FAQ's - Frequently asked Questions

ANNUAL LEAVE - POLICE OFFICERS (applicable from 01 April 2005) 1st April to 31st March

If an officer reaches the next level part way through the Annual leave year the calculation is as follows:-
e.g. Officer joins in August completes 4 years service
divide no of days entitlement 21
by 12 months = 1.75
x 4 (no of completed months) = 7

next

divide new annual leave entitlement due 23
by 12 months 1.92
x 8 (balance of months to end of annual leave year) 15.36

Take both total 7 + 15.36 = 22.36 this must be rounded up Annual leave entitlement 23 days

Recall from Annual Leave

Where an officer is recalled to duty scheduled to fall in a period of abscence of three dyas or more he/she will be compensated for each day that he is required to do duty, that was a day originally taken as annual leave or a day off in lieu of overtime.

Scheduled to fall in a period of absence - means, either actually being on leave or where the period of leave (as defined) is agreed, booked and entered on the duty system (SAP). i.e. it has been properly planned and booked.

For a recall on 1 or 2 days, irrespective of whether they formed a single period, he shall have the annual leave hours that were to be taken off as annual leave or time in lieu returned, and, in addition, receive 8 hours annual leave (recall) per day or 8 hours pay at double time.

For example

• 1 day annual leave on a 9 hour duty day
  
  Recalled for just that day – 9 hours annual leave back plus 8 additional recall annual leave hours or 8 hours pay at double time.
  
  
• 1 day annual leave on a 10 hour duty day and 1 day time off on a 10 hour duty day – recalled for both days
  
  10 hours annual leave back plus 10 hours time in lieu back plus 16 hours recall annual leave or 16 hours at double time
  
  
• In addition if the recall is for 3 or more days, then for the first two the above applies and for the third and subsequent days, the annual leave or time off in lieu hours plus an additional 4 recall annual leave hours per day are credited or the option of payment of 4 hours at double time.

For example:

1 day annual leave on a 10 hour duty day (being the third day cancelled in a recall from leave)

10 hours annual leave back plus 4 recall annual leave hours or 4 hours at double time.

This rule applies to a period of absence of three or more days, at least one being a day of annual leave and the remainder being any combination of annual leave, rest days, rest days in lieu, Bank Holidays, Bank Holidays in lieu or time in lieu of overtime. Unless the period is a total of three days or more then this rule does not apply. Two annual leave days taken on their own in the week and not attached to any other time off or day off are not compensated in this way and the officer will only get back the hours that are cancelled with no additional compensation.

Remember – the compensation in this rule only applies to annual leave days and time in lieu days taken within a period of annual leave. REST DAYS and BANK HOLIDAYS are treated, as they would be in the normal way.

Where an officer is recalled from a period scheduled as annual leave then the above compensation is received but that day then becomes and ordinary working day and the officer should work the hours rostered for that day.

If an officer is called to court from annual leave he will be required to work the whole day. If the court duty finishes early and the officer requires the rest of the day off then time off in lieu will need to be taken.

Regulation 33 and Annex O

Carrying Leave over to the Next Leave Year
Where the Chief Officer of Police is satisfied that, in any leave year, the grant to, or taking, by a member of a police force of a rank not higher than that of a Superintendent of the full period of annual leave specified in those paragraphs has been prevented by the exigencies of duty or otherwise then the Chief Officer may, in his discretion and subject to the exigencies of duty, grant to the member, during the 12 months of the following leave year, additional days of annual leave not exceeding the number of days not granted or taken so, however, that a Chief Officer shall not exercise his discretion so as to grant more than 5 additional days of annual leave to a member unless he/she is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances and it is in the interests of efficiency so to do.

Regulation 33 Annex O paragraph 3

Police officers, by Regulations work a basic 40 hour week. A standard Regulation day is 8 hours and there are 2 statutory Rest Days in each 7 day week. The Variable Shift Arrangement which most officers work is permitted by those Regulations and allows for variable hours to be worked (ie 9 and 10 hour rostered duties) in order that additional rest days can be accrued.

