FAQ

Duty

What will I get paid if I work after 8pm?

Officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector will receive an additional 10 per cent of their basic pay for all hours worked between 8.00pm and 6.00am, including overtime. This payment is not pensionable and should be paid for each full hour actually worked. Where overtime is worked between 8.00pm and 6.00pm, the rate of the allowance is still 10 per cent of basic pay, not 10 per cent of the overtime rate. The allowance is paid in full in respect of each full hour worked – the 'Queen's half hour' is not excluded.

 

What will I get paid if I have to work away from home?

Changes to the arrangements for officers serving away from their normal place of duty (including on 'mutual aid' in another force area):

• these changes apply to those officers who are deployed away from their normal place of duty whether in or out of force
• a new 'Away from home overnight' allowance of £50 will be introduced and will be payable for every night on which an officer is 'held in reserve'
• an officer is 'held in reserve' if he or she is serving away from his or her normal place of duty and is required to stay in a particular, specified place rather than being allowed to return home. An officer is not 'held in reserve' if he or she is serving away from his or her normal place of duty only by reason of being on a training course or carrying out routine enquiries
• payment of a new hardship allowance of £30 per night if 'proper accommodation' is not provided to an officer who is 'held in reserve'
• the definition of 'proper accommodation' is a single occupancy room with use of en suite bathroom facilities

The Secretary of State's approval for the existing mutual aid arrangements set out in PNB circulars 86/15, 88/9 and 95/8 (often known as the 'Hertfordshire agreement') is withdrawn. Officers on mutual aid should now be paid in accordance with the determinations for the hours they work, including where applicable overtime and travelling time

 

What can I claim for working on a rest day?

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

Where he/she receives less than 15 days notice of the requirement, payment or time off (officers choice) at the rate of time and a half.

Please note when working out the day's notice you do not count the day you were asked or the day you are to work.

Where an officer is required to duty on a public holiday or on a rostered rest day his/her period of duty shall include the time occupied by him/her travelling to & from his/her place of duty. This will be disregarded where the period of duty exceeds 6 hours.

If you work over an hour but less than 4, you will be paid a minimum of 4 hours.  As overtime is calculated in 15 minute periods, you will need to work an hour and 15 mins in to your rest day to get the enhancement.

Travelling expenses may also be claimed, for the journey, this ceases when there is no travel time included in the overtime.

 

What can I claim for working on a Bank Holiday?

Working on a bank holiday will always be paid at the rate of double time whether for payment or time off. This also applies to part time working officers.

When a bank holiday falls on a rest day, the bank holiday always take precedence, the rest day MUST be re-rostered to another day (after consultation with the officer) The re-rostered day is a rest day and all conditions applying to rest days apply to it. Should the officer then be required to work on the bank holiday he/she would get paid or have time off at the rate of double time, (officers choice)

If an officer is informed that he/she is required to work on a bank holiday with less than 8 days notice, then in addition to getting paid double time for the bank holiday (or time off) he/she would also be entitled to another day off which shall be notified to him/her within 4 days of notification of the requirement and which shall be treated for the purpose of this regulation as a bank holiday.

The authority of an Assistant Chief Constable is required for officers to work on a PHL with less than 15 days notice

Remember, you can reallocate your bank holidays by nominating your dates by the end of January.  Contact your duties officer in force to do this.

 

My rest day was cancelled for operational reasons but I am now no longer needed - what am I entitled too?

When an officers rest day is cancelled in anticipation of an operational need for which in any event he/she is not required to attend for duty:

Where the officer is told with more than 7 days (and less than 15 days) notice that he/she will not after all be required to work on his/her rest day, he/she will take the rest day with no compensation. Where the officer is given less than 8 days notice he/she can choose between taking the rest day with no compensation or working on the rest day with compensation in accordance with police regulations.

 

I was told I have to start my shift earlier, what can I claim?

Where the time at which an officer is due to commence a rostered tour of duty is brought forward without due notice (less than 8 hours) so that they are required to commence duty on a day in which they have already completed their normal period of duty. The time for which they are on duty before the rostered commencement time shall be reckonable as overtime and also taken into account as part of that tour of duty. The force day commences at 7am.

If you are given more than 8 hours notice of the duty change then your working day merely starts at the new time. If the time you are brought on at is before 7am following a period of rest days then you will be eligible to claim rest day over time (minimum 4 hours if more than an hour in to that rest day).

 

I have been recalled to duty from home, what can I claim?

Travel time between home and your usual place of duty is generally not duty time.

Such travel time shall only be treated as a period of duty when you are:

• Required to perform your normal daily period of duty in more than our tour (Split Duty) Or
• Recalled to work between two tours of duty and you travel to and from your home between tours.

