Ministers lose Liberation Day battle over extra day off

Tuesday 08 March 2016

Ministers have been forced to back down and give thousands of States workers an extra day off for Liberation Day last year – a move that’s expected to cost the government around £1.5 million.

The States initially said that public sector workers would not get a day off in lieu for Liberation Day falling on a Saturday in 2015 – but the threat of action by unions over collective agreements has forced them to back to down eight months later, and offer an extra day’s holiday in 2016.

Even though the States voted 33-nine against giving Islanders an extra day off to compensate for Liberation Day in March last year, the Chief Minister said that the States Employment Board – the panel of ministers that decides on States workforce issues – was advised that their position could be successfully challenged by unions.

He said: “A number of unions raised a dispute, stating that we were obliged as the States Employment Board to observe collective agreements, and some also used the phrase ‘custom and practice’.

“We received advice that we need to observe collective agreements so we felt that was the only course open to us. We know that there are some States Members who are not satisfied, and it is certainly not the course of action that the States Employment Board first considered.

“We could have said that we would not abide by the agreements, but then we would have been in official dispute. The advice was that we would be likely to be challenged and potentially our view would not have held, because of collective agreements.”

Senator Gorst’s comments came during a Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel hearing, during which he added that all departments had been told that they would have to meet any costs arising from the extra day off from within their existing budgets.

And he said that the issue was an example of the kind of existing terms and conditions for public sector staff that his department’s workforce modernisation programme was challenging and removing.

He said: “All departments were clearly told it would be provided from within their budget, and that there would be no extra funding provided.

“During the process of reform of the terms and conditions. We are already moving some new employees on to the new terms and conditions, we started doing so in January, as part of the workforce modernisation programme. Everyone will be move ultimately over the course of the next few years.”