Lansdowne Road Agreement Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Lansdowne Road Agreement Frequently Asked Questions What will be the duration of the Lansdowne Road Agreement? What increases in income are provided for in the Agreement? Will my take-home pay increase by 1,000 for each of the 2016 (PRD) and 2017 (Flat rate increase) increases? When will the Union ballot members? What about the extra hours under the Haddington Road Agreement? Why is the restoration of the 1.5 day s Flexi Leave not referenced in the core Lansdowne Road Agreement document? What about former Community Welfare Officers and Combat Poverty Staff? What happens staff with earnings above 65,000 per annum? In the case of staff whose pay is below 65k - but with an allowance exceeds 65k - will their basic salary increase and their allowance reduce? What happens staff who, as a result of the extra 1,000 in 2017, cross the 65k threshold? Will work sharers receive the pro rata value of reductions in PRD? 1 P a g e

2 Will the pay increases that are due in 2017 be linked to pension calculation? Does my Increment Date return to the same date it was pre-haddington Road? Has the time issue the fact that Civil Servants have had to work an additional 2:15 per week been addressed? The Haddington Road Agreement began the process of reducing the Pension Levy (PRD). As part of that reduction, members were to receive a once-off backpayment of Is it going to be paid? I lost more since 2009 than the Lansdowne Road Agreement restores. Why is this? What does the extension of the Grace Period for pensions mean? I am retired. How will my pension be affected by recent developments? Will the rise in annual salary rates on 1st September 2017 be included in my pension calculation? Does the Lansdowne Road Agreement continue to preclude the PSEU from engaging in Industrial Action or from taking any claim that increases costs during the lifetime of the Agreement? I have heard that the total cost of the Agreement is 844m. How does this break down? What additional protections are built in against Outsourcing? The Lansdowne Road Agreement seems to offer co-operation with the Government s Public Service Reform Agenda. What does this mean? Did the terms of Haddington Road Agreement that increased working hours etc not cease once that agreement expired? 2 P a g e

3 Section 3.2 of the Lansdowne Road Agreement makes reference to the Irish Water Programme (in relation to the Local Government Sector). What does this mean? What are the new Pension Related Deduction (PRD the Pension Levy) rates? Was Overtime raised during the course of the negotiations? At a glance: Summary of Monetary Increases by Total Wage (Table) Do you have a question or query about the Lansdowne Road Agreement? If so, it to [email protected] 3 P a g e

4 What is the proposed duration of the Lansdowne Road Agreement? The Agreement extends the Haddington Road Agreement until September What increases in income are provided for in the Agreement? In short, there are two major financial benefits. In 2016, the Pension Levy (PRD) will be adjusted to increase earnings by Additionally, in 2017, salaries will increase by 1,000. These increases are, of course, Gross figures. On 1 st January 2016, the threshold for payment of the Pension Related Deduction (PRD), or Pension Levy, will increase from 15,000 to 24,750. This will reduce the PRD for annualised salaries by 600. On 1 st September 2016, the threshold will increase from 24,750 to 28,750. This will reduce the PRD for annualised salaries by a further 400. In the course of 2016, as a result of the above, there will be a reduction of 1,000 in PRD for most full time workers. However, employees earning 31,000 per annum or less do not pay 1,000 PRD currently. In their case, the PRD reduction is supplemented by a pay increase on salaries up to 24,000 per annum of 2.5% and 1% up to 31,500. This applies only to full-time employees with earnings below 31,000 per annum. If you are in a job that does not attract a full-time salary of 31k, this provision does not apply to you. If the same model of imposing the PRD threshold was to be utilised in 2017, then anybody earning below 28,750, primarily worksharers, would receive no increase in income at all. Therefore, an increase of 1,000 per annum will apply to all annualised salaries (including allowances) up to 65,000 per annum from 1 st September This will apply pro-rata to worksharers. Will my take-home pay increase by 1,000 for each of the 2016 (PRD) and 2017 (Flat rate increase) increases? The amounts referred to in the Agreement are Gross figures and will, therefore, will be treated in the normal way. Your final Net increase will, naturally, vary depending on your taxation circumstances. Additionally, calculating the Net increase is notoriously difficult. This Agreement runs to The Government will announce three budgets during the lifetime of the Agreement. Thus, it is impossible to know how taxation changes, for example, will impact on the true net impact over the lifetime of the Agreement. When will the Union ballot members? In the immediate short term, the Union is delaying a ballot of members. Under the terms of Towards 2016, it was agreed that one in five appointments to Assistant Principal would be made by open, public competition. The Civil Service Renewal Plan speaks of moving to 100%. This Union is 4 P a g e

