A senior union official has criticised the Department of Social Protection for allegedly unilaterally changing blended working policy without any discussion.
Paul Malone, deputy general secretary of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, was speaking on a motion on blended or hybrid working at the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants’ annual conference in Portlaoise.
He was commenting following a dispute earlier this year in which unions accused the department of trying to cut the number of remote working days available to staff without consultation. The department later backed down, and kept the existing arrangements in place.
Under the proposals, some workers’ required in-office days would have risen from one to two days a week, while others would have had to work on site for four days instead of three.
The motion tabled by the union’s executive committee, which was backed by delegates, asked them to condemn any attempt by employers to unilaterally alter blended working arrangements.
It said any proposed changes must be evidence-based and supported by transparent data and analysis.
Mr Malone said civil service unions are more than willing to enter negotiations on blended working arrangements, but this has to take place in advance of any proposed changes.
“What we don’t want and can’t sustain is what happened in the Department of Social Protection recently where the department unilaterally changed its blended working policy without any recourse to engagement or discussion with either the association or our colleagues in Fórsa,” he said.
“And that was based purely on an ideological position of the management board. The flexibility that blended working provides to our members is too important to be left to the whims of a secretary general or a management board.”
He said it was too important an issue because of the benefits that blended working provides to communities, carers, society and families, the environment and the participation of under-represented groups in the workforce.
Delegate Tom Morrin, proposing a separate motion on blended working, noted that there are movements “abroad and locally” to reduce the number of people working from home.
Ciaran Rohan, general secretary of the union, said blended working is firmly embedded in many areas of the civil service but “consistency” remains a challenge.
“When will employers learn that they must talk to their trade union colleagues before they make any changes?” he asked.
“That is a lesson that the Department of Social Protection in particular should learn.
“Consultation does not mean sending a PDF five minutes before they announce the decision. That’s not consultation.”
He said a disparity in the flexi-leave entitlements of those appointed after July 2013 is an injustice for the union’s members. Mr Rohan said new recruits did not qualify to take extra hours worked as flexi-time after that date.
“Two colleagues, same job, same department — different entitlements. It’s not just demotivating — it’s wrong,” he said.
“Our members don’t ask for much — just fair pay, decent conditions, and the same flexi-leave as the person sitting 18 inches to their left.” He said the union is pursuing the issue at a conciliation and arbitration scheme.
Speaking about civil servants’ “right to disconnect” from work, he said a union survey found that 60pc of members are contacted during their annual leave.
One in three regularly works beyond their contracted hours, he said.
He said the “right to disconnect” is a recognised policy in many departments but without enforcement is just “window dressing” and called for stronger guidelines and legislative support. “You deserve time that is your own — and we won’t stop until that principle is respected across the board,” he told delegates.
Meanwhile, Mr Rohan said the union was not consulted about government guidelines on AI use in the public service launched this week.
He said there are issues around potential role displacement, mandatory AI assessments, and accountability.
Mr Rohan said the union, along with Fórsa, has asked for the help of the Workplace Relations Commission, to build a better industrial relations model in the Department of Social Protection.
Delegates also backed a motion seeking a four-day working week after a delegate revealed that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform rejected a claim to roll out a pilot scheme.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said: “The Department developed a new blended working policy and shared it with the unions last November. It also engaged with the unions on a number of occasions since then and made some revisions to the policy based on the unions’ input.”
The spokesperson added: “The policy was to take effect from early February, however the unions advised on 30th January that they would be directing non-co-operation by their members.
“We are pleased that the union has, at our request, now agreed to enter a formal dispute resolution process and will hold off on the implementation of the new policy pending the outcome of process. We will be making no further comment pending the outcome of this process.”
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