Agreement to allow staff to take up to three months' leave during the school holidays has been finalised for four Government Departments, covering about half of the Civil Service.
In return, successful applicants have agreed to a cut of 25 per cent in annual pay, which will be spread across the full financial year.
The equality officer of the Civil and Public Service Union, Ms Rosaleen Glacken, has welcomed the agreement as an important step towards meeting the commitment by the Government to providing a more family friendly environment. She said that without such initiatives the Civil Service would not be able to attract, or hold, staff who can earn more elsewhere.
The CPSU is the largest union in the Civil Service and, with a membership 80 per cent female, she expects her members will take up most of the leave available. The four Departments are Revenue, which employs 6,000; Social Welfare, 3,500; Agriculture, 2,000; and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, 300.
Leave is discretionary and subject to the condition that services do not suffer. Initial numbers are quite small. Out of 358 applicants for term-time leave this year only 271 have been successful.
Ms Glacken added that discussions on a more flexible "work-sharing scheme" to replace the current job-share arrangements are also at an advanced stage. There are 2,000 job shares at present but she expects a large increase in the take-up for the new scheme.
She says it will appeal to people considering early retirement or wishing to study, as well as working parents. One major advantage would be that people working reduced hours would not need to find a "partner" to split their workload.