Some 9,000 local authority staff are to benefit from new promotional pathways following the overwhelming acceptance of a Fórsa-negotiated deal in a recent ballot.
The new arrangement, which will replace the common recruitment pool, will see 70% of promotions to grades IV, V, VI and VII confined to eligible staff in the local authority sector in what union’s head of local government, Peter Nolan, called a “game-changer in terms of promotion opportunities.”
The new arrangement, proposed by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), will see 50% of all promotions between grades IV to VII confined to the local authority sector, 20% confined to the employing local authority, and 30% open to public competition.
This compares to existing arrangements where half of grade V vacancies are open to public competition.
The new arrangement, proposed by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), will see 50% of all promotions between grades IV to VII confined to the local authority sector, 20% confined to the employing local authority, and 30% open to public competition.
The union’s Local Government divisional executive committee strongly recommended acceptance of the WRC proposal.
Peter Nolan said: “The revised fields of competition will greatly enhance the career development prospects of our members in local government and regional assemblies. This deal marks the most radical and progressive development for those seeking promotion in over 50 years.”
The new procedure will incorporate any existing arrangements for the first filling of new posts. Any existing panels in place for clerical and administrative grades lV to Vll at the date of commencement of these new procedures will also be used until they expire.
The new procedure will incorporate any existing arrangements for the first filling of new posts. Any existing panels in place for clerical and administrative grades lV to Vll at the date of commencement of these new procedures will also be used until they expire.
This WRC proposal came from a process that followed an industrial action ballot of Fórsa members after the Local Government Management Agency, which represents employers in the sector, threatened to scrap the common recruitment pool and see all promotions filled by open competition.