5 opposed to such developments. The Civil Service Management Board (of Secretaries General) has proposed moving to 60% such recruitment. The Union raised the matter in the pay talks, as cooperation with the Renewal Plan is specified in the draft agreement. This requirement has been qualified by a provision to allow for third party referral to deal with the issue of Industrial Relations. Accordingly, prior to a ballot of members, the Union is referring the matter for speedy arbitration. When the outcome is known, members will be balloted. The final decision will be taken at ICTU level when all of the affiliated unions meet and collectively cast votes in favour or against the Agreement. Each constituent union has a number of votes depending on membership size. There are 19 unions in total. This meeting will most likely take place in the autumn. What about the extra hours under the Haddington Road Agreement? It was not possible to reduce working time in these negotiations as a reduction in Working Time across the Public Service would cost hundreds of millions of Euro. However, the Public Services Committee (PSC) of ICTU has indicated that this matter will continue to be raised in future discussions. In the meantime, the journey towards restoration has begun. The PSC sought that the Flexi Leave carry over of 1.5 days per Flexi Period should be restored. As this is predominantly a matter for the Civil Service alone, the issue will be referred to the Civil Service General Council. The Council will oversee a test pilot whereby, for a six month period, the 1.5 days Flexi Leave facility will be restored. If, as expected, at the end of this pilot, no operational problems are identified and the average taken across the Civil Service is shown to be not more than 13 days if the pilot phase was to be averaged out over 12 months, the facility of 1.5 days Flexi Leave will be restored. In addition, also as part of the journey to restoration, an issue of indirect interest to our members is Flexi Time for the Assistant Principal grade, which was abolished under the Haddington Road Agreement. A review will take place to ascertain if this change has impacted on the level of interest in promotion. This review will be overseen by the Civil Service General Council. Why is the restoration of the 1.5 day s Flexi Leave not referenced in the core Lansdowne Road Agreement document? During the negotiations, it was agreed to resolve this matter at the Civil Service General Council rather than in the main text of the Agreement. If the Agreement is ratified, then Civil Service General Council will begin the pilot scheme of 6 months. We do not have a go date for the reintroduction of the Flexi time half day as its reintroduction is contingent on the Lansdowne Road Agreement being accepted. However, if the Agreement is accepted, arrangements will be put in place to reintroduce it as quickly as possible. 5 P a g e

6 What about former Community Welfare Officers and Combat Poverty Staff? The standardisation issues (of Pay, Leave and Hours) affecting such staff will be resolved with the necessary increases being paid on 1 st January The two sides will engage to resolve any outstanding issues between the parties. If these cannot be resolved through discussion, they will be referred for arbitration in advance of 1 st January Comprehensive documents explaining how this will work are being prepared for members in this category. What happens staff with earnings (Pay + Allowances) above 65,000 per annum? Those earning more than 65k suffered a direct pay cut under the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA). These HRA pay cuts were time limited, however, and will be restored by 1 st January The vast majority of PSEU members who earned in excess of 65k and who were, therefore, subject to the HRA pay cut, earned in excess of 65k due to a combination of basic pay and additional allowances (eg, shift allowances, enforcement allowances, etc). A number of members have sought clarification on the application of the 1,000 annual salary increase on 1 st September 2017 to those who earn in excess of 65k. Under the terms of the proposed Lansdowne Road Agreement, annual salaries will increase by 1,000 on September 1 st The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed that annualised salaries does not include pensionable allowances on this occasion. Thus, we can clarify that the 1,000 annual salary increase will be paid to those who have a basic annual salary of less than 65k. If your annual salary is 59,000 and you have, for example, a shift allowance of 8,000, your combined total earning is 67,000. However, since your basic annual salary is only 59,000 and is, therefore below the 65,000 threshold, your annual rate of salary will increase by 1,000 on September 1 st (Please note for members in the 65k category and who are in receipt of an APTH APTH s are not regarded as an allowance for this purpose). In the case of staff whose pay is below 65k - but with an allowance exceeds 65k - will their basic salary increase and their allowance reduce? To be clear the 1,000 increase will apply to basic scale point. This will mean that the increase in pay will be pro-forma in some cases during the phased pay restoration. What happens staff who, as a result of the extra 1,000 in 2017, cross the 65k threshold? Should a scale when attracting the 1,000 move to a point greater than 65K in 2017, there will be no effect (i.e. no pay reduction in line with FEMPI legislation). 6 P a g e

