On 24 October the joint trade unions met with management after receiving several issues and concerns raised by members about the proposed draft 12 week rota. We left that meeting on the understanding that the issues raised would be addressed and amendments made to the rota, however on the whole this did not happen. We met the HTLH team again on 9 November where the following was agreed:
· The existing draft 12 week rota will be implemented on 27 November for 12 weeks only and on the understanding that this is not a permanent arrangement
· Over the next 8 weeks work will be undertaken to establish a master rota which will be implemented around 19 February
· The council will aim to give staff 4 weeks notice of the master rota
· Staff will be informed that the next 12 weeks is a temporary arrangement until the master rota is developed
· The master rota will address
o The allocation of night work
o Equality, fairness and allocation of duties across teams
o The number of days worked in a row
o 3, 5, 7 & 9 hour shifts which fall outside of the divisible by 4 position (exception is the 10 hour nightshift)
o The number of split shifts
o The number of days being worked when staff are on the same contractual hours
We have also asked the HTLH team to ensure that in the meantime Christmas and New Years time off is sorted for this year.
There will be a working group set up to contribute to the development of the new master rota. Mags Muir and Linda Rue will represent the TUs on that group. Staff will have the opportunity to make any flexible working requests or any reasonable adjustment request, we understand that some of you may have already made requests.
We understand that this is not an acceptable situation for members to be in and this may create a further period of uncertainty. It is important that the master rota is as good as it can be, taking in to consideration the issues that members have raised. The joint trade unions, on your behalf, are committed to working with the management team to ensure that this situation is resolved urgently.
Posted: 15th November 2017