Like Annual Leave, your entitlement to Bank Holiday leave is that of a standard working day ie 8 hours and should therefore be converted into an hourly rather than a daily entitlement. If this were not the case, officers rostered to work 10 hours on a Monday ordinarily as part of their normal shift pattern would be paid 10 hours pay for taking BH leave if that Monday happened to be a Bank Holiday. Those rostered for 9 hours would get 9 hours, those on 8 would get 8 etc which would clearly be unfair. As an extreme example, a part timer who works two ten hour days per week would get 50% of their working week as paid Bank Holiday leave if one of those two days fell on a Bank Holiday.

This method of allocating Bank Holiday leave on a pro rata basis is not unique to Sussex Police nor even the police service in general. Many industries and companies whose workforce work variable hours adopt the same policies eg Tesco’s. Whilst this policy may be unpalatable it is the only equitable way of allowing Bank Holiday leave within a VSA.As many of you have realised, the effect of this is that, if you were rostered to work 10 hours , you will end up owing Sussex Police 2 hours each BH day you take off, if you divide your total BH hours into 8 hour chunks for each BH day. Should you chose not to use any time off in lieu that you have accumulated on previous occasions, those extra hours will have to be worked at some point. This should be done by arrangement with your Duties Officer.

The most likely scenario is that you will work on at the end of a normal rostered shift to make the time up. That time has, of course, to be made up hour for hour. Your additional time at the end of a rostered shift is not therefore overtime, although SAP ESS will recognise it as such. This is the reason that the BH time owed has to be grossed up at time and a third to match, hour for hour, what you have worked against what time is owed.

Again, it would be unfair if not dishonest, to work one and a half hours, add a third for overtime, and consider that the 2 hour debt is repaid.

We have experienced very much the same considerations, for example, on Training Days which tend to be 8 hours, whatever number of hours you might have actually been rostered to work ordinarily. In summary, in order that every one of our members is treated equally and fairly and the Force gets the labour that it is paying for, this policy is correct.sap

I appreciate that it is not the easiest policy to understand and that some ill feeling has resulted. We would not have agreed to it if we felt that any officer would be disadvantaged by it.

Mark White Secretary

The paternity leave for police officers will change with effect from Sunday 6th April to allow officers 5 days (40 hours) paid paternity leave and an additional 5 days (40 hours) at the statutory maternity payrate of £100 per week.

Officers will need to apply for this on the appropriate form through their HR manager.

Should you be required to work on a public holiday which you were expecting to take off you need to be aware of the following:

Police Regulations and Determinations Annex H.1(d)(i)

A member of a police force of the rank of constable or sergeant shall, if required to do a duty on a day which is a public holiday, be granted:

• where he received less than 8 days' notice of the requirement:
  
• an allowance at the appropriate rate and, in addition,
  
• another day off in lieu thereof, which shall be notified to him within four days of notification of the requirement, and which shall be treated for the purpose of this determination as a public holiday.

Where an officer is given 15 or more days notice of a requirement to work on a rest day, that rest day will be re-rostered to another working day. Within 4 days of the cancellation of that day, the officer will be notified of which day he has been given as the rest day in lieu. Providing the day is nominated within the four days, that day is treated as a rest day if it is subsequently cancelled. Reg 26 Annex H (1) a (ii)

Cancellation of a rest day with more than or equal to 5 days notice but less than 15 days notice – for each 15 minutes worked, time and a half Reg 26 Annex H 1 c (ii). (Minimum of 4 hours) Reg 26 Annex H 3(h)  

Cancellation of a rest day with less than 5 days notice - for each 15 minutes worked, double time (Minimum of 4 hours) Reg 26 Annex H 1C(i) The same rate applies for payment or time off.

Where the rest day is cancelled ( with either less than 15 days and more than or equal to 5 days notice or less than 5 days notice) and then, with less than 5 days notice, the rest day is reinstated, then the officer can elect to either have the rest day off or work for the appropriate overtime. The officer will be entitled to work a day, 8 hours, unless the shift was rostered for a shorter time in which case those shorter hours can be worked. i.e. an officer is scheduled to work a 6 hour duty on a rest day with less than 15days notice but equal to or more than 5 days notice for football duty. The match is called off the night before. The officer can elect to work the 6 hours duty or have the day off.

