Union claims women worst hit by extra work hours in public service

Public service unions have also claimed that €150m committed by the Government to deal with the issue could “largely” lead to the removal of the unpaid hours.

However, the Government has previously estimated it would cost up to €621m a year to fully abolish them.

The unions’ claims are made in a submission to an independent body, chaired by mediator Kieran Mulvey.

It was set up to issue recommendations on resolving a long-standing dispute with unions over the additional hours.

Staff in all sections of the public service did not have to work extra hours when they were rolled out following a previous public service pay deal eight years ago.

Civil servants who were affected had to work an extra 2.15 hours a week.

The submission by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ public services committee claims the unpaid hours are a drain on public service morale and productivity.

It says the unpaid hours fell hardest in areas disproportionately staffed by women, including nursing and health professions, clerical work, and libraries.

“The introduction of the additional Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) hours worsened the gender pay and pensions gap as many female workers were obliged to seek part-time arrangements, retire early, or opt for reduced pay rather than reduced hours,” it says.

The Government has committed €150m to unrolling the hours from next year under the current public service agreement, Building Momentum.

The hours remain “a deep and primary industrial relations grievance” among public servants, according to the unions’ submission.

“The continued requirement to work the hours is seen as a throwback to a past period of enforced austerity, where a worker’s contribution was measured in terms of pain imposed rather than the gain added to public services and those who rely on them,” it says.

It argues that the removal of the so-called Haddington Road hours need not lead to additional costs, reduced productivity or poorer service quality.

The submission says there has never been a systematic management attempt to measure any productivity benefit of the additional hours.

It argues that the size and shape of the public service have altered substantially since the unpaid working time was introduced.

“While these factors further question any supposed productivity benefit that accrued from the additional HRA hours, developments in technology and working arrangements have taken the debate and practice regarding productivity and service delivery to a far more sophisticated place than simply measuring working time,” it says.

“It has never been correct to assume that increased working time equals increased productivity. Indeed, civil service departments, including social protection, temporarily reduced the working day to seven hours from 7.24 during the Covid-19 pandemic, largely to facilitate social distancing. Productivity levels were at an all-time high during that period,” it says.

The unions claim the measure was seen as temporary in nature.

Their submission says almost all other Haddington Road Agreement measures have been rescinded including a temporary pay cut for staff earning over €65,000 a year.

“The public services committee believes that the €150m earmarked to deal with the issue during the lifetime of Building Momentum should be sufficient to restore most, if not all, of the additional HRA hours without negative impacts on costs or service delivery,” it says.

It says delivery on this commitment is an absolute requirement of Building Momentum.

According to the submission, the degree of progress on the issue “will set the tone for any negotiations on a successor to it.

The independent body is due to report this year and the implementation of its recommendations are set to begin in 2022.