'Palpable anger' as RTÉ asks bogus self-employed to sign non-disclosure agreements

Speaking to the 'Irish Examiner', one of the affected workers said: 'I think everyone imagines that everyone in RTÉ is on massive money. That’s just not the case.' Stock picture: Nick Ansell/PA

RTÉ has requested signed non-disclosure agreements and an indemnity from future legal cases from 79 bogus self-employed contractors, in a move that “beggars belief” according to affected staff.

As part of a deal proposed by the State broadcaster, the 79 workers, who had been incorrectly categorised as freelance employees, were recently offered payments of between €2,500 and €17,500 in “recognition of past continuous service”.

Those affected had been offered full-time deals last year after a review by consultants Eversheds Sutherland in 2018 found them to have been doing the work of contracted employees but without the attendant benefits such as holiday pay.

It has now emerged that the legal agreement underpinning the retrospective offer requires that employees “sign a compromise agreement in full and final settlement of all claims relating to this matter”.

Further, the offer letter states that workers must “agree to keep the terms (of the agreement)… strictly private and confidential and agree not to disclose same to any third parties”.

The offer, if accepted, would “avoid the pursuit of more costly and time consuming alternatives”, RTÉ said. 

The deadline for acceptance or rejection of the offer is October 14.

However, sources close to the affected workers say there is “palpable anger” among them, notably among those with the longest employment records with RTÉ whose potential back-payments would dwarf the maximum figure on offer.

In addition, while special payments were included in the deal for those who took maternity or paternity leave since the RTÉ-imposed cut-off date of January 1, 2013, that offer does not apply where children were born prior to that date.

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An RTÉ spokesperson said it and the trade unions had “jointly engaged in a confidential facilitated process aimed at reaching a solution to the issue of retrospection”, adding that “RTÉ and the TUG [trade union group] will continue to liaise directly with these employees". 

One of the affected staff said: “If one of us were pregnant we’d have to come back to work after a few months, while those others would be off for most of a year.

“I think everyone imagines that everyone in RTÉ is on massive money. That’s just not the case,” they said.

We contractors weren’t allowed go for internal competitions. We couldn’t afford to get sick and we had no comeback if we did. 

"It beggars belief that they’ve acted this way,” they added.

Prior to a meeting earlier this month, the 79 workers had no knowledge as to who the other workers were in the same situation. Many of those involved are well-known broadcasters.

Union sources say there is no implicit endorsement of RTÉ’s offer by any organisation, and that the decision will be an individual one for each worker. However, one of the 79 workers said they felt that “if some sort of collective action could be taken, we would all go in for that”.

“There is the grey area and cutoff points of the Workplace Relations Commission, and the courts are very expensive, but we might achieve more as group,” they said.