What is happening with our shifts?
Posted on 08/12/2010 by Mark Botham
Nigel Day the JBB Secretary has been leading for the Federation on the proposed changes to shifts.
The implementation date for the proposed shift changes which the force wish to introduce for police officers and police staff has been determined as 21 March 2011.
At an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Branch Board held on Tuesday 7th December 2010 it was agreed:
- In order to ensure we have a mandate from you the membership to enter into agreements, and acting on legal advice we have obtained we will conduct a ballot of the membership;
- that we will ballot the membership using the SNAP software within NYP;
- that the ballot will run from 8am on Wednesday 8th December 2010 to 8am on Friday 17th December 2010;
- that in order for us to have a mandate at least 51% of those eligible to vote (all federated ranks) must do so;
- that if 4 is achieved we will take the results as a mandate on a straight majority for the options presented.
Under Police Regulations a Variable Shift Agreement (VSA) i.e. shift pattern of anything other than 8 hour shifts can only be introduced by the Chief Constable if they have been agreed with him by the Joint Branch Board. The Joint Branch Board needs to be satisfied that it has the authority to signify to the Chief Constable that the proposed arrangements can be agreed.
Whilst the Senior Leadership Team of the force wish to make it clear that they do not wish to retain the current system do not be pressurised into voting for patterns which you do not wish to give the Joint Branch Board the mandate to agree.
The results of the ballot and the decision of the Joint Branch Board which it informs will impact on the Welfare, Health and Work Life balance of the officers working within North Yorkshire Police.
We have been presented with options by the force and have negotiated tirelessly with the force to try and secure the best possible outcome for our members. We are aware that some of these changes may be unpopular. We need to make it clear IT WAS THE FORCE WHO WANTED THESE CHANGES AND SET THE PARAMETERS. We have therefore had to work within them.
We will ensure the force complies with its legal obligations in relation to duty rosters.
There are 3 basic things to remember.
- A roster, once published, must last for at least 3 months and in practice not more than 12 months.
- A new roster must be published at least a month before it comes into force, and should succeed rather than replace the previous roster unless there are exigencies of duty which mean a change to the previous roster is necessary.
- In the absence of exigencies of duty there is no power in the regulations to change a roster or to reissue it in an amended form during the period for which it was originally published.
You can use the 90 day calculator by clicking here .
You need to make sure your voice is heard, please ensure you vote in the ballot which is being run on the force system.
To assist you with your decisions here is a Comparison Table
We will announce the results of the ballot to the force and to you the membership by no later than 12 noon on Friday 17th December 2010.
Whatever the outcome we will be seeking a full evaluation of any shift changes by 30th September 2011 and feel that this evaluation should include:
- User satisfaction survey;
- Whether overtime has increased / decreased;
- Whether the safe staffing level set by each area / department has consistently been met;
- Impact upon the number of officers injured on duty;
- Impact upon short term sickness levels;
- Impact upon long term sickness levels;
- Impact on force performance;
- The number of times Working Time Regulations are breached in terms of length of hours;
- The number of times rest days are cancelled or re-rostered;
- The number of deviations;
- The amount of times training takes place;
- The amount of health assessments conducted for night workers;
- Measuring both what is actually worked against the HSE Fatigue Index;
- The effect of the Diversity Impact Assessment including the number of Flexible Working applications received / granted / rejected.
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