In calculating any period of overtime in respect of being recalled between two tours of duty, an officer can only claim for the time worked plus travelling time (1 hour). The minimum of 4 hours pay for a recall to duty has been abolished.

 

What compensation will I get if I volunteer to work on a rest day/public holiday?

If a member requests to work on a rostered rest day or public holiday the day shall
be treated as a normal duty day and the member will be granted another day off in
lieu, which shall be treated as a rest day or public holiday (as appropriate).

However, Home Office Circular 39/1985 states that responding to a management
request for volunteers should not be treated as a request by the officer concerned to
perform duty on the day in question. Therefore, in these circumstances the normal
compensation arrangements for rest day or public holiday working will apply

 

I had to return from Annual leave, what can I claim?

You will be entitled to the following:

Recalled for 1 day or 2 days an additional 2 days annual leave for each day recalled or 1 days annual leave & 1 days pay at double time, for each day.

Recalled for 3 days or more As above for the first two days then 1 ½ days annual leave or 1-day annual leave & half days pay at double time in lieu of each such day recalled thereafter.

Regulation 33 covers the above. Annex 0, Paragraph 5(a) of Police Regulations and Determinations 2003, which goes on to say under Paragraph 5(b);

This paragraph applies to a period of absence from duty of 3 or more days, where at least one of the days is a day of annual leave and the other days, if not days of annual leave, are rostered rest days, days taken in lieu of overtime, public holidays (or days taken off in lieu thereof) or monthly leave days, or any combination thereof.

Under PNB Circular No.03/15 - The above compensation also applies to officers actually recalled from annual leave, but also to annual leave that has been pre-booked/scheduled.

If you have booked for example a single day's Annual Leave and therfore it is not a period of absence as above and you are recalled we believe that you get your AL day back and work as normal the underlying shift

 

My sons school was unexpectedly closed for the day and they were sent home.  I couldn't arrange childcare so do I have to use leave or TOIL to be able to care for them?

A police officer may take time off because of the unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant, or

To deal with an incident which involves a child of the member and which occurs unexpectedly in a period during which an educational establishment, which the child attends, is responsible for him/her.

Leave taken as time off for dependants shall be treated as duty, but does not apply unless the member tells his/her chief officer the reason for his/her absence as soon as reasonably practicable. Best practice would be to inform a line supervisor of your circumstances ASAP after you become aware of it.

A “dependant” means, in relation to a member of a police force:

a) a spouse,
b) a child,
c) a parent,
d) a person who lives in the same household as the member, otherwise than by reason of being his employee, tenant, lodger or boarder.

This also covers when a dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured or assaulted or in consequence of the death of a dependant.

Please check the force policy around this and speak to your supervisor if you find yourself needing urgent time off work

 

I had to remain at work at the end of my shift, what can I claim?

If you work overtime after hours on your scheduled tour of duty, and you were not informed of the overtime prior to the commencement of this tour of duty, it is classed as unplanned overtime and you cannot claim overtime for the first 30 minutes worked.

For example, if your tour of duty is 14.30 x 22.30, you cannot claim overtime until 23.00. Any overtime you claim after that is at time and a third, for payment, or if you wish to claim time off, for the overtime, then for every completed 15 minutes, you are entitled to claim 1 unit and for every 3 units you work, you are given 1 bonus unit.

If you work unplanned overtime on 4 occasions during the same week then on the 5th and any other occasion in which you may have to work overtime you no longer lose the first half hour for the rest of that week.

If you were asked to work overtime prior to the commencement of your tour of duty this is planned overtime and you do not lose the first half an hour when calculating how much time you have worked over.

 

I am being asked to change my duties a the last minute - can they do this?

The Chief Officer shall cause to be published duty rosters for members of his/her force after full consultation with the Joint Branch Board at intervals not exceeding 12 months and not later than 1 month before the date in which it starts. Each roster will set out for at least 3 months the following:

• His/her rest days.
• Public Holidays in which he/she may be required to do duty on.
• The time at which his/her scheduled daily period of duty begins & end.
• For part time members his/her free days.
• Intervals of at least 11 hours between the end and the beginning of the next shift.
• An interval between rostered rest days not exceeding 7 days.

In Humberside we publish a three month duty rota four times a year - it is published one month in advance and locks down your three months worth of duties.

Where alterations are made to an annual duty roster after its publication these changes must arise from the exigencies of duty (unless they are made at the officer’s own request or have otherwise been agreed with the joint branch board). The term exigencies of duty, should be interpreted as relating to situations where a pressing demand, need or requirement is perceived that is not reasonably avoidable and necessitates a change of roster. In this context the word, pressing, relates to the expected situation at the time when the duty is to be performed rather than the time when the duty roster is changed, i.e. the reasons for a change may be known many months in advance but still be pressing.

