Health service staff are due to receive their next union-negotiated pay and pension levy boosts from 1st January. Under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), pay will go up by 1% for staff earning up to €30,000. The pension levy threshold will also rise to €32,000, bringing a net improvement of €325 a year for most health workers.

The deal, which was negotiated by Fórsa and other unions in 2017, will also deliver another 1.75% salary adjustment in September. Further pay boosts and another adjustment in the pension levy threshold are due next year.

The PSSA was accepted in ballots of the members of the three unions that amalgamated to create Fórsa earlier this year. It will also see an end to the pension levy on any non-pensionable elements of public service incomes from January 2019.

Earlier this year, the union also insisted on early measures to address the ‘new entrants’ pay issue even though, under the agreement, this was not bound to be dealt with until 2020 at the earliest.

Fórsa has also called on the Public Service Pay Commission to start its work on recruitment and retention issues in the health and social care professions, which is also covered by the agreement.

Non-pay provisions in the PSSA include strong protections against outsourcing.