THE GOVERNMENT is to look at introducing standardised arrangements for annual leave for staff across the wider public service including those in local authorities and the health service.
The move follows a decision by an arbitration board yesterday to reject proposals by the Department of Finance to abolish privilege days – days off in addition to normal holidays – for personnel in the Civil Service.
As a result of the ruling by the Civil Service Arbitration Board all staff in the Civil Service will have to be given two additional annual leave days to compensate them for the decision by the department to abolish the traditional privilege days which they had at Christmas and Easter.
In what was one of the most high-profile changes sought by the Department of Finance for civil servants under the Croke Park agreement, it had proposed that senior staff would lose the two privilege days which they receive each year. Those in middle grades would lose one privilege day and have one converted to annual leave. Those in more junior positions would have the two privilege days incorporated into an additional annual leave provision.
However, Civil Service trade unions rejected the proposals, which were put forward last December and the issue was referred to arbitration. The department told an arbitration board hearing last month the measures would generate savings of €4.6 million per year and lead to greater administrative efficiencies.
It said that privilege days were outmoded, an obstacle to efficiency and had attracted adverse public comment.
The department said the cost reduction and productivity requirements of the Croke Park deal necessitated the implementation of its proposals on privilege days.
Trade unions argued the proposals would not save money and said privilege days should be incorporated into annual leave.
In a ruling, the arbitration board found management “had not demonstrated significant savings consistent with the transformation that is required”.
“There was no significant analysis of the fact that while major costs apparently saved were made at principal officer and assistant principal officer level, those very grades may be required to work extensive overtime without any remuneration or time off in lieu.”
The board said the changes to privilege days sought by the department would have created “a sense of grievance disproportionate to any gains which might accrue”. The board said the department’s proposal would have been easier to understand if it had been presented as the first step in a more general reform to apply right across the civil and wider public service. It pointed out that staff in the health service and in local authorities also had similar privilege days.
“It is difficult to explain why a widening of the gap in leave between the Civil Service and other parts of the public service would advance the ideal of an integrated civil/public service.”
The board said abolition of the days for Civil Service staff was not specifically set out in the Croke Park deal. However, it said that this had not been a decisive factor in its determination.
“Had it been demonstrated that the reduction in leave being proposed would lead to significant real savings, that provided enhanced services to the public, the board would have felt obliged to respond more positively.”
The board said its ruling could not be regarded as a setback for management as its determination had been made “on very narrow grounds in very specific circumstances”. The ruling should not be interpreted “as a precedent establishing a floor for annual leave entitlement”, it added.
“In order to create a perception of fairness and to create a climate that is conducive to addressing the very challenging transformation agenda ahead, it would seem more appropriate to address this issue on a public service-wide basis, rather than dealing with it in a piecemeal fashion.”
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin described the ruling as “disappointing”.
The Government would now pursue the issue across the public service so as to ensure that the savings achieved are at a broader level. He said it was disappointing the unions could not engage in a more positive manner.
Privilege days: what are they?
PRIVILEGE DAYS in the Civil Service date back to British rule when staff were given two additional days off to mark the king's birthday and Empire Day.
The concept of privilege days survived the foundation of the State and, under an agreement, staff were given an additional day at Christmas and at Easter.
The Civil Service arbitration board yesterday described privilege days as an archaic concept inappropriate to the Irish system of government.
It welcomed the fact that neither union nor management were arguing to retain the present arrangement. The dispute between Civil Service management and unions centred on whether staff should be compensated for the abolition of privilege days by the awarding of additional annual leave. In other words, should the measure mean that staff would have fewer paid days off overall in the year?
The Department of Finance had proposed that staff with a maximum of 24 days off - mainly clerical officers - should be fully compensated and receive two additional days' leave.
The department proposed that staff with 25-29 days' leave - mainly higher executive officers - should, in net terms, lose one day off.
Staff at more senior level such as principal officers with 30/31 days' annual leave would receive no compensation for the abolition of privilege days.