Police Officers win right to on-call payment
Thursday, 06 August, 2009
Today the independent Police Arbitration Tribunal (PAT) ruled in favour of the Staff Side (employee) of the Police Negotiating Board and not the Official Side (employer) that an on-call allowance should be payable to UK police officers.
The exact wording of the PAT award is:
The Tribunal is persuaded that an on-call allowance, determined at national level, should be introduced. The details as to the form of nationally determined recompense such as the level or levels, conditions, date of introduction, and any PNB framework of principles or guidance for the operation of on-call, are to be subject to negotiation between the Sides.
The following is a statement responding to the good news from the Staff Side General Secretary, Ian Rennie:
Ian Rennie, Secretary of Staff Side of PNB, says:
"We are pleased that the Tribunal was persuaded that a National on-call allowance should be introduced. We are particularly heartened that the Tribunal recognised the unfairness and inconsistency of the current arrangements. Police officers know that they can be recalled to duty in times of emergency, but increasingly officers have also been put "on-call" and required to be available on the end of a phone, close to work and fit for duty. They are not able to relax or spend quality time with their families when they are off duty. We know that some officers need to be on-call, and we hope that this new allowance will compensate them for the disruption to their home and family life. But more importantly, it should mean that forces will think seriously before placing officers "on-call" unnecessarily."
