Failure to Agree a National ‘On Call’ Allowance

10 February 2010

   
At the beginning of August 2009, the Police Arbitration Tribunal (PAT) determined that there should be a national on-call allowance. It was referred back to the PNB to negotiate the level of payment. Despite a willingness on our part to enter into constructive discussions, we have been met with nothing but delaying tactics from the Official Side. It is now over five years since this claim was first tabled and six months since the PAT decided that there should be a national allowance.

The Official Side tabled an offer for the first time on 22nd January at the PNB meeting. This offer was a derisory £10 – an offer significantly below the Staff Side claim, below the amount paid to police staff (between £25 - £30 per day) and below the amount currently paid to many police officers through an SPP or local allowance.

This flat rate offer fails to recognise the greater level of disruption to the family lives of officers when they are required to be on call on Rest days compared to a Duty day.

The principal aim of this claim has always been to reduce the amount of on call by introducing a financial cost that will disincentivise Chief Officers from placing officers on call unnecessarily and using it as a cheap option to provide operational cover.

The current claim is based on the rate of pay of a five-year constable for each period of up to 24 hours of on call:

·        For a duty day, a rate equivalent to 0.1 percent (£30.26).
·        For a rest day, public holiday or free day, a rate of 0.2 percent (£60.52)
·        For a period of annual leave, a daily allowance paid at the rate of 0.5 percent (£151.30).

There is no policing requirement within Regulations and Determinations for officers to be on call. Officers undertake ’On Call’ voluntarily, usually as part of performing a specific policing role.

Forces have come to rely too much on the goodwill of officers who put their personal and family lives on hold when they are off duty. Disappointingly, the Official Side of PNB is unwilling to recognise this commitment and the matter is to be referred back to the PAT to determine the amount of the allowance.

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