A minimum of 4 hours overtime can be claimed for either a requirement to perform duty on a rest day or a recall to duty on a Rest day. Where an officer works on from a normal daily period of duty into a rest day for not more than 1 hour then up to that one hour can be claimed at Rest Day working rates (double time). Working more than 1 hour into a rest day i.e. 1 hours 15 minutes or more, will attract the usual minimum rest day rates (minimum of 4 hours). Reg 26 Annex H 3 (h).The working of up to the one hour will be claimed on S.A.P. as "working into a rest day" as an attendance. More than 1 hour will be rest day working and recorded as a substitution RDW < 5Days Notice. This only applies to working into a Rest Day. It does not apply to working into a Bank Holiday.

Explanation:

This only applies where an officer works on from "a normal daily period of duty" into a rest day.

For example:- Officer works 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (his police day finishes at 6 a.m.) he actually works until 7 a.m.. An overtime claim will be made in SAP ESS for the hour from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and the reason selected will be 'WORKING INTO REST DAY'. That hour will be paid at double time.

The same officer is rostered to work 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. but now works until 7.15 a.m.. This above paragraph no longer applies, as more than one hour has been worked. This is now REST DAY working. The officer still books off at 7.15 a.m. but does not make an overtime claim. His supervisor (or the supervisor who has authorised the work) should inform the Duties Officer that the officer has worked on his REST DAY. The Duties Officer will the do a substitution in SAP for the REST DAY worked and the system will automatically pay the minimum of 4 hours.

Where the same officer is scheduled to work 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. but works on until 7 a.m. into his rest day, then this rule does not apply. His 'normal daily period of duty' is 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.. Therefore he has not worked into his rest day from his normal period of duty. The officer will book off duty at 7 a.m.. In this case the officer will submit an overtime claim in SAP ESS for the hours from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.. The box 'PREVIOUS DAY INDICATOR' will need to be ticked as the overtime relates to the previous day when the duty started. The hours from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. will be rest day working and as previously outlined, the supervisor will inform the Duties Officer who will make a substitution in ESS.

Police Negotiating Board (PNB) Circulars 85/9 and 86/2 refer.

CANCELLATION OF REST DAYS

If due to operational requirements it is necessary to cancel rest days, then the officer should be made aware as soon as possible. If that notification gives more than 15 days notice, then that officer should have their rest day re-rostered. The officer must be notified within 4 days of the rest day being cancelled as to when it is to be re-rostered to, and it should be taken within 28 days and be added to a set of rest days.

It is important to remember that the requisite notice should be calculated from the time that the officer receives the notice and not when an e-mail was sent. It may well be that officers are notified via e-mail that they are required to work a rest day, but all receive their e-mails on different days due to rest days or leave. You would then have the situation that officers engaged on the same operation will be on different rest day rates depending on when they were informed

For the purposes or calculating the notice given, the day on which notice is received and the day on which an officer is required to work do not count

REINSTATEMENT OF REST DAY/PUBLIC HOLIDAY

If the rest day is subsequently re-instated, then the following rules apply:

Where 7 days notice or less is received of the cancelled duty requirement, the officer may either choose to take the rest day/public holiday or work and claim the appropriate level of compensation. As above, the notice period starts when the officer receives the notification and not when the e-mail was sent.

Again, the day that the notice is received and the day of the rest day to be worked are NOT included in the calculations of notice received.

Subscribing members have deductions on their pay slips of either £17.50 or £19.41 - marked "Accident Insurance" IF SO . . .

Have your personal circumstances changed recently - e.g. Marriage, Change of Partner, Address, Separation, Divorce?

Whether your circumstances have changed or not . . . Are you sure your named beneficiaries reflect your current wishes?

If you would like to amend your beneficiaries, please write to the Federation Office giving the name and address of the proposed recipient. Make sure you sign and date the letter - No emails please, we must have your signature to make it legal.

