More than 100 LAPO members working in all 31 Local Authorities in various engineering roles and across every grade have successfully secured the regularisation of their positions with permanent contracts replacing temporary Contracts of Indefinite Duration (CID), due to the legal assistance of the Union.
The CIDs were only meant to cover a period of ‘acting up’ when staff fulfilled a more senior position for a limited time. However, many workers found themselves in positions where they were in a more senior role for an extended period but did not receive a permanent contract.
Over the last 12 months, LAPO working with the SIPTU Workers Rights Centre and Legal Affairs Department have secured the replacement of CIDs with permanent contracts. Key to this change was the use of the legal precedent set by the Supreme Court case involving the HSE and a senior manager in that organisation.
In March 2022, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in an appeal by the HSE against a decision of the High Court that one of its senior employees was a fixed-term worker for purposes of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act, 2003 during his appointment as interim CEO of the Saolta University Healthcare Group.
The fixed-term legislation was enacted on foot of a European Directive that sought to prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts. This Court case set a precedent that means that all workers in a similar situation should be able to obtain.