The union-negotiated ‘new entrants’ pay deal came into force last week, well ahead of the earliest date envisaged in the current public service pay agreement. The new arrangement will see public servants recruited since 2011 skip their fourth and eighth increments.

The change now kicks in on the date on which each individual affected hits their fourth and eighth increment date. It will boost pay, and ensure that new entrants’ reach the top of their pay scales over the same time period as their more experienced colleagues.

The term ‘new entrants’ refers to people who started work in the civil and public service, and organisations linked to it for pay purposes, after 2011 when inferior pay scales for new staff were imposed by the Government without agreement.

These inferior scales, which were worth 10% less at every point of each scale, were abolished at unions’ insistence under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement.

But, until now, new entrants continued to have more lengthy pay scales than their longer-serving colleagues, with two lower pay points at the beginning of each scale.

The Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA) established a process to address the problem. Following detailed discussions and inputs from Fórsa and other unions, this resulted in the solution that took effect last week.

Get more detail HERE.

Read the DPER ‘frequently-asked questions’ document HERE.