This article is from page 8 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
PART time council workers – all women – who have been told they can no longer have the advantage of working flexi-time have taken a case against the local authority.
The 21 members of IMPACT work- ing for Clare County Council have initiated legal proceedings, through the Rights Commissioner service, on the grounds of discrimination against part-time staff as full-time staff are still allowed to avail of flexi-time.
IMPACT has initiated proceedings on behalf of the affected workers, under legislation introduced to en- sure that part-time and full-time em- ployees are treated equally.
The county council maintains that managers are finding it impossible
to roster to ensure coverage with the large numbers of part-time staff em- ployed.
IMPACT assistant general secre- tary Andy Pike said that, “all our affected members are women who need the ability to work flexibly in order to take their children to school, care for elderly relatives, or meet other family commitments”.
He added that by removing flex1- time entitlements for part-time workers, “the council could prevent the public from accessing services during key periods of the day. Many services, accessible to the public from 9am and later in the day, had been provided by part-time employ- ees who were able to come to work early and stay later under the terms of the scheme.”