HSE offers staff €12,000 per annum to take three years off work

We'd all love an extra few days off work and to get paid for them too, but it just doesn't happen... unless you're currently working in the HSE.

So why are the HSE offering staff €12,000 per year to take an incentivised career break? Well, as the Irish Independent put it, it’s a ‘desperate bid to slash staff numbers by 1,500’ and to save a few bob in the process.

The scheme would see a worker being paid one third of their annual salary up to a maximum of €12,000 a year, but the staff will have to take at least three years off.

Staff will also have to avail of the scheme by the end of this month and it’s open to anyone who has completed at least two years of continuous service.

In fairness, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for anyone who is currently with someone who also had a full paying job. They could take the three years out and use the €12,000 per year on a new degree, or to just take a well deserved break.

However, when the workers eventually return after their three years off they may find themselves assigned “to the next appropriate vacancy to be filled following the expiry of the career break, with a guarantee of re-employment in a relevant grade".

So you'll get a job back, but it might not be the same one that you left.