Change of rota

The request was successful.

Dear Fire service,

I would like to make a freedom of information request.

Does your service have a formal system that allows uniformed operational staff swap shifts. For example a firefighter who is due to work a Saturday can swap his work day with a firefighter who is rostered off?
if so, does your service record these swaps and keep a running tally of the swaps for the individuals?
What happens when one resigns or retires. Does your service have a way of dealing with any positive or negative balances for these swaps. For example the swap mentioned above what would happen if either of them then resigned or retired before the "pay back of the swap". Would the firefighter who got Saturday off have his final pay reduced because he never paid his day off back to the other firefighter? Or if the firefighter who worked the extra shift then retired or resigned. Would he receive a days pay for working the Saturday and the Firefighter that got the day off have to work a day to pay back the day off he got?

If you need anything clarified please contact me.

Yours faithfully,

A Jay

Information, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

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Information, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Our ref: IM20191109-01

Dear A Jay

Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request for Information

Thank you for your email dated 9 November 2019, which was received by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service on 11 November 2019 requesting the following information:

Does your service have a formal system that allows uniformed operational staff swap shifts. For example a firefighter who is due to work a Saturday can swap his work day with a firefighter who is rostered off?
if so, does your service record these swaps and keep a running tally of the swaps for the individuals?
What happens when one resigns or retires. Does your service have a way of dealing with any positive or negative balances for these swaps. For example the swap mentioned above what would happen if either of them then resigned or retired before the "pay back of the swap". Would the firefighter who got Saturday off have his final pay reduced because he never paid his day off back to the other firefighter? Or if the firefighter who worked the extra shift then retired or resigned. Would he receive a days pay for working the Saturday and the Firefighter that got the day off have to work a day to pay back the day off he got?

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service acknowledges receipt of your request and confirms that it will respond to you with the information it holds, unless the information is covered by one of the exemptions in the Act. We will respond to you as soon as possible, and in any event within the 20 working days required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, in the manner requested. Accordingly, we will respond with the information that you have requested by 3 December 2019.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

Exemptions under the Act
Although you may request any information we hold, there are a few exemptions under the Act that mean that we may not be able to disclose the information you need. If we decide that we cannot release the information requested, we will explain which exemption is relevant in this case.

If you have any queries, or wish to discuss any aspect of your request, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01274 473787, quoting the reference number provided above.

Yours sincerely,

Aleemah Mohmin
Information Governance Administrator
Corporate Services

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Oakroyd Hall | Bradford Road | Birkenshaw | West Yorkshire | BD11 2DY

T: 01274 473787

The information that you supplied with your Request for Information will be entered into a filing system and will only be accessed by authorised persons of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The information will be retained and will be used for the purpose of (a) processing your request for information; (b) helping us to make decisions about how we handle requests for information, and (c) informing the public from time to time of the types of requests we have received and how we have responded.

In the case of (c) no information about you would be disclosed to the public.

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Information, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Our ref: IM20191109-01

 

18 November 2019

 

Dear A Jay

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 9 November 2019, which
was received by the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service on 11 November
2019.

 

Your request is as follows:

 

Does your service have a formal system that allows uniformed operational
staff swap shifts. For example a firefighter who is due to work a Saturday
can swap his work day with a firefighter who is rostered off?

if so, does your service record these swaps and keep a running tally of
the swaps for the individuals?

What happens when one resigns or retires. Does your service have a way of
dealing with any positive or negative balances for these swaps. For
example the swap mentioned above what would happen if either of them then
resigned or retired before the "pay back of the swap". Would the
firefighter who got Saturday off have his final pay reduced because he
never paid his day off back to the other firefighter? Or if the
firefighter who worked the extra shift then retired or resigned. Would he
receive a days pay for working the Saturday and the Firefighter that got
the day off have to work a day to pay back the day off he got?

 

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service response:

 

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service have now completed its search for the
information you requested and can now confirm as follows:-

 

Does your service have a formal system that allows uniformed operational
staff swap shifts. For example a firefighter who is due to work a Saturday
can swap his work day with a firefighter who is rostered off? Yes as per
Guidance within the Leave Policy see below:

 

Covering Duty Shifts

Flexibility is afforded to swap and change as required as long as standard
staffing levels and attributes are maintained and the minimum numbers of
staff are on leave as above. This can extend to other staff on other
watches (as long as Grey Book conditions are maintained).

Therefore, operational staff members who want to take leave but are unable
to do so for any reason e.g. all leave used, insufficient staff members
left on duty etc. have the option to organise a suitable ‘stand in’ to
cover the leave requested.

It will be the responsibility of the staff member wanting the cover to
identify a suitably qualified ‘stand in’ who agrees to the cover. This is
a personal agreement and arrangement with the staff members concerned and
must not incur extra cost to the service and maintain standard staffing
levels and attributes. The administration of the cover moves must be
approved and organised by the relevant Line Manager and the relevant
rostering system updated accordingly.

The ‘stand in’ must not be on duty prior to or proceeding the stand in
duty and all other Grey Book conditions must be maintained.

 

if so, does your service record these swaps and keep a running tally of
the swaps for the individuals?

 

The ABCV (absent covered for) and the COV (shift covered) are codes that
are entered in to SAP by CST who are solely there to administer this
process.  We do not keep a tally of how many an individual has done as
this is a local agreement and is something the individuals concerned take
sole responsibility for. However, CST can run a report to see how many
ABCV arrangements have been made (if required).

 

What happens when one resigns or retires. Does your service have a way of
dealing with any positive or negative balances for these swaps. For
example the swap mentioned above what would happen if either of them then
resigned or retired before the "pay back of the swap". Would the
firefighter who got Saturday off have his final pay reduced because he
never paid his day off back to the other firefighter? Or if the
firefighter who worked the extra shift then retired or resigned. Would he
receive a day’s pay for working the Saturday and the Firefighter that got
the day off have to work a day to pay back the day off he got?

 

No as per the above guidance this is a personal agreement and arrangement
with the staff members concerned and must not incur extra cost to the
service and maintain standard staffing levels and attributes. Therefore,
If someone leaves/retires etc. there is no requirement from the Brigade to
settle payments/shifts etc.

 

 

Your right to seek a Review

 

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you
have the right to request a review. You should do this as soon as possible
or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this email. In
the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by
writing to the Information Management Officer, Corporate Services at:

 

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Oakroyd Hall

Birkenshaw

West Yorkshire

BD11 2DY

Telephone: 01274 473787

E-mail: [1][West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service request email]

 

If you are not satisfied with the assistance that you get from the West
Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service or if we have not been able to resolve
your complaint and feel that a formal complaint needs to be made then this
should be addressed to the office of the Information Commissioner. This is
the organisation that ensures compliance with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 and that deals with formal complaints. They can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545745

Web: [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

If you require further advice about the information we have sent or wish
to discuss any aspect of your request, please do not hesitate to contact
us on 01274 473787, quoting the reference number provided above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Aleemah Mohmin

Information Management Assistant

Corporate Services

 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004
requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the
copyright will be owned by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The
copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated on the information itself.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own non-commercial
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For information where the copyright is owned by the West Yorkshire Fire
and Rescue Service details of the conditions on re-use is under the terms
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For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
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References

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2. http://www.ico.org.uk/