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	Staff in HSE-funded residential homes will this morning be asked to lobby TDs over the situation which sees them routinely having to work 15 hours over the legal maximum.</p>
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	Impact trade union is holding one of a series of information meeting for the staff at the Killarney Court Hotel in Kerry at 11am today as part of a campaign to end what it sees as exploitation by employers in the sector.</p>
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	At the end of last month, the union lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission on behalf of its members, who care for children, homeless people, and those with disabilities.</p>
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	Along with Siptu, it claims residential care staff are routinely expected to work 63-hour weeks even though the legal maximum is 48 hours. They contend health employers and management are, in some cases, continually breaching the 1993 EU Working Time Directive and also failing to respect a decade-old European Court of Justice ruling on working time.</p>
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	The unions say management accepts it is in breach of the legislation, but extensive talks on the issue last year came to nothing. The unions subsequently referred the matter to the Labour Court, which directed the parties to return to Labour Relations Commission-facilitated talks to try and resolve the issues no later than May 31.</p>
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	Una Faulkner of Impact called for a 39-hour week &mdash; excluding &lsquo;sleepover&rsquo; duty whereby workers are in-situ at residential facilities overnight &mdash; with any extra hours beyond this paid as overtime.</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/carers-to-lobby-tds-on-exploitative-hours-262967.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/carers-to-lobby-tds-on-exploitative-hours-262967.html</a></p>