Changes to rosters should only be made after full consideration of welfare, operational and practical circumstances rather than purely on financial grounds. Because rosters are produced annually a number of unforeseen reasons for changes may subsequently arise. It is clearly not possible to produce an exhaustive list of all of the potential reasons, which may necessitate changes. However, by way of example, unforeseen public order situations, court attendance and essential training would justify changes to rostered duties. An officer should be told as soon as the requirement for the change is known and at the latest, by midnight on the calendar day before the changed period of duty commences.

 

What refreshment breaks am I entitled too?

Your right to a refreshment break is contained within Police Regulation 22 Annex E. This states that where an officer is on duty for a continuous period of 5 hours or more, they are entitled to a refreshment break, as far as exigencies of duty permit.

Rest Breaks at work (Regulation 12 WTR)

This Regulation provides that where an adult worker’s daily working time is more than 6 hours, he/she is entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of not less than 20 minutes, and is entitled to spend it away from his/her work station (if there is one). Albeit subject to the exigencies of duty, the position under the Police Regulations 2003, in Annex E, which provides for a minimum 30 minute break on a sliding scale, is more favourable than this Working Time Regulation and, in most circumstances, should therefore prevail.

Regulation 22, Annex E (Police Regs)

Less than 6 hours 30 minutes

6 hours or more, but less than 7 hours 35 minutes

7 hours or more, but less than 8 hours 40 minutes

8 hours or more, but less than 9 hours 45 minutes

9 hours or more, but less than 10 hours 50 minutes

10 hours or more 60 minutes

If you don't get your refs break, a member may present a complaint to an Employment Tribunal that the Chief Officer has refused to permit him to exercise any right he has under Regulation 12 (a rest break provision). Such a complaint must be filed within 3 months less one day of the date it is alleged the exercise of the right should have been permitted. This is not a complaint that there is a breach of Regulation 12 but rather a complaint that there has been a refusal on the part of the employer “to permit” the member to exercise that right.

We are therefore advised that where there are concerns that these rights are being breached, members should notify in writing their supervising officer that they wish to insist on their entitlement to a rest break in accordance with the terms of the Working Time Regulations and seek their proposals to ensure that these provisions can be complied with. There is of course scope for the entitlement to be disapplied either by way of agreement between the Joint Branch Board and the Chief Officer (or by reference to one of the special cases under Regulation 21) but in both instances, there is a requirement for compensatory rest (or protection as may be appropriate in order to safeguard the worker’s health and safety).

 

How many days notice do they need to give me to reinstate a bank holiday?

PNB Circulars 85/9 and 86/2 record PNB Agreements relating to cancelled rest days or public holidays in anticipation of an operational need, for which in the event the Constable or Sergeant is not required to attend for duty.

Where more than 7 days’ notice is received that the member will not be required to work on the rest day/public holiday, the rest day/public holiday will be taken, with no compensation.

Where seven days’ notice or less is received of the cancelled duty requirement, the member may either choose to take the rest day/public holiday or work and claim the appropriate compensation as per Police Regulations.

However, if a member who is given less than seven days’ notice invokes a right to work, Legal Advice suggest there is no entitlement to work a full tour of duty or rostered shift on such days

 

How many days can I work in a row?

Working Time Regulations state all adult workers are entitled to one day off a week. Days off can be averaged over a two-week period, meaning you are entitled to two days off a fortnight.

 

I am off sick but I had leave booked - what happens to my leave?

An officer who is unfit for duty through sickness whilst on a period of annual leave can claim the leave back..  You can claim back annual leave retrospectively but this is not allowed with TOIL or Freed Days. 

If you are on long term sick, you have the increased entitlement of carrying over 160 hours but this is on a case by case basis.  Please ensure that you follow force procedures which can be found on Humbernet.

 

I received a call at home, what can I claim?

Contrary to popular belief, there is no provision of entitlement to four hours' payment (suitably enhanced) for receiving a telephone call at home though this may be arguable if the telephone call is of significant duration. If, however, a call is received and as a result of that call you are required or instructed to go somewhere, or perform duty, then the view is that this may well be a recall to duty and be eligible for the appropriate amount of compensation.

Answering the telephone does not constitute a recall to duty.

 

Can I be forced to use my TOIL?