7 Will work sharers receive the pro rata value of reductions in PRD? All work sharers earning over 23,750 per annum pay more than 500 in PRD currently. They will benefit by 500 in 2016 as a result of the changes in PRD in Worksharers earning below that amount pay less than 500 PRD and they will have their PRD eliminated in full (see also answer to What increases in income are provided for in the Agreement? ) Does my Increment Date return to the same date it was pre-haddington Road? No. The Haddington Road Agreement introduced a unique circumstance for some earners that saw 2 increments being paid over 30 months rather than the normal-course 24 months due to a six-month freeze. Increments will return to normal terms (usually 12 months between them). Will the pay increases that are due in 2017 be linked to pension calculation? Yes the pay increases due in 2017 will be normal course pay increases they will be linked to how your pension is normally calculated on retirement. Has the time issue the fact that Civil Servants have had to work an additional 2:15 per week been addressed? It was not possible during this round of negotiations to get the additional time matter resolved. It became clear very early on that the monetary value of the additional hours across the Public Service would, basically, have wiped out the pot of money available and it would have made it impossible to also negotiate pay increases. The issue, however, is not dead. The PSEU are committed to restoring what was taken from our members. The Lansdowne Road Agreement begins that process but by no means completes it. It is very clear to the PSEU that the time issue is of great concern to our members and is not an issue that we will allow to fade away. The Haddington Road Agreement began the process of reducing the Pension Levy (PRD). As part of that reduction, members were to receive a once-off backpayment of Is it going to be paid? This once-off lumpsum will not now be paid as expected and here s the reason why. The sum total repayment amount (the total of all the s added together) was 20m. Rather than have it paid in a once off lumpsum in 2015, we had it included into the Pension Levy (PRD) reductions for 2017 (adding this amount in to the 2017 pot allowed us to get to the 1k Pension Levy (PRD) reduction amount per member). Thus, by negotiating the change from a once-off repayment to being part of 7 P a g e

8 the permanent Pension Levy (PRD) reduction, we felt that it delivered far greater long-term value to members. I lost more since 2009 than the Lansdowne Road Agreement restores. Why is this? To a large extent, the Financial Collapse didn t care whether you were a Public Sector or a Private Sector worker. Everyone suffered in different ways. The majority of PSEU members saw an erosion of their pay (of between 12%-17% in many cases) and an erosion in family friendly arrangements and conditions of employment. Public Sector workers have to work an additional unpaid 2:15 hours per week. In short, the national crisis was, essentially, a collection of the personal individual crises suffered by almost everyone in the country. The job of Trade Unions became, in essence, not to try and stop the fall because it was uncontrollable but to cushion the landing as best as we could. The fall was a long way down and, quite simply, it will take time to climb back up. What the Lansdowne Road Agreement does is begin the process of restoration. No member should think that the PSEU sees it as a full restoration. Full restoration is our stated aim and will be our focus. The pathway to restoration will depend on a lot of unknowable issues, including Trade Union membership levels, the level of harmony within the Trade Union movement and, most significantly of all, the political landscape in which we will have to carry out future negotiations. However, the Lansdowne Road Agreement represents the first step on that journey of restoration. Restoration is not a single event. It is a process. But that process has now begun. What does the extension of the Grace Period for pensions mean? The retirement grace period was introduced as a measure to protect the pension calculations of those who suffered a pay cut under the Haddington Road Agreement (in other words, those earning in excess of 65k at that time). It does not impact anyone else. The Grace Period allows people to have their pension entitlement calculated on their pre- Haddington Road earnings. If you suffered a paycut under Haddington Road, your pension calculation will be based on your pre-haddington Road salary. The Grace period has now been extended until September 2018 meaning that you can retire up to that date without the Haddington Road paycut being factored in. I am retired. How will my pension be affected by recent developments? In a statement this week, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, announced changes to the Public Services Pension Reduction levy (PSPR) thresholds that, over the course of the next three years, will reduce the amount of PSPR being paid by those currently in receipt of pensions. The full statement can be accessed here. 8 P a g e

