Millennium phobics expecting to receive a big payout for avoiding the annual champagne popping ceremonies of New Year's Eve would do well not to hold their breaths.

Rewards for those backroom boys who make sure everything runs smoothly while the rest of the country cuts loose are far from being finalised.

With all the hype about the huge pay packets that workers will receive for working into the millennium, many employers and indeed the Government appears to be holding out until the last minute.

Although claims have been lodged, or are in the process of being lodged by unions, very few deals have been done, with many employers' organisations saying their members will close on the night rather than meet the demands.

The financial services sector which now relies so heavily on computers and technology for its day-to-day business seems to have been eager to reach a deal with fears of the effect of the millennium bug loosening its purse strings.

The Irish Bank Officials' Association has concluded deals with both Ulster Bank and the Bank of Ireland on remuneration for staff needed over the New Year. The association is still negotiating with AIB, but expects to agree a deal soon.

Ulster Bank will give its employees a once-off payment of £2,000 (€2,539) for being on call or for being rostered to work between 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 6 a.m. on New Year's day. In addition, rostered staff will receive 1.5 times the weekend rate for any hours they actually work during this period, while they will be paid double this rate for any hours worked beyond whatever hours they were due to work. For those who are rostered to work over the New Year's Eve/ New Year's day period, Ulster Bank is giving them a day off in lieu. They will also be given a second day off for the hours worked in addition to the normal hours they were rostered to work.

Bank of Ireland has done a deal with its information technology staff working in branches, area support functions and support branches which will give employees a £300 lump sum for being on call between the December 31st and January 3rd or £500 for being on call for the millennium shift.

If staff are called into work they will get the emergency attendance rate for weekend and bank holidays as well as special bonus payments ranging from £500 for working a 12-hour day shift on New Year's Eve to £950 for working from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on the same day.

In addition, those called in will receive a day's leave for every day or part of a day worked between December 31st and January 3rd and two hours pay will be added to the actual hours worked on each shift.

Expectations of huge rewards for those either forced to, or volunteering to work seem to be unfounded in many sectors with employers deciding to close rather than pay exorbitant rates.

Whether this position is more of a ruse by companies to keep down pay claims and avoid setting a precedent which would force other companies to do the same is unclear. A spokesman for Mandate which represents many employees in the retail and services sector said that from the start of the year the union had followed a policy of looking for retailers to close and give their employees the days off rather than looking for high payments.

Mr John Douglas, a national official of the union said: "It is not inconceivable that most pubs will close or will just open for very limited hours and the prevalent view is that most shops will close."

The Irish Business Employers'

Confederation (IBEC) says that where employees had demanded high wages, many enterprises are choosing to close over the period.

An IBEC spokesman said that of the very few agreements that had been reached by its members, most did not exceed the normal holiday or bank holiday pay, with deals involving twice or three times the normal rate plus bank holidays or holiday allowances being the norm.

This level of normal holiday pay is not mirrored by the pay claims lodged by many unions, with SIPTU seeking seven times the basic rate of pay plus public holiday entitlements for security workers on duty between 8 p.m. on December 31st to 8 a.m. the following morning.

The pharmaceutical company Abbot International of Donegal is bringing in students to work for a special one-off millennium period while Campbell catering employees have lodged a claim for six times the normal rate and are seeking negotiations on transport arrangements, and special call out and shift allowances.

Mr Pat Delaney, chief executive of the Small Firms Association said that increasingly companies were closing down and are now terrified that they will not have staff to work on New Year's day.

"Many retail businesses like pubs, restaurants and shops are more likely to close than open and if they do open it will only be for limited hours, maybe until 6 or 8 o'clock on New Year's Eve."

The cost of the millennium to businesses will be in the region of £400 million, with direct costs of £150 million for the extra day's holiday and £250 million in lost production, according to Mr Delaney.

"There will probably be, like in the United Kingdom, only about 30 per cent of pubs open not just because of cost but because of consumer resistance to paying high prices on the night and people's desire to spend the time with their family," he said.

Mr Delaney believes that with such a long holiday period, (11 days), people will not have huge amounts of money to spend when it comes to New Year's Eve.

Public sector information technology personnel in the health service and the Civil Service, have already agreed yearly loyalty payments of £7,500 per year up to March 31st next. Bonuses will be calculated on the actual time employees spend on essential Y2K compliance work up to March 31st next.

But the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) still wants to negotiate payments for employees working in areas such as customs in airports as well as for information technology personnel in other areas of the public sector.

A PSEU spokesman said that there had been no proper response from the Government regarding negotiations on the issue and he believed it could be close to Christmas before an agreement was reached.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association is seeking £100 an hour for the millennium shift; gardai appear to be looking for a lump sum of £1,000; the Irish Nurses Organisation is seeking treble time for evening shifts and four times the normal rate for the millennium overnight shift.

For parents still set on heading out for New Year's Eve, the going rate for babysitters on the big night seems to be a lot lower than expected, at least north of the Border anyway.

Ms Karen Buckingham of Northern Ireland-based Nannies from Ireland said rates would be between £15 and £20 sterling (€23-€31) an hour with a minimum of four hours' hire. Clients would be expected to provide taxis for babysitters if needed.

Closed shops, pubs and restaurants will probably be the most striking feature of the last day of the millennium rather than uncharacteristically joyful workers earning a few weeks' wages for one night's work.