The simple answer is NO. Police Regulations state that the choice of compensation claimed for working overtime rests with the officer. If compensation is claimed by way of 'time-off in lieu' and this time is not granted within three months then this should automatically be paid into your salary. However, this is not an automatic process. It WILL become so in the future, but, for the time being, if you are being told to take the time off, and you do not wish to take it and you do not want to keep it on record to use later, then ask for the time to be paid instead. (Annex H of Police Regulations)

You should however, remember that both you and your line manager are responsible for managing how much time you have held in this way and that you should make every effort to take time off within three months of having worked the additional hours.

 

Promotion advice

 

Acting & Temp pay

These provisions can be found in Regulation 34 (Annex UU) and Regulation 27 (Annexes I and J) of Police Regulations 2003.

Acting up Allowance – Annex UU

Acting up arrangements are designed to meet short term needs. The acting up allowance is paid when a member acts up in a higher rank instead of being placed on temporary promotion. There is a 10 day qualifying period (in any year; a year being a 12 month period beginning on 1 April) then, from day 11, the member receives the allowance at a daily rate (or hourly rate for part-time officers and those on VSAs). The allowance is only payable for a maximum of 46 days in respect of any one continuous period of acting up. A constable or sergeant who is acting up in the rank of inspector or above is not entitled to overtime payments. If such a member is required to do duty on a rostered rest day or a public holiday he/she will not receive an acting up allowance on these days, but will instead be entitled to the appropriate public holiday or rest day rates for his/her substantive rank. As with other allowances, the acting up allowance is not pensionable.

Temporary Salary – Annex I

After 46 days of receiving the acting up allowance, if a member is not qualified for promotion* (under the Police Promotion Regulations 1996) or if the chief officer is required to respond to an overwhelming operational emergency which requires immediate application, s/he will receive temporary salary. A constable or sergeant in receipt of temporary salary whilst performing the duties of inspector or above is not entitled to overtime payments. If such a member is required to do duty on a rostered rest day or a public holiday he/she will not receive temporary salary on these days, but will instead be entitled to the appropriate public holiday or rest day rates for his/her substantive rank.

Temporary salary is pensionable. A period of temporary salary is not reckonable for pay increments in the higher rank but is reckonable as service in the substantive rank.

Temporary Promotion – Annex J

After 46 days of receiving the acting up allowance, if a member is qualified for promotion* (under the Police Promotion Regulations 1996) and the chief officer is not required to respond to an overwhelming operational emergency which requires immediate application the member will be temporarily promoted. However, temporary promotion should be used from the outset when a need has been identified which is likely to be for a lengthy period e.g. maternity leave, ill health cover or a new project. A member who has been temporarily promoted to a higher rank will be paid on the point s/he would have been entitled to if permanently promoted. Additional pay on temporary promotion is pensionable. Service in the higher rank on temporary promotion is reckonable for salary increases in both the substantive and the higher rank. Service in the higher rank counts if the member is temporarily promoted again at a later date. In 2012 PNB reached agreement on a five year limitation for service on temporary promotion counting in the higher rank. This was ratified by Home Office Circular 18/2013.

* Qualified for promotion means you have completed Stages 1-3 inclusive of the NPPF.

for temporary Inspectors, Annex I states;

A constable or sergeant in receipt of temporary salary whilst performing the duties of inspector or above is not entitled to overtime payments. If such a member is required to do duty on a rostered rest day or a public holiday he/she will not receive temporary salary on these days, but will instead be entitled to the appropriate public holiday or rest day rates for his/her substantive rank.

 

Student Officer Advice

 

I am a Student officer and they are talking about extending my probation, what should I do?

Consult your local representative without delay. Regulations 12 Police Regulations 2003 says that a member of a police force appointed in the rank of constable shall be on probation for the first 2 years of his service as a constable in that police force following his last appointment thereto or for such longer period as the chief officer determines in the circumstances of a particular case.  There are details on HumberNet as to the process that the force should follow in these circumstances.

 

I am a Student Officer and they have said that they want to hold a case conference to discuss whether to terminate my probation and I don't know what to do.

Consult your local representative without delay. Regulation 13 Police Regulations 2003 says that if during the period of probation in the force the services of a constable may be dispensed with at any time if the chief officer considers that he is not fitted, physically or mentally, to perform the duties of his office, or that he is not likely to become an efficient or well conducted constable. (This decision can only be made by the Chief Constable). A constable whose services are dispensed with under this regulation is entitled to receive a month's notice or a month's pay in lieu thereof. 

 

I have been accepted in to the Police and they have posted me miles away from my home address even though there are nearer stations, can they do this?

The Chief Officer can post you to anywhere within the force area and this is part of your terms and conditions.  The force should take in to account any welfare and health and safety issues.  Please contact your local rep for more information.