9 Will the rise in annual salary rates on 1st September 2017 be included in my pension calculation? Pensions are calculated with reference to you final pensionable salary. Therefore, as your salary scale will increase by 1,000 on September 1st 2017, this will be included in your pension calculation if you retire from that date on. If you have already retired by this time, the answer is not so straight forward. While traditionally there has been a link between pay increases to serving staff and pension increases for those in receipt of a pension, it is not clear whether the Government intend on retaining this link. Legislation introduced in recent years allows the Government to make increases in line with the Consumer Price Index. This, however, is simply one choice that will be open to a given Government when considering how to effect public Sector Pension increases for those already retired. The retention of the link will be a matter for the Government of the day. Does the Lansdowne Road Agreement continue to preclude the PSEU from engaging in Industrial Action or from taking any claim that increases costs during the lifetime of the Agreement? Yes. There is an Industrial Peace clause in the Haddington Road Agreement. As the provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement are extended into the Lansdowne Road Agreement (if ratified), this clause is also extended. Also extended is the clause that prohibits Trade Unions from taking a claim that would increase costs. However, should the economy improve beyond expectations, we reserve the right to seek a new deal before the Lansdowne Road Agreement expires. Let s not forget that the Government used the economic downturn to end the Croke Park Agreement early and negotiate the Haddington Road Agreement. Logic dictates that we could seek to do the same if there was an economic upturn. Indeed, at the time of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, the Trade Unions wrote to the Government and informed them that they would do exactly that should there be such an economic upturn. I have heard that the total cost of the Agreement is 844m. How does this break down? The total cost covers the cost to the entire Public Sector not just to the PSEU. It breaks down as follows (Note costs listed are the sum total of costs over the time period ): Restoration Already Committed Under Haddington Road: Restoration of Substitution and Supervision (Education Sector): 106m Pay Restoration: 172m New Agreement: Total costs of Pension Levy adjustments, Pay Restoration and other issues: 566m 9 P a g e

10 What additional protections are built in against Outsourcing? The Lansdowne Road Agreement enhances the protections that are already in place against outsourcing. Basically, the new provisions allow the Trade Union side to argue against a circumstance that sees a function outsourced because there is money in an operational budget (and thus allows for contracting) but there is no money in a HR budget to directly employ staff. Such practices are simply outsourcing based on financial-only considerations and can now be challenged. The Lansdowne Road Agreement seems to offer co-operation with the Government s Public Service Reform Agenda. What does this mean? Let s be clear about this: does this mean that management can impose anything they want and say we signed up to reform? Absolutely not. First of all, the majority of reform agenda items have not been worked out. The agenda is aspirational and lacks detail. This Agreement makes it clear that the Trade Union side can use the Industrial Relations machinery to hold discussions on any aspect of the reform agenda. We will probably agree with some of the ideas when they have been fleshed out and will probably disagree with others. What the Agreement makes clear is that where we disagree, we will have a clear recourse to Industrial Relations mechanisms, including taking issues to a third party if necessary. The Agreement means that a Trade union cannot simply ignore a reform issue. It means that we have to participate in the discussion. But it also means that there are checks and balances in place that allow us to actively dispute matters that impact on our members if needed. A clear example of this is the decision by the PSEU to refer to arbitration the aspiration under the Civil Service Renewal Plan that seeks to move the filling of vacancies at AP level to almost-exclusively open competition. If there is another issue that requires such Trade union intervention, we have the power under the Agreement to take it. Did the terms of Haddington Road Agreement that increased working hours, etc, not cease once that agreement expired? No. The Haddington Road Agreement, (HRA), is an industrial relations agreement. Such agreements provide for permanent changes, unless otherwise specified. Thus, pay increases are awarded as part of IR agreements and changes are agreed between the parties. Both the increases and the changes are permanent. Under this draft agreement, some changes in the HRA are discontinued, such as the delays in increment payments. Most Public Servants have experienced increment delays already under the HRA. They will not be required to suffer further delays in the future as their increments will now be 10 P a g e

