Colleagues
Unison NIAS Branch is continuously, tirelessly working with The NIAS Trust to secure long-term solutions to challenges faced by station-based relief staff. In the future, this will ideally lead to a permanent Standard Operating Procedure which would hopefully benefit those staff affected by issues, particularly around start and finish locations for allocated shifts outside of their base station. This future solution will require significant forward planning concerning rotas and resources including fleet and estate to accommodate such significant change.
In advance of any such future arrangements, Unison has successfully engaged with the Trust to secure an interim agreement.
This agreement, which will come into effect on Monday 30th September, will ensure that all relief staff, regardless of union affiliation or industrial action, have the option to start and finish all of their shifts in their own base station.
- Relief staff who have a personal vehicle available and are willing to use it, can still, if they choose to do so, travel to the alternative planned station for the start of shift time. These staff will be entitled to claim any mileage incurred for the collection and return of issuedPPE /kit bags from a base stationand onward travel. They will also be entitled to any travel time associated with this additional mileage if it is incurred outside of the start/finish times of the shift.
- Staff who wish to travel to their base station for the planned start time of a shift can do so and still choose to use their vehicles for onward travel and although additional mileage will still be payable, there will be no entitlement to travel time if it is completed within the hours of the shift.
- If staff choose NOT to use their personal vehicles to travel to alternative planned stations, they can report to their base station for the start of their shift and request that they be returned to their base station for their finish time. In any circumstances where you will not be at the alternative planned station for the shift start time, it is important to ensure you inform the Trust of your intentions at least 72 hours before the start of the shift to ensure any necessary arrangements or relocation of resources are made to accommodate your choice.
- If you do not inform the Trust 72 hours or more in advance it will be assumed that you will be reporting to the planned alternative station for the planned shift start time.
This interim agreement does not currently extend to any meal break arrangements and these would operate as normal for any planned shifts at alternative stations. Any shifts accepted on overtime are accepted at the station where the overtime exists.
This station would therefore represent your base station for the entirety of that shift unless an alternative start/finish location is acceptable to the Trust and has been mutually agreed in advance outside of this interim agreement. Normal mileage and travel time arrangements would apply to any overtime shifts worked.
End of communique
