A rights commissioner's decision that could force the State to give permanent jobs to hundreds of temporary civil servants has been appealed by the Department of Finance.
In a decision last month, rights commissioner Janet Hughes found that several Government departments had acted in breach of an EU directive on the rights of workers on fixed-term contracts.
She also accused the Civil Service of operating a culture of discrimination against fixed-term employees. Ms Hughes awarded compensation totalling €217,000 to 91 civil servants on fixed-term contracts. The 91 are members of Impact, which took the cases on their behalf.
They had been denied a range of benefits that permanent civil servants enjoy, including pay increases, pensions, access to promotions, sick pay, training opportunities, annual leave, leave of absence and career breaks.
The EU directive came into force on July 10th, 2001, and was translated into Irish law two years ago as the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Workers) Act.
Ms Hughes awarded compensation of between €2,000 and €7,000 in most cases, as well as undisclosed sums of back pay.
The highest award made was of €40,000 to each of two Department of Agriculture employees who were issued with notices of dismissal last September.
Ms Hughes said the notices represented an "intended breach" of the 2003 Act and that the two had been subjected to "wholly unacceptable behaviour" on the part of the department.
She ruled that most of the 91 claimants, who worked in six departments in all, should be placed on permanent contracts.
The Department of Finance, however, has decided to appeal her decision to the Labour Court.
A department spokesman said the commissioner's findings had been studied by the department in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General and other Government departments.
Notice of appeal had been submitted to the court by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor last Friday. Asked how many additional potential claims were faced by the State, the spokesman said there were about 1,300 employees on fixed-term contracts across the Civil Service.
The full implications of the commissioner's findings, including the number of potential beneficiaries and the estimated costs, were still under consideration, he said.
Ms Hughes had said a cultural change "of the widest proportions" was required in the Civil Service to encompass the principles of the EU directive and the subsequent Irish legislation. She said the directive permitted the continued employment of fixed-term workers provided this did not amount to exploitation.
"What is not permitted is a discriminatory divide in respect of the employment conditions of fixed-term workers as has been shown to exist in the case of the claimants who are subject to this decision," she said.
