‘Rest days should only be cancelled as last resort’

21 December 2021

The Chief Constable has made it clear that officers’ rest days should only be cancelled as a last resort.

And West Midlands Police Federation will now work closely with Force planners to ensure robust systems are in place to ensure that is the case.

The Federation chair, Rich Cooke, and secretary, Tim Rogers, have today met with Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara and other senior members of the Force’s Operations Planning unit to discuss a number of recent issues.

These included officers claiming travel time and officers who have had their rest day cancelled ending up with no compensation compared to volunteers who receive over-time.

Rich explained: “Our starting point is that want to ensure that all officers can rely on their basic rights within Police Regulations. An officer is on duty from the point they collect PPE and are doing necessary travel to arrive at their muster point for the briefing.

“This should normally not exceed an hour within the Force area. Officers should never be left in a position where they are carrying a Section 5 firearm (PAVA or CS) without the full support and safety net that being ‘on duty’ provides. I would also remind colleagues to ensure they are insured for Class 1 business use when using their own vehicles for this purpose.

“The Planning Unit acknowledges this and recent communication which appeared to contradict this has been withdrawn.

“The disparity of pay for officers who volunteer for over-time and officers who have had their rest day cancelled is a more difficult one to resolve, which is a pity. There are many areas where the minimum the law stipulates is exceeded because it is right to do so, the statutory minimum wage is one such example.

“While there is nothing to prevent this practice within Regulations, we have strongly challenged the Force, including the Chief directly, to aspire to a better position than the minimum the law provides for. We want the Force to agree to pay officers at the same rate regardless of how they have been recruited for a fixture and accept the extra cost. Clearly, this is difficult given the constrained financial climate, however, we emphasise we will not achieve the commitment and retention of skills we need while such unfairness persists.”

Officers have told the Federation chair they often feel coerced into volunteering on their rest days for fear that if they don’t their days off will be cancelled in any case.

“This sense of coercion is unacceptable to the Federation, and we believe it must stop,” says Rich, “All these points have been well made on members’ behalf. There is no agreement on equality of payment for cancelled rest days,yet, but the Chief Constable has made clear that cancellation of rest days is something he does not want to see.”