Fórsa is pursuing claims aimed at improving a number of pregnancy and maternity-related issues for civil service workers.

At present, while the rules governing sick leave when a person is being considered for promotion allow for maternity-related sick leave to be discounted, they are discretionary.

The union’s Civil Service Division sought for a circular to issue to declare that certified maternity-related sick leave will be discounted and called for post-natal depression to be explicitly categorised as maternity-related sick leave for this purpose.

Fórsa official Seán Carabini said that members dealing with maternity related sick leave are contacting the union looking for assurance that it won’t be an issue when they are seeking promotion in the future.

“While we reassure them that, largely, it is discounted, there is always that niggling doubt that because it is discretionary, they may have an issue. We have therefore decided to seek an agreement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that would simply declare once and for all that certified maternity-related sick leave, including post-natal depression, will not impact our members’ promotion opportunities,” he explained.

Fórsa has also lodged a claim to seek the introduction of a category of  ‘special leave’ to assist when a person is dealing with the end of a pregnancy before the twenty-fourth week. At present, most maternity leave provisions apply once the twenty-fourth week has passed, but there are a variety of reasons why a pregnancy may end before that. Seán explained that as things stand, civil service workers can only opt to take sick leave to deal with these situations.

“People need time to deal with the end of a pregnancy. We have asked for ten days special leave to assist. This would include any medical appointments that a woman may need at this time. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is uncomfortable with the idea that, at present, it must be counted as ‘sick leave’. But it’s not sick leave as I would understand it, and it needs to be recorded separately,” he said.

Seán said that without this special leave, there is potential once again for a person’s sick leave record to be used against them when they come to be promoted.

“I know that management can agree to discount certain sick leave from promotion consideration, but do we really need to have people having to relive a difficult circumstance to explain what the sick leave was for? It is better if it is counted separately and effectively discounted from the start. Aside from all of this, it’s simply the right thing to do,” he said.

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