Siptu urges businesses to follow banks with €1,000 cost-of-living vouchers

Bank of Ireland and AIB have decided to issue vouchers worth €1,000 to most of their staff as once-off supports to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis following the Government’s recent move to increase the tax-free nature of this type of benefit.

Siptu deputy general secretary Gerry McCormack called on other employers to follow suit following the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe’s decision two weeks ago to double to €1,000 the amount that employers can give to workers in any year by way of tax-free vouchers.

“We are calling on employers to take advantage of the additional €500 of tax-free vouchers they can now give in order to alleviate the huge pressures that workers are under,” said Mr McCormack. “It’s early days, but this will be coming into play in any wage-agreement negotiations taking place in the near term.”

Bank of Ireland told staff in an email on Monday that it will be making the voucher payment to most staff in the Republic.

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Staff based overseas will receive the benefit through the bank’s payroll, with employees in the UK, for example, set to receive £1,250 as the award is taxable.

AIB’s voucher offering is being made through a portal that has a list of retailers where it can be used.

Both banks are making the vouchers available to the lower five of their seven employee grades. The moves follow discussions with the Financial Services Union (FSU) in recent months.

“Workers are struggling to pay bills, heat their homes and put food on the table,” said John O’Connell, general secretary of the FSU. “They need help from the Government but they also need support from their employer.”

The vouchers are in addition to multiyear pay increases agreed by the two banks earlier this year amid soaring inflation. AIB agreed in May to pay a 10 per cent increase to most employees, spread over three years, in the longest-lasting pay deal struck between an Irish retail bank and trade union officials.

Bank of Ireland agreed to a 7.5 per cent pay hike over two years. Inflation in Ireland is currently running at an annual rate of about 9 per cent, driven by soaring energy and food costs.