Labour Court recommends Galway County Council admit Engineering Grades to flexi-time

The Labour Court recommended that Galway County Council admit Engineering Grades to its flexi-time scheme, in a recommendation signed on 27 November 2013. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union had referred a dispute over flexi-time access, time off in lieu and attendance recording. The Court found no substantive grounds to exclude the grades and said the union’s interpretation of the status quo better matched normal public-sector industrial-relations practice. The Council had argued that flexi-time arrangements should be dealt with through a national agreement. The Court recommended that exceptional attendance continue to be handled under the 1979 Engineers Agreement, as proposed at the Labour Relations Commission.