11 annual. Any serving Public Servant who has not yet experienced the increment delays provided for in the HRA will still be subject to the delay relevant to them. New Public Servants employed after 1 July 2016 will not be subject to any delay. Similarly, the restoration of the right to take 1.5 days flexi-leave in a flexi-period is a change to the HRA. Other provisions, such as additional working time, will remain in place until they can be changed in a future agreement. A related question is whether Public Servants can simply choose to go back to working their previous hours? To seek to do so would be industrial action. It would require a separate ballot of members. Such action would, undoubtedly, bring a response by the employer in the form of the exercise of their rights under the FEMPI legislation to stop increments or reduce pay. Some members on the top of their payscales had to give up 6 days leave over 3 years (equates to about 2 days per year) under Haddington Road. Once this liability has been paid, there will be no new liability. You will not have to forego any additional leave and your leave levels will return to normal. Section 3.2 of the Lansdowne Road Agreement makes reference to the Irish Water Programme (in relation to the Local Government Sector). What does this mean? To be clear this has absolutely nothing to do with the Water Charges issue. This is a reference to a plan in the Local Government Sector to change some of the administration of water resources. Some Local Government staff (the vast majority of whom are represented by Impact) are working in these areas of change. The reference to the Irish Water programme simply commits them and their union to engaging with and being consulted about changes that may be made under this particular reform programme. What are the new Pension Related Deduction (PRD the Pension Levy) rates? If the Lansdowne Road Agreement is ratified, the new rates shall be as follows: From Jan 1st 2016: First 24,750 of earnings exempt Between 24,751 and 60,000 10% Above 60, % From 1st September 2016: First 28,750 of earnings exempt Between 28,751 and 60,000 10% Above 60, % 11 P a g e

12 Was Overtime raised during the course of the negotiations? The restoration of overtime rates was raised by the union side in the negotiations. However, the management side was emphatic that it had no mandate from Government to make any concessions on these issues. This is, thus, a matter that will be raised in the course of future pay talks. 12 P a g e

13 At a glance: Summary of Monetary Increases by Total Wage Total Salary Pay 2016 Levy 2016 Total 2016 Pay 2017 Total Increase 22, , , % 23, , , , % 24, , , , % 25, , , % 26, , , % 27, , , , % 28, , , , % 29, , , , , % 30, , , , , % 31, , , , , % 32, , , , , % 33, , , , , % 34, , , , , % 35, , , , , % 36, , , , , % 37, , , , , % 38, , , , , % 39, , , , , % 40, , , , , % 41, , , , , % 42, , , , , % 43, , , , , % 44, , , , , % 45, , , , , % 46, , , , , % 47, , , , , % 48, , , , , % 49, , , , , % 50, , , , , % 51, , , , , % 52, , , , , % 53, , , , , % 54, , , , , % 55, , , , , % 56, , , , , % 57, , , , , % 58, , , , , % 59, , , , , % 60, , , , , % 61, , , , , % 62, , , , , % 63, , , , , % 64, , , , , % 65, , , , , % Note all figures shown are gross and do not reflect take-home pay. 13 P a g e