RETAINED SALARY
Establishment Levels
| One Pump | Two Pump | |
| 120 Hrs Cover | 120 Hrs cover | |
| Firefighter | 7 | 13 |
| Crew Manager | 2 | 4 |
| Watch Manager A | 1 | 0 |
| Watch Manager B | 0 | 1 |
| Total Establishment | 10 | 18 |
| Total Number of Hours Cover | 12,00 | 2,160 |
It is important to note that whilst the establishment is based around personnel providing 120 hours of cover, this is flexible. The key figure is the total number of hours cover required the mix of this between personnel will depend on local circumstances and hence should be agreed locally, i.e. it could consist of 10 personnel working 120 hours or 20 personnel working 60 hours or any mix of numbers of personnel and hours of cover given.
Recruitment would only take place to fill vacant hours, i.e. if only 60 hours are required we would only recruit for this not for someone to provide 100 hours cover or 120 hours cover
In the majority of cases earnings under the salary scheme will exceed earnings under grey book conditions, where this is the case no salary protection will apply in respect of activity covered by the salary scheme, i.e. operational activity, where this is not the case pay protection arrangements set out in section 13 will apply.
Hours of cover
Minimum hours of cover should be left to local determination.
The salary will be fixed for a set number of hours cover and any reduction or increase in this level of cover will result in a pro-rata adjustment i.e. someone providing 120 hours cover will earn double someone providing 60 hours cover and someone providing 150 hours cover will earn 25% more than someone providing 120 hours. (Note the latter should only be seen as a short term solution as recruitment should alleviate the need for individuals to provide more than 120 hours of cover)
The Salary
The salary replaces operational activity, such as: -
- Retaining fee
- Turnout fee
- Attendance fee
- Hourly rate payment for incident
- Drill Night payment
- Holiday Pay
- Public Holiday enhancements for the above
- Sick Pay i.e. missed Turnouts, Attendance’s and Drill Nights
The salary excludes the following, which will continue to be paid based on current arrangements: -
- Admin/cleaning duties
- Hydrant Inspection
- CFS Duties
- Additional Training
- Loss of earning through Training
- Loss of earning from wholetime employment due to service injury
Minimum Salary
Under the original proposal a significant number of personnel undertaking less than 60 hours of cover were worse off financially as a result of the new scheme. Therefore a minimum salary rate based on 60 hours of cover will be introduced.
Station Activity
The salary has been worked based on a banding system according to activity levels.
Activity banding are based on the average activity over the period 1/4/01-31/3/04, adjusted for the anticipated reduction arising from the AFA (Automatic Fire Alarm) policy, as identified in the relevant IRMP review (for a two pump station we have taken an average for both pumps and then uplifted this by 100 to allow for both crews being called in to all incidents regardless of whether only one pump is required). See Appendix 2 for station bandings.
Additional Hours
During the trial the take up of this has been mixed, with some personnel utilising all their allocated hours whilst others have not utilised any. Therefore the allocation will be station based, with local management ensuring that this is distributed fairly amongst those personnel wishing to undertake the activity. As such the following allocations have been identified: -
- 1 pump station 480 hours
- 2 pump station 864 hours
These additional hours are provided specifically to address community safety and/or staff competence requirements and must not be utilised for any other purpose. Allocation of hours will be determined on a risk-assessed basis in accordance with the direction of the respective Head of Service Delivery.
These additional hours are not compulsory and it is for individuals to choose whether they wish to undertake them or not. As such the additional hours are not included in the standard monthly salary payment that will be made to personnel, but will be paid for as and when they are worked, as such they will need to be recorded on the CORTS system, and shown as either CFS or Additional Training
All additional on-station training will count against the stations overall allocation of additional hours. As such the following level of hours should be held back over the last quarter of the year to ensure that sufficient hours are available to meet unforeseen training requirements: -
|
1 Pump Station |
2 Pump Station |
Jan |
70 |
125 |
Feb |
50 |
90 |
Mar |
30 |
55 |
Vehicle Usage
Where service vehicles are not available to undertake CFS duties personnel will be allowed to utilize their own vehicle based on occasional user classification, subject to the vehicle being suitable, appropriate insurance being in place and claims being submitted in line with policy. (Note all appropriate terms and conditions of usage must be applied and Engineering & Transport must be consulted on this, prior to personnel using their own vehicle.)
Sickness
The trial has resulted in sickness levels on the trial stations increasing significantly. If repeated across the whole service this could potentially jeopardise pump availability. However the trial result might be unrepresentative therefore we will continue to trial paying sickness absence in line with wholetime duty system conditions, with sickness monitoring systems being aligned with wholetime This will apply for the next 12 months, and during this period we will review sickness levels on retained stations and reserve the right to revisit this aspect of the salary, dependant upon the outcome of this review. (Note in order to continue to receive payments an appropriate self-certification or doctors certificate is required.)
This will not apply to periods of sickness which commenced prior to the start of the scheme, in these instances existing sick pay rules will continue to apply.
Payment
The basic salary will be paid in equal monthly installments, as will any protection due.
Double time for public holidays has already been built into the salary. In addition a day in lieu will also be given, based on hours of cover.
Following discussions the working group agreed to maintain the salary at the proposed level and re-imburse late returns via time in lieu. (Note this only apply to late returns that run over normal hours of cover where the incident has lasted more than 60 minutes, and with existing rounding protocols applying.)
Local Management and personnel must agree a roster whereby pump availability is continuously maintained. Whilst only 5 personnel (one pump station) or 9 personnel (two pump station) need to be on call at any one time, full consideration needs to be given to backup arrangements in the event of sickness etc, and/or the potential impact of personnel not turning in for an incident. Arrangements must be sufficiently robust to maximise availability at all times.
Unauthorised Absence
Any unauthorised absence will result in an appropriate deduction from salary, i.e. if an individual fails to attend a drill session then a deduction of 2 hours pay will be made, where an individual fails to respond to a mobilisation then they will be deemed unavailable and we will deduct the equivalent of a turnout from the basic salary.
Within this scheme, payment for attendance at incidents and/or normal drill sessions is incorporated into the salary. Should an individual fail to attend for an incident or normal drill session as programmed, the Service will carry out a full investigation of the circumstances. Where no legitimate reason for the absence can be established, in addition to the arrangements outlined above, the following process will be instigated:
First Occasion
Informal stage – Unit Manager will interview absentee, outline shortcomings and advise on remedial measures. Record of interview will be made and forwarded to Human Resources department at SHQ for inclusion on personal record file.
Second Occasion
Formal Stage One – This will be investigated by the Unit Manager and the matter referred to a hearing before a Station Manager or above under Stage One of the disciplinary procedures. A written warning may be issued at this stage and a copy forwarded to Human Resources department at SHQ for inclusion on personal record file.
Third Occasion
Formal Stage Two – This will be investigated by a Station Manager and the matter referred to a hearing before a Group Manager or above under Stage Two of the disciplinary procedures. A final written warning may be issued at this stage and a copy forwarded to Human Resources department at SHQ for inclusion on personal record file.
Fourth Occasion
Formal Stage Three – This will be investigated by a Group Manager and the matter referred to a hearing before an Area Manager or above under Stage Three of the disciplinary procedures. Dismissal will be considered at this stage.
General
It is anticipated that the above sequential process will normally be employed to address unauthorised absence. It should be noted, however, that the Service reserves the right to progress immediately to any appropriate stage in order to meet the requirements of a particular case. Where absenteeism appears to amount to gross misconduct, a Stage Three hearing will be convened even where there has been no previous hearing or findings against the individual.