What happens next in the saga of Gina Spence Farmer's bid to be both a senator and a Bermuda College employee is all down to ongoing talks between college bosses and the Bermuda Public Services Union.

Despite being told by the College that it would not be possible for her to take off Wednesdays in order to serve in the Senate she was appointed a United Bermuda Party senator earlier this week and is due to be officially sworn in today to join fellow UBP senators Kim Swan and Bob Richards in the Upper House.

Bermuda College spokeswoman Evelyn James-Barnett confirmed that youth worker Mrs. Spence Farmer is still employed at the College and said it was a matter being dealt with by the Bermuda Public Services Union. Ed Ball, general secretary of the BPSU, said: "We are having ongoing discussions with the College. She remains employed there and will have to go through any due process.

"It is always the employer's prerogative whether to allow employees to have time off. Mrs. Spence Farmer still has an employment contact at Bermuda College. The duties to the company come first and she will still have to work out time off with her employer by mutual consent."

Forty-three year-old Mrs. Spence Farmer has previously said that she would swap accrued over-time hours during the rest of the week in order to take Wednesday's off to sit on the Senate. But the college does not believe this arrangement will work because it does not classify her job as being a time-flexible role that could accommodate such a switch of hours without having a negative impact on the running of the college.

The controversy has also became mired in political argument with claims that she was being denied the opportunity to serve her country simply because she intended to represent the opposition UBP.

However, Scott Simmons spokesman for the governing Progressive Labour Party, told The Royal Gazette: "The PLP has no legitimate concern with a person in the community seizing the opportunity to serve their country. "We welcome her to the Senate. This is a matter for the college, it is a matter for the employer and employee and we have no comment on her status.

"Any citizen given the opportunity to serve their country must be sure that they can give time to it and that there is no time conflict with their employer. We always appreciate members of the public who come forward to serve the country."

Announcing Mrs. Spence Farmer's appointment as a senator, UBP leader Grant Gibbons earlier this week said he hoped a satisfactory arrangement would be reached with the college.

Mrs. Spence Farmer, a mother-of-three and former post-lady, is replacing Senator Kenneth Bascome.