Flexible working hours end for City Council staff

Workers at City Hall have lost their long-running dispute with management over flexible working hours.

The Labour Court has sided with Galway City Council and ruled that members of trade union SIPTU must adjust to the new flexitime arrangements. This brings them into line with Galway County Council.

Both sides had been at loggerheads over the planned introduction of flexible working arrangements for months.

The matter was before the Labour Court earlier this year but it sent both parties away to try and resolve the matter through negotiations locally.

However, the dispute could not be resolved locally and they were before the court again in September – a final decision was published this week.

The court ruled the, “City Council’s position to adjust the flexitime arrangements is reasonable in circumstances where there are changing demands on its service and due to the extension of the scheme to new grades.”

The option recommended an adjustment to the flexi starting times – from 8am to 8.30am. This is in line with Galway County Council, and the recommendation was made after SIPTU highlighted specific difficulties with an alternative option to change the core hours from 4pm to 4.30pm

The original dispute revolved around the local authority’s plan to change flexible working arrangements in line with the Haddington Road Agreement.

SIPTU argued that the Council was unilaterally imposing changes to flexible working-hours scheme that was in place since 2002, “without meaningful consultation or agreement” with its members.

They argued that management were in breach of good industrial relations and collective agreements through the lack of consultation. And they said the changes would worsen the terms of the existing agreement with workers.

The proposed changes will impact staff in a variety of ways including childcare arrangements, childcare costs, medical appointments, travel arrangements, and increased commuting times, SIPTU said.

The Council argued that in February last year, it agreed in principle to extend flexitime to include professional and technical staff.

It proposed changes to core hours and the start and finish times of workers. It claimed that workers were given a memo about the changes and a six weeks’ consultation period ensued.

The Labour Court ruled this week that the Council’s position was “reasonable”.