Rest day proposals are a 'serious mistake' says PFEW

Officers are currently entitled to a minimum four hours’ compensation at time and a half when they are required to work on a cancelled rest day or bank holiday, recognising the disruption to protected rest and family commitments.

In its submission to the Government-controlled Police Remuneration Review Body, police chiefs have proposed to remove that safeguard with officers paid at time and one-third, calculated in 15-minute increments, for the exact time worked. The submission also seeks to tighten the rules around how cancelled rest days are re-rostered.

In response, the Federation is launching ‘Hands Off Our Rest Days’ as part of its wider Copped Enough campaign for better pay, working conditions and support for police officers.

Surrey Police Federation Chair Darren Pemble said: “I think everyone knows that policing is broken. We have record levels of assaults on officers, record levels of mental health-related sickness as officers struggle with the burden of the job. We also have unprecedented levels of police suicide; we have had more than 100 officers and staff die from suicide in the last three years.

“We have record levels of inexperience, with nearly half of police officers having less than five years’ service and we have record levels of people leaving the service. We no longer have officers wanting to stay for 30 years, as police pensions have been eroded, as have police pay and conditions.

“All in all, it’s a mess – and to top it off officers are being asked to work their rest days and overtime to cover the gaps. We do not have any more police officers, we have officers doing more at a detriment to their physical and mental health. Officers are not being afforded time off away from the workplace to rest, recharge and recuperate, as there are telling me that they are exhausted and struggling to keep their head above water.

“The proposals from the NPCC to try and make it cheaper and easier to cancel officers’ rest days should be seen as what it is – an opportunity to pay officers less. If we had more resources and more officers, we would not need to cancel rest days. So, it goes without saying that we support PFEW’s ‘Hands off our Rest Days’ alongside the #CoppedEnough campaign which we would encourage everyone to join.”

Police Federation National Chair Tiff Lynch said: “At a time when policing is getting more dangerous and when thousands are choosing to leave, chief constables are proposing not to strengthen protections for their men and women but to weaken them.”

National Secretary John Partington said: “It is difficult to see how any Chief Constable who truly supports their officers could believe making it cheaper to cancel rest days is the right approach. They should scrap these plans now.”

“Policing continues to function largely because officers repeatedly step up, cancelling rest days, missing family time and working through fatigue. Making it easier and cheaper to intrude on that rest time is not a solution. It is a gamble with officer welfare and public safety.”