Home helps to get minimum hours

For the first time in 30 years, some 10,000 home helps employed by the HSE are to be given contracts which will guarantee them a minimum number of hours of work each week.

After a long campaign by the home helps and a detailed process under the auspices of the Labour Court, the court yesterday issued a binding recommendation in which it said each person employed by the HSE as a home help should be given an annualised contract guaranteeing at least seven hours of work per week.

In making the recommendation, the court also said it “noted” the HSE’s intention to increase that minimum progressively to 10 hours “on the basis of shared comprehensive data”.

The HSE is to be allowed to keep outsourcing some home help services to outside contractors, though the court said the HSE had confirmed its ongoing commitment to the direct employment of home helps “to maximum effect”.

The court’s deputy chairwoman Caroline Jenkinson said: “The employer also confirmed, however, that private providers are part of the landscape of home help provision and will continue to be used — not least because of the choice of care which they allow to the user of the service.”

Ms Jenkinson said the court had noted the HSE’s commitment to the redirection of hours to directly employed staff from private providers as those hours become available.

She also said every effort must be made to ensure robust management of the home help situation adding that should be conducted on a county-by-county basis.

The home helps’ union Siptu welcomed the Labour Court recommendation, saying it puts the terms and conditions of 10,000 workers employed by the HSE on a “firm and binding platform for the first time since the community service was established 30 years ago”.

“This Labour Court recommendation is the result of a concerted campaign by Siptu members in the home help service since 2009 to secure adequate contracts, the maintenance of working hours and security of earnings,” said Siptu health division organiser, Paul Bell.

“It means home helps will have a minimum of seven to 10 hours work each week in contrast to the current situation where many are on unacceptable zero-hour contracts. We have also secured commitments for the reversal of the overspend on private sector providers, which will benefit the service and also allow for a greater investment in public services in the community while, at the same time, generating value for money.”

Mr Bell also welcomed the court’s call for the HSE to manage home help on a county-by-county basis in a “robust” manner: “This will ensure accountability from those who manage the service and will also allow for compensation for those employee’s preferring to exit the service at this time.”