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THE ISSUE OF women who are returning from maternity leave in March not being eligible for the government’s Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme has been referred to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme was introduced to try to prevent employees from losing their jobs due to the economic impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic.
But, in order to be eligible for the scheme, employees need a pay slip from January or February this year.
This would mean that women who are returning from paid maternity leave would be earning less than their normal pay package, and women who are on unpaid maternity leave wouldn’t be eligible for the scheme at all.
This anomaly would also affect people who are on illness benefit or off-pay leave, and has been criticised as having the “potential to be discriminatory”.
In cases like this, Revenue has advised employers to either “operate the scheme based on Average Revenue Net Weekly Pay for January/February 2020″, which women who are returning from unpaid maternity leave cannot, or else “pay the employee the appropriate wages without receiving a subsidy refund”.
Trade unions Siptu and Ictu, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), and a number of TDs have raised this issue with the government.
The NWCI said that it has written to the Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe about the issue, but according to the NWCI, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe replied to say that his approach to the matter will not be changing.
As a result, the NWCI has now referred the issue on to Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in relation to the exclusion of women returning from maternity leave from the scheme.
“Women on maternity leave have a heightened level of protection and therefore cannot be placed in the same category as employees, for example, who commenced a new employment after that date, or returned to the payroll of his or her employer after that date following a period of unpaid leave,” wrote Orla O’Connor of the NWCI.
However, this is the argument that the Minister has put forth.
“We believe that this approach is not in compliance with the Maternity Protection Act 1994 which provides that women on maternity leave are entitled to be treated as if they had been at work during their maternity leave.”
She added that the organisation believed the exclusion wasn’t in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty.
“We do not believe that the Department of Finance was acting in accordance with their obligations under this duty when they formed this policy.”
The NWCI asked the IHREC to consider the matter.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, the IHREC said:
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is aware of this issue related to maternity leave through public contacts with our own “Your Rights” service, as well as through the NWCI’s letter.
It is a matter of concern, and the Commission will be examining this issue in detail.
It’s estimated that around 20,000 women claim maternity leave benefits each year, and around half of this cohort do not receive top ups from their employer.
Although the issue only affects women who have been on maternity leave in January and February, and returned to work in March, April or May, as time goes on and more women return to work, the number of women it affects will increase.
On Wednesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme would be extended beyond June, and that it would continue for longer than the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
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The public service will finally bankrupt this country once and for all. The money just isn’t there to meet their demands. Unless the Government can raise money through taxing the private sector workers or raising corporation tax, there is no way this money can be paid. Then again a Government desperate to get re-elected are capable of doing anything to hold on to power. The unions are well aware of when the best time to declare war is.
@jo mixon: It’s the Consultants on big money who are draining the system not the hardworking nurses imo.
@ianglen: And why is 1 in 5 consultant jobs unfilled?
Perhaps you should campaign for further pay cuts for consultants ?
ANd any that dont like it can go off to Canada/Australia.
@jo mixon: Weel . They found the money to give the banks a 30 year tax write off.
@jo mixon: And there’s way too many clipboards managers as well. Morale isn’t good among hospital staff atm.
@ianglen: anyone who believes this is an idiot.
@jo mixon: yep the public service ie people who live work and spend in this country as unlike nama bondholders banks developers tax exiles and the other fuxxers who have had free run protected by government ask my hole merry xmas fg trolls
@ianglen: actually..healthcare workers are are team, we work together to care for our patients and it is an insult when ignorant comments such as this are made. I am an NCHD and work 80+hour weeks. I will leaving Ireland in July to Canada…leaving my family and friends in Ireland..this is not for money, but for a decent work life balance and a better system. I will be supporting my nursing colleagues as they strike. The system needs to change and the public needs to stop pointing fingers at those healthcare workers in it; we all work hard to do our best in a system stretched beyond its limits.
Duties above their original description. Bloody unions will co.e up with any inventive way of saying we want more money . Black hole of a health service. Cost multiples of the bus in Manchester and services the same amount of people where is the logic.
@john s: exactly, wont fix or go in any way to solve the mess that is the HSE and the inefficiences in that system which results in suffering for everyone
People blame consultants. Consultants are amazing, not when you have to fork in 150 euro for a consultancy,but when your life is in their hands. They are people that fix people. They face more decisions in a week, than a bank CEO and get paid less. I would hate their job.
This problem is on repeat now, Wage Inflation. We have an artificial property bubble that is driven by lack of supply. It is the source of all our ills at the moment. Money is the means to make things more affordable, but the driver is affordability.
Insurance, mortgage rates, house prices, we’re like an out of shape flabby tiger.
It will tank the economy, it tanked it before. It depends on Government action and leadership they need put about 2Bn into a NAMA style build project. This will just get worse and the strikes and protests will continue. We all sign into a private/public economic stability model, where the government delivers affordable housing as a core tenet and freely fully opens sectors such as insurance etc., mortgage rates. This public worker, private workers is nonsense, we all live here.
Remember the New children’s Hospital is running close to a billion over cost which also has to be paid the whole system is f##} up
Follow a consultation, Dr, Nurse and hca for a week at work and tell me that 99% don’t deserve a good wage compared to all the other fu#k wits in the HSE and other government departments.
Leo our leader was in charge of Health for a while and did SFA and
watch as he performs the same act again as the unions walk all over him
Blame the unions, blame the consultants, blame the public service. Such other and total rubbish.
The problems have been pointed out repeatedly by the unions and the nurses and the unions and even the patients and have been ignored by government for years,
The hard working private sector pay for everything. Wrong guess what public servants pay tax as well.
The HSE and Dept of Health is top heavy and technically in the dark ages as regards records and such. The actual part of the system of curing and helping people works well its the admin and management that costs so much.
Doctors should do doctors work and managers manage the business. At times its the other way around.
Take it apart and start again is the only solution
Britain spends 125 billion with 70 million people we spend 20 billion with 4 million people. I suppose some Numpties are going to tell me that Britain are spending too little ???? Doing the math that means Britain should spend a 2.2 trillion. Scary isnt it ????
@Marcus o Dhonnghaile: £127 ( 142 billion euro) billion spend is on England alone ( pop 55 million).
Irish population is 4.7 million HSE spend is 17 billion.
Not sure where you are getting the 2.2 trillion?
I find this scary, but for different reasons.
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