Security guards to receive pay increase after Minister approves new order

About 16,000 security guards across the State are to receive pay rises at the start of next month after the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail confirmed she will sign a new Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the sector.

The move will mean the basic rate for those working in the sector will increase from €12.90 to €14.50 per hour, an improvement of €62.40 on a 39 hour working week.

The move will address a situation in which pay in the sector had slipped to just 20 cent per hour above the minimum wage as a result of the last ERO, which was signed by then minister of state, Neale Richmond in August of last year, having been held up for more than a year by a legal action mounted by three firms in the sector.

The pay increase it provided, from €11.65 to €12.90, was the first the workers, who are mainly employed by contracting firms, had received in four years.

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Rates, union officials said, had fallen behind other sectors during that time with recruitment and retention becoming more of a challenge.

They also argued the staff deserved to be rewarded for the training they underwent and responsibility involved in the role.

Due to the delays with the last ERO, employers and unions had already commenced work on this one but the Minister could not actually approve it for at least six months after the previous one came into force.

“I greatly appreciate the difficult and important work undertaken by workers in the security industry,” said Emer Higgins as the announcement confirming the new ERO was made on Friday.

“These workers often face significant personal risk to ensure public safety. I also recognise that this is a sector which has undergone significant professionalisation in recent years which requires security workers to have training and qualification requirements to complete their roles.

“I remain strongly supportive of the state’s collective bargaining and wage setting mechanisms, and the important work of the Joint Labour Committees in setting Employment Regulation Orders. I would like to thank the members of the Joint Labour Committee for Security and the Labour Court for their work in delivering this Employment Regulation Order.”

The new ERO also sets out improved conditions for the sector including an unsocial hours payment of at least €12.60 per shift and a schedule for further improvements over the coming 18 months.

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