Unfortunately we are not able to answer queries about the Beneficiaries over the telephone owing to issues of confidentiality and data protection.

PLUS . . .

Did you know Travel Insurance is included within the scheme? Have you registered for the Travel Insurance? If you have registered you will have been sent a Summary of Cover and a White credit card sized Certificate, showing Policy Number, and Emergency Numbers in the event of an accident. This card should be carried with you whilst on holiday. It is also proof to Travel Agents that you have insurance cover. If not, ring the Federation Office (ext 44434/35) for a travel Registration Form

If your pay slip shows that you are currently paying £19.41 per month as a deduction to 'accident' and you are no longer married, please advise the office accordingly so the relevant adjustment can be made.

Also, if you are married to a fellow Sussex officer, please check that if both of you are subscribing to the Life/Accident Scheme, you only pay £17.50 per month as a single premium. The Scheme is designed to accept an officer and his spouse individually and does not permit officers who are married to other police officers in the same force to have joint cover for each other. Please let us know if this is the case.

Also, a change in your personal or domestic circumstances means that you may wish to reconsider your nominated beneficiary. Should you wish to make an amendment, please notify the office in writing (to include your signature) without delay so that our records can be updated.

To revise the rates with effect from 1 April 2008, as follows:

The above rates supersede those contained in PNB Circular 07/2.

TAX RELIEF ON FEDERATION SUBSCRIPTIONS

WEEKLY SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
2002 £3.24
2003 £3.36
2004 £3.48
2005 £3.60
2006 £3.72
2007 £3.81
2008 £3.93

The answers have been provided by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and are based on indications of market trends. The ABI advises that any emergency service worker who has concerns about their policy should first consult their policy document and consult with their insurer for any clarifications. The answers have been provided by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and are based on indications of market trends. The ABI advises that any emergency service worker who has concerns about their policy should first consult their policy document and consult with their insurer for any clarifications.

1. Will my insurance policy payout in the event of a terrorist event?

Most individually purchased, stand-alone life insurance products do not contain terrorism exclusion clauses and would payout in the event of death in a terrorist incident. Health insurance policies, such as critical illness, have a number of standard exclusions and whether these would apply to a specific terrorist incident would depend on the particular circumstances. Individuals should read the terms and conditions of their policies and contact their insurers if concerned. War and terrorism are usually excluded from cover for personal insurance policies such as personal accident insurance, and for creditor insurance policies, such as mortgage protection.

2. Will my insurance premiums rise if I declare that I have been trained in decontamination processes or other training that may indicate that I would be deployed in response to a terrorist incident?

Insurance policies are based on individual circumstances. Workers who undertake particularly high-risk jobs may, in some circumstances, attract a higher premium for certain insurance products such as personal accident insurance. It is unlikely that new training or roles will affect premiums for emergency service workers. For life insurance, for example, insurers do not expect emergency service workers to declare any specialist training which may be deployed in response to a terrorist incident. A small number of products use occupation as a key determinant of risk and premiums for emergency service workers could change if their role changes, although this has not been applied to members of the armed services trained in CBRN warfare, for example. For these policies, any change in individual circumstances should be notified to insurers.

3. Will my employer compensate for any sum not paid out because of a terrorism exclusion?

Most individually purchased, stand-alone life insurance products do not contain terrorism exclusion clauses. These policies would payout if an emergency service worker were killed as a result of a terrorist incident. Separately, terrorism exclusions in personal insurance policies (such as personal accident insurance) and creditor insurance (such as mortgage protection) apply to all policy holders. Emergency service workers are not treated differently from other policyholders in relation to this exclusion.

Please see the linked document.

This is a PDF format document and is searchable.

PLEASE NOTE

Paragraph 5 on page 11 should be disregarded as the information is not now accurate.

Police Regulations a quick reference guide.pdf

Download and view PDF

PNB Circular 08/5 - C.Insps Pay Scales from 2007 to 2010

PNB Circular 08/5 - Insp. Pay Scales from 2007 to 2010

PNB Circular 08/5 - PS Pay Scales from 2007 to 2010

PNB Circular 08/5 - PC Pay Scales from 2007 to 2010