On call

On call means that during a period between two tours of duty you are required to be contactable and deployable to recall to duty immediately.

There is an expectation that you are physically fit and able to be recalled at short notice. This differs from the general recall to duty that all officers can be subject to.

The Federation view is that officers should not be expected to be on call on a rest day which is a 24-hour period free from work.  On call is voluntary but may form part of your particular role so please check before you apply for that role.

The on call allowance was introduced following the Winsor review and came in force from 1 April 2013. It is not retrospective.

An officer ‘receive an allowance of £20 in respect of each day on which he spends any time on call’ - para 13, Annex U to determination for Regulation 34.

It should be remembered that on call is entirely voluntary and is designed to be used where it is not practicable or reasonable to have it covered by a 24/7 shift pattern.

The Force currently has a list of recognised on call posts and the rotas for these areas are on the internal Force system.