RTÉ puts €1.75m cost estimate on voucher plan for 1,900 staff
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Cash-strapped RTÉ has put an estimated cost of €1.75m on its plan to distribute non-taxable vouchers valued up to €1,000 to staff.
That is according to RTÉ tender documents for the planned voucher give-away which states that there will be around 1,900 employees receiving the cards in 2025.
The vouchers are part of an interim arrangement agreed by RTÉ and the RTÉ Trade Union Group (TUG) which will see the non-taxable voucher of up to €1,000 being provided to RTÉ employees who are in employment with the broadcaster on December 31 this year.
An RTÉ spokesman said on Thursday that the vouchers “will issue as early as possible in the new year following a tender process”.
He said that following a conciliation conference held on November 26, RTÉ and the RTÉ Trade Union Group announced to RTÉ staff that they have agreed to continue discussions on the TUG pay claim in 2025.
He said that the interim arrangement will run until April 30, 2025, at which point a new collective pay agreement will take effect.
In October, the TUG lodged a pay claim on behalf of RTÉ staff seeking a flat rate increase of €1,500 plus 6%.
On the €1.75m cost estimate for the vouchers, the RTÉ tender estimates that 1,600 vouchers valued at €1,000 will be distributed.
It also estimates that a further 200 valued at €600 will be given out with a further estimated 100 valued at €200 to be provided.
The tender states that “the issuing of voucher cards to employees each year is not guaranteed. The amount issued on the card will not be the same value for each employee”.
In the tender, RTÉ specify that the voucher “is to be a physical card and not a digital/mobile voucher”.
The tender also states that “it is important that the vouchers can be used across a wide range of sectors to accommodate the diverse nature of the recipients”.
The card must be redeemable online and usable in a wide variety of outlets.
The tender states that each card must allow the holder to redeem the card for goods or services to the value of the card without additional cost being imposed.
The tender also states that firms seeking to tender have until January 10 and RTÉ expects to award the contract on January 31.
The last RTÉ pay claim agreement was in November 2022, when RTÉ staff received a 6% pay increase, over a two-year period, with a 3% increase in January 2023, backdated to December 2022, a 1.5% increase in October, and a further 1.5% on April 30, 2024.