Mediation over working time in Defence Forces
The four cases claiming breach of the Working Time Directive (WTD) within the Defence Forces have been adjourned after the Department of Defence offered to enter into mediation talks with the organisation taking them.
PDForra, which represents enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces, planned to take the cases later this month in the High Court, having successfully won a landmark decision on behalf of a female soldier last year.
Last June, the organisation won a test case on behalf of soldier Susan O’Donnell and as a result she has got back the annual leave she lost in 2015 and has received an ex-gratia sum in compensation.
PDForra has estimated that its 6,000-plus members lost in the region of 37,000 days of annual leave in 2016 because they were overstretched and constantly plugging gaps. As a result, a number of other cases claiming breaches of the WTD are also being prepared by PDForra’s legal representatives.
It had repeatedly accused the Department of Defence of not engaging on WTD breaches. That was until its officials offered mediation. PDForra has agreed to the talks, which will be mediated by senior counsel Mark Connaughton. However, PDForra issued a statement to its 6,000-plus members, saying that it reserves the right to proceed with the High Court cases if progress is not made expediently. Its general secretary said his organisation was also seeking a strict deadline for the finalisation of the mediation talks.
The four cases are listed again for mention in the High Court on April 4. The shortage of personnel in the Defence Forces has led to many soldiers, sailors, and aircrews working longer hours to plug gaps. The Representative Association for Commissioned Officers has said this has become particularly noticeable in areas where there are severe shortages of officers, especially bomb disposal experts and Naval Service marine engineers. They often work 65-70 hours a week without any overtime payments.
Army officers guarding Portlaoise Prison were, on average, doing 65 hours a week, and those on guard duties at Shannon Airport were doing 53 hours a week. Meanwhile, a naval aervice officer on the watch was doing 63 hours a week. Under the WTD, their work should be capped at 48 hours a week. While Germany, Britain, and Sweden have already implemented the WTD for their armed forces, the Government here has failed to do so. However, it has done it for gardaí.
Meanwhile, Paul Kehoe, the minister of state with responsibility for defence, and chief of staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett attended the commissioning of 24 officers yesterday at a ceremony in Dublin. The officers completed an 11-month training course and will take up appointments in the Army and Air Corps. All of them were originally non-commissioned officers. Between them, they have accumulated 94 individual overseas missions and have a combined service of 401 years.
