Bonuses & extra days off in store
RETAIL WORKERS SET TO GET REWARD € 1BN LEAVE CLAIM BLASTED
CASH bonuses and free days off for shop staff who worked in the pandemic may get the green light in the upcoming Budget.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin revealed details of the plans that would see the bonus scheme being considered for frontline workers potentially extended to hundreds of thousands more ordinary workers.
He said he wanted to give back something to “reflect the contribution” of the efforts of many workers, in “many sectors” amid the pandemic, not just the traditional frontline workers such as nurses and gardai.
And he specifically mentioned “retail workers” in his comments, which suggested that staff in High Street shops, supermarkets and petrol stations could all be in for a bonanza.
The Taoiseach would not be drawn on the specificsof any scheme, but he did reveal that the bonuses could involved cash bonuses and/or time off in lieu.
Mr Martin made his comments in New York outside the United Nations where he had just spoken to delegates.
In a br iefing to Irish journalists, he said: “Well, first of all, I t hink, the Minister o f Pu blic Expenditure has been engaging with the partners and unions on this issue.
“We want to reflect the contribution that people have made during an Covid-19,, particularly frontline workers.
Reward
“And those frontline workers have been in many sectors, not least in retail, for example, right from the beginning and commencement of the pandemic, and it will be challenging, but that is something that we are working towards energetical ly and proactively.”
The Taoiseach was pressed on what rewards pandemic workers could look forward to, but he was coy on providing detail, saying: “Well look, I’m not going to get into specifics, we’re going to have further engagements with the sectors, and it c ould be a c ombination of approaches.”
And he added: “I’m not going to go through the actual negotiations right now in terms of a combination of measures relating to monetary or relating to time in lieu and so on.”
Health service workers’ unions had sought some form of reward for healthcare staff when Covid hit last year.
Hospital workers in France, Northern Ireland, Denmark and elsewhere have already offered staff bonuses or pay hikes over the past year.
Pay
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly last week said that he definitely wants to reward health workers and see “some form of recognition for the extraordinary work that they’ve all put in”.
Meanwhile, nurses and midwives believe the Government is trying to pit frontline workers against each other by claiming it would cost the taxpayer mor e t han €1billion to offer them additional leave after the COVID-19 crisis.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath claimed it could cost more than €1bn to offer public sector workers 10 days’ additional leave to reward their efforts amid the pandemic.
A Labour Court recommendation found that the Health Service Executive estimated that a claim for 10 days’ additional leave for healthcare workers could cost at least €377million.
When overtime and agency staff costs are factored in, the cost would be exceed €500m, it said.
Minister McGrath said it would cost more than €1billion to offer 10 days’ leave to all 300,000 public sector workers.
He said: “The minimum cost of €377million could exceed half a billion when agency staff and overtime is factored in to allow people take leave. To extend that across the public service, the cost would be €1billion.”
However, INMO industrial relations boss Tony Fitzpatrick rubbished that calculation.
He said: “This is clearly a grossly inflated figure. The government haven’t shown how they reached this number.”