The Legal Aid Board told staff they could expect waiting lists and workload to increase as a freeze on recruitment was put in place this summer.
In an email to employees, the board said budgetary constraints left them with no choice but to stop hiring new staff or filling vacancies.
A message from their CEO Joan Crawford said they fully understood this would “raise concerns” for staff and asked them to do their best with the resources available.
“We recognise the likely impact on waiting lists and workloads in offices where there are vacancies, and we ask that those teams focus on tasks within their capacity during this period,” her email said.
In July, Ms Crawford forwarded the message to the Department of Justice and said the recruitment freeze was required to bring the Legal Aid Board’s budget under control.
The CEO said she was already “dealing with industrial action on a small scale” within the organisation and she had been put on notice by the Forsa union that wider action was likely.
An email from Ms Crawford to a senior department official said: “The union representative has sought to meet [but] I believe such a meeting cannot proceed on the back of threats issued around industrial action”.
“I believe this communication from Forsa needs to be dealt with at a higher level between the department, DPENDR [Department of Public Expenditure] and Forsa,” she added.
The Legal Aid Board CEO attached a message from Forsa which detailed poor conditions for staff including a risk of burnout and “work-related stress.”
The union letter said: “Forsa expressed grave concerns about the failure to fill vacant posts at all Forsa-represented grade levels within the organisation”.
“Those concerns remain unaddressed, as do the underlying health and safety risks our members are increasingly being exposed to due to the imposition of unmanageable workloads,” the letter added.
A separate internal note said the Legal Aid Board needed to take “significant decisions” to ensure they did not go over budget for the year.
It said there were 38 positions to be filled and that staff turnover was running at a high rate of 15%.
The confidential note said all new hiring should “cease with immediate effect” unless an offer was already made and that new vacancies from retirements should not be filled.
“The current high turnover rate is resulting in an average of six employees leaving the board per month over the last [year],” the document said.
The note also said that “no workshare pattern increases” should be permitted where a person sought to increase their reduced hours.
“Workshare reductions can be granted if approved by line management,” the document said.
“As noted at all times, the staffing situation is fluid. Close monitoring will have to take place on the payroll figures which will be updated and the CEO kept updated,” it continued.
The Legal Aid Board did not respond to a request for comment on the records.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
