Vol. 420 No. 6
117 Mr. Cotter asked the Minister for Health if he will outline his Department's policy on job-sharing; whether job-sharing contracts will be renewed for employees whose circumstances warrant it; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
My Department introduced a job-sharing scheme in all health agencies in 1985. Hours of attendance and other conditions of service such as pay, sick leave, annual leave, and so on are based on 50 per cent of the amount applicable in the case of a full-time person in the same grade. This scheme affords flexibility to staff and to management in providing an alternative to traditional full-time working arrangements.
The terms of the scheme provide that the operation and maintenance of job-sharing arrangements in respect of specific posts are a matter for the management of each health agency and must necessarily depend on the exigencies of the service involved.
I am committed to encouraging health agencies to allow the scheme to be used to the fullest possible extent. In this regard, my Department is initiating a review of the scheme with a view to seeing what further steps can be taken to expand it.
