I have looked into this case and the following is the position in relation to part-time employment in the Irish Civil Service.
Flexible working options currently available to civil servants include flexitime and jobsharing. Flexitime allows staff flexibility in relation to their daily attendance hours within certain parameters. Staff are required to be present for certain core hours but have flexibility in relation to their attendance pattern outside these core hours. Jobsharing is where a person attends 50% of the time. Originally, participants shared a job with a partner employee. In recent years staff have been allowed to jobshare without a partner which has given greater access to part-time employment in the Irish Civil Service. At present, jobsharing is the only part-time option available in the Irish Civil Service.
Extensive discussions have taken place with the staff unions in recent months on the introduction of a worksharing scheme. The proposed scheme will provide staff and management with a wide variety of attendance options. These options will include a three day week, four day week, shorter hours such as 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. working day, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. working day. In the case of the latter options, a minimum of eight hours must be worked in any week. Other options will include three weeks on, one week off. Discussions on the implementation of worksharing are at an advanced stage and it is anticipated that a circular on the scheme will be issued before the end of the year.
Until the worksharing scheme comes into operation there are no provisions in the current work arrangements for a civil servant to work ten hours per week.
