Last month, due to the triennial
elections I didn’t know if I’d be a Fed Rep much longer, now in January I’m
still a Rep and have taken over as Chairman of the Constables Branch Board.
It’s a funny old world.
I’d like to thank
the outgoing Chair, Gary Davies, on behalf of the federation, especially the
Constables Branch Board for the work he’s done whilst holding the position for
the last seven years.
Right, here
we go, I’ll start by explaining a few things about the federation and dispelling
some myths, I also want to pose and answer one or two re-occurring regulation
questions each time I submit an article.
The
Constables Branch Board (CBB) is currently made up of 15 div/dept reps, 1
reserve rep and five full time reps.
The recent triennials
were a chance for officers to stand for their relevant div/dept federation
position. Eight positions amongst the Constables were challenged out of a
possible sixteen, only one rep lost their position. So, the federation nationally
may be struggling to connect with officers, but it appears that at a local
level officers seem to be happy with their current reps. The next triennials will be September 2016,
although vacancies will still appear with reps moving on or deciding to stand
down.
Many things
are muted about how much money federation reps receive, only last week I was
told “it’s ok for you, you get a Sgt’s wage and pension for being a rep”...............I
wish.
The Div/Dept Constables reps get 48p
per day, that is paid in a lump sum of £176.24 in October of each year, not
quite a Sgts wage or pension. A round of coffees for a colleague and I when
attending court recently came to £4.60, it doesn’t go far, even my cheap
Slaters suit for meetings and court was £99 !!
Your reps work hard for that 48p per day,
taking calls at all hours, turning out from home in the middle of the night,
answering regs questions whilst on holiday etc etc. In saying that, it
was good to see that eight positions were challenged, it shows that there are officers
interested in what’s happening and who want to get involved in federation work.
It’s also important to remember that your
Reps represent you at a local level only. They have no say nationally, they can’t
sort out pensions, rates of pay, changes in regs etc, they’re sorted out at
Leatherhead, at the offices of the National Federation. Please don’t give local
reps grief in relation to these matters. What they can do is ensure that any national
decisions are implemented correctly and try to disseminate any information from
the National Federation asap.
OK, regulation questions for this
edition.
I’m
on a 7-5 morning, and the same tomorrow. I am told at 1500 that I’m required on
at 0500 instead of 0700 for an early Op. What am I entitled to?
Quick answer – nothing.(sorry) You’ve
been given the required notice (11hrs), so your TOD now is 0500 – 1500 (10hrs
still), anything worked after 1500 would be O/T @ time and a third. If you
don’t receive the required notice you would get OT @ time and a third for the hours
worked before 0700 and again time and a third for any worked after 1500 (Reg 25 Appendix G)
I am on A/L and I am recalled and
attend Crown Court for a day. What am I entitled to?
As long as
you’re A/L is part of at least three days off, (e.g 1 day leave, 2 r/d’s) then
you can claim either 2 days A/L back OR 1
days A/L and 8hrs @ double time, it is your choice. (Reg 33 Annex O)
Lastly, I’ve
wrote this report in November (due to Christmas printing deadlines), so a
belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all.
Take Care
Steve Phillips
Constables Chair.
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