Lower paid civil servants have said they will resist the removal of bank time - allocated to allow them to cash their pay cheque - despite the fact that most are now paid by electronic transfer.
The Department of Finance wants to scrap the entitlement by next month as part of the Croke Park Agreement.
However, the Civil Public and Services Union said the elimination of bank time would hit lower paid workers disproportionately.
In the 1970s, the Government wanted its employees to move from cash to payment by cheque - partly to avoid robberies by subversives.
They agreed to allow each civil servant 30 minutes ‘bank time’ per week or fortnight - depending on how they were paid - to go to the bank to cash their cheque.
The entitlement was discontinued for new entrants from 2003 - but still exists for pre-2003 employees.
Today, most people are paid by electronic funds transfer directly to their account, and the Department of Finance wants to discontinue the entitlement as part of its reform package to implement the Croke Park Agreement.
The department does not have figures for how many people avail of the benefit, how much time is lost or how much that lost productivity costs.
However, in one of the few - and first - firm targets for Croke Park implementation, the department wants this eliminated by next month.
