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RTÉ DRIVETIME HAS investigated issues around bogus self-employment practices at RTÉ.
Reporter Philip Boucher-Hayes looked into the offering of long-time workers at the broadcaster contracts which require them to register themselves as self-employed (rather than full-time contracts with employment benefits at the station).
The investigation was part of an ongoing Drivetime examination into bogus self-employment practices by Irish employers.
Boucher-Hayes kicked off the segment saying that there was no evidence that RTÉ was “any better or worse” than other media organisations within the Irish media sector.
“But the phenomenon is endemic within the sector. It is rife within RTÉ,” he said.
It would be unfair of this programme to point the finger of blame at other news or other media organisations without first examining what is going on here at RTÉ.
The report found that there were two tiers of employment at RTÉ.
The first are PAYE workers who have contracts and the full range of employment benefits that go with them.
The second tier workers will do the same job as the first but have none of the benefits afforded to them.
“They’re self-employed and they’re not self-employed because they choose to be,” said Boucher-Hayes.
They’re self-employed because RTÉ requires them to effectively sign away those rights and become self-employed in order to get paid for the work that they are doing
At RTÉ, once a worker earns over €2,000 they are made to sign an contract.
For many workers the only contract made available is one that requires them to be self-employed.
This practice applies to workers across the range of different positions at RTÉ.
Commenting during the report, head of the National Union of Journalists Seamus Dooley said that the only way many workers could continue to work at RTÉ was to sign these contracts that negate their working rights.
“If you refuse to sign you don’t get the work,” said Dooley.
“If you do sign you have no right to go to the Workplace Relations Commission or to have your case adjudicated.
RTÉ also says you can’t be represented by a trade union even if you want to challenge your status.
Dooley said workers who had been on these contracts for years were unable to challenge their status at the company.
“There is nothing voluntary about that. Because if you don’t sign it you do not have any job security, if you sign it you are in an ambiguous position – you are a vulnerable worker but at least you have work,” he said.
RTÉ representatives declined the request for an interview from Drivetime on the practice.
In response to a detailed request for information from Drivetime, RTÉ said that it would be addressing the issue around these contracts at some unspecified time in the future.
Boucher Hayes said he had asked questions to RTÉ around how many people were working on these self-employed contracts at the broadcaster but that it was unable to give an answer.
I hope she never sees the light of day again
The sickening thing is , she will .
Will she even do time I wonder
I doubt it. It’ll be a Suspended sentence
This is Ireland.
She’ll most likely, get a fully furnished new house to add to her previous portfolio of 3.
A new car.
A raise in her benefits.
New clothes.
And hundreds of thousands of Euro in medical and counselling expenses.
This woman does not deserve to call herself a mother. She’s nothing but a disgusting human. Fair play to those kids for going through with this case and sorry to hear this was allowed to carry on for so long.
How did she get bail? Vile human being, I hope she gets a proper sentence and the kids get the love and help they need.
How could this continue over time without something being done? Neighbours aware, school aware of issues. What did social services do here? This is madness.
Yes, Greg, I wonder what Social Services did here, and what the ISPCC did here, too.
It seems to just have been allowed to continue for 5 years.
It’s astounding, with Child Abuse supposedly being taken so seriously.
I can’t understand what makes someone do that to kids, any kids. I just hope that they get the love and attention that they deserve now as young adults.
Her defense team? Who paid for that I wonder?
Where is/are the father(s)?
How is this tolerated in the 21st century?
She may not even know who the fathers are.
Disgusting! Poor children, God love them
Why didn’t the neighbours report her?
What a twisted bitch
I heard some of the mothers defence evidence reported on the radio today in relation to the two boys having their hair pulled out by her…….
“She said the boys were exaggerating, yes, she said, she had to hold them forcibly in a headlock and it took some power to force the neck of the Fairy washing liquid bottle past their clenched teeth as they struggled and won’t allow her to pour the washing up liquid in their mouths because they said a rude word but she didn’t pull out clumps of hair”
That was her defence on that charge alone.
She didn’t see anything wrong with it, that was her defence………What an evil woman.
She is evil, I hope that she never gets out.
It wasn’t just her that failed the children, why were they left in her care for so long, why did it take so long to bring her to court?
Why was there a delay of 5 years from when social services got involved until the kids were taken from this vile evil woman
The poor kids. I hope they can go on to lead normal happy lives.
This evil piece of sc#m should be fed on bread and water for the rest of her miserable life
I hope she gets the help she needs, and for the children’s sake that she is able to establish a normal relationship with them in time.
Joe, I would say that the relationship is way beyond repair.
‘The help she needs’?!! Are you for real Joe?
Why is every perpetrator of horrific crimes given the tag of ‘victim’? Some people are just evil, nasty, deplorable animals and should be disposed of.
After witnessing first hand similar events above I can say from my own experience that forgiveness comes in time. May be a few years, may take decades, the child will still want to be loved / accepted by the parent. They may have a chance at a relationship of some sort depending on the child or no relationship at all depending on the child. The child will also feel a degree of guilt and responsibility even though the child is 100% innocent the guilt is still there.
The child’s want/need to be loved and wanted is huge if they can get that of the fosters career they may never look for their mothers love, but if they are shipped from home to home and only used by the foster career for money (some foster careers not all) then I feel the child future will be hard.
Exactly Colin some people are beyond help, evil will always be evil unfortunately the human race churns out the odd one every now and then, and unfortunately that evil can spawn innocent children.
Well said
Poor kids
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