully made challenge to Revenue in a promotion related case, where AOs and HEOs were treated interchangeably but receiving different starting pay scales.

It takes 8 years for an AO to reach the starting pay of an HEO, and would mean a loss in remuneration of approximately over a hundred thousand euro in total. The cost of raising the starting salary of an AO to that of a HEO would run at a yearly cost to the State of approximately 10 to 20 million euro.

In 2021 the rate of inflation was 5.5%. This would represent a real reduction in purchasing power of civil servants. In light of the coming official return to the workplace, many AOs raise concerns on the affordability of housing, and fuel necessary for their commute. A failure to adequately compensate AOs for the rise in the cost of living will result in difficulty in attracting and retaining talent. While the needed Civil Service pay increases are handled at a union wide level, they are of keen interest to the committee and AOs as a whole.

Keith Keogh - AOIRC Chair - Economist in the Houses of the Oireachtas

You’re a new joiner to the Civil Service and have to spend a year on probation. You have a lot of information being thrown at you and you aren’t sure what is important and what is not. Here’s a quick guide to some of the most important things to know about your first year in the Civil Service:

Circulars are important

Circulars are a lot more important than you think. Each is a guide to how the State wants a specific issue progressed. If there is a dispute, it will most likely be resolved by referring to the governing circular on the matter.

You were hired by circular. Each and every competition in the Civil Service has a governing circular attached to it. Make sure you keep a copy of that circular. You never know when it might come in handy.

Disputes in relation to pay, probation, tenure and a myriad of other issues are often referred to in a circular. If there was a dispute in relation to any aspect of your employment, the competition circular could be the document that you need to unlock the answer. Keep it safe for as long as you are in the Civil Service – and if you have the good fortune to be promoted some day, keep a copy of that circular too.

The probationary guidelines are important

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform probationary guidelines are important. They contain the approach to probation management that offices and departments are obliged to follow. It is particularly important that timelines are adhered to and that each decision is documented.

The guidelines recommend that probation review meetings are held after 3, 6 and 9 months, with the officer being told at the 9 month review if their probation is to be successful or not.

It should be noted that there are two different types of probation in the Civil Service: Probation for your first post in the Civil Service, and probation on promotion.

The distinctions are important. Probation for your first post in the Civil Service is governed by the 1956 Civil Service Regulation Act. This means that if you are not successful at probation, you will lose your position in the Civil Service.

Probation on promotion is not, strictly speaking, probation. It is, rather, an opportunity to ‘Act up’ into a higher grade for a year. If successful, your promotion will become permanent. If not, you will be reverted to your last position (as opposed to losing your job altogether).

Probationers have the right to appeal

In 2016, the Civil Service unions won the right to a probation appeal mechanism. Basically, if you are new into the service and are told before the end of the probationary year that your probation was not successful, you have the right to an appeal. If the appeals officer agrees with you, they will recommend that the Secretary General does not terminate your employment. Fórsa will be there to assist your preparation for this.

There is a different avenue of appeal for those who were civil servants beforehand and who are in danger of not having their promotion confirmed.

Seán Carabini - Fórsa

Many of you may be new to civil service trade unions and may be wondering how unions adopt policies and how you can influence them.

Fórsa is a democratic organisation. Each year, branches hold an annual general meeting (AGM). At the AGM any member may bring forward a ‘motion’ – which is in essence a policy suggestion or a call for a specific action.

Motions can be addressed at your branch committee to ask them to achieve something. Alternatively, if you are seeking a change to a Civil Service policy, it may be addressed to the Civil Service Executive Committee of Fórsa.

If it is something that has a broader audience in mind, it can be addressed to the National Executive Committee that governs all of Fórsa. Such motions go forward for debate at either our Civil Service or National conferences – the central policy-making platform of Fórsa.

The best motions have the following structure:

1. Description of the issue or problem which the motion seeks to address

2. The union principle(s) that underlie the solution

3. Highlighting existing policies that will contribute to the solution

4. End with the proposal

A link to the last Civil Service Conference documentation can be found here. It can be used to give you an understanding of how some motions are formulated.

Many branches hold their AGMs between October and March and you may find that you still have an opportunity to put forward a motion in 2022.

Seán Carabini, Fórsa

There are two types of mobility move:

• List based mobility
  • Generalist.
  • Register through the HRSS self-service system.
  • Move into or within any of the 46 Mobility zones.
  • Applicants may select a maximum of 2 Zones with a maximum of 5 organisations per zone.
  •  
• Advertisement based mobility
  • Specialist.
  • AO categories include: ICT, HR, Auditor/Investigator, Legal/Policy Research, IGEES, Business/Finance, Finance (Payroll/Pensions).
  • You can register to receive automatic notifications of available positions.
  • You can view all active advertisements through the HRSS self service system.

How to apply

If you are a customer of HR Shared Services, you can apply through the self service portal here 

If you are a customer of HR Shared Services who cannot access the Self-Service portal for the following reasons, please use an Excel application form available here. Once complete you can send the form to mobility@peoplepoint.ie.

Alternatively you can post it to: Central Mobility Team, HR Shared Services, Building 5, Belfield Office Park, Beech Hill Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 4, D04 A9P2

If you are an employee one of the following organisations:

• Garda Civilian, An Garda Síochána
• Irish Prision Services
• House of the Oireachtas
• the Ombudsman for Children or
• the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

Or

If you wish to apply for a position in one of the following organisations:

• Irish Prison Services
• the Ombudsman for Children or
• the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

You must complete a different application form. These can be found Here

Stages of Application

Once you apply there are two stages of offer.

Pre-Offer

• You will receive an auto-notification informing you of a pre-offer.
• You have 3 working days from that point to cancel the application. This will cancel the application for that specific role only.
• It is strongly advised that you cancel at this stage if you do not think the role offered will be suitable.

Formal Offer

• You will receive an auto-notification informing you of a Formal offer.
• You have 5 working days to accept or decline the offer.
• Declining an offer at this point will cancel all applications in that specified zone.

Acceptance

• The date you start your new role will be agreed between both LHRs.
• There is generally a 4 week timeline which may be extended due to certain factors such as the requirement of security clearance.
• Once in the new role you can reapply for a specific work pattern arrangement.
• There is a 2 year waiting period before you will be deemed eligible for another move.

Things to consider

• Once you move it is permanent.
• You do not have to be at the top of the waitlist to be made an offer.
• You can place your application on hold if you are unsure that the current timing of a move is suitable.
• You have no automatic right to elective work arrangements.
• You are advised to inform HR of any reasonable accommodation requirements if you have a disability.
• If you are moving it is advised that you attend the available resilience and change management courses on one learning to help you settle into your new role.

Useful Links

Contact mobilitypolicy@per.gov.ie

Mobility Page https://hr.per.gov.ie/en/corporate-pages/career/mobility/

Mobility Map https://dper.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=83eb12efc9c7478a982d39a89f759663

FAQ https://hr.per.gov.ie/en/publications/faqs/

How to apply https://hr.per.gov.ie/en/corporate-pages/career/mobility/apply-now-for-civil-service-mobility/

Ivan Murphy, AO

The AO Editorial Group consists of Seán Carabini (Fórsa), Ivan Murphy (AO), Orla Moran (AO) and Oisín Gimore (AO).

We aim to have a newsletter issue quarterly. Specifically, we will focus on ‘information’ pieces to assist AOs with navigating the Civil Service.

Please subscribe at the end of the newsletter to make sure the next one goes directly to your inbox.