Impact of the Working Time Directive Surrey County Council Emily Boynton HR Relationship Manager

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council: Local Government Sector 5 th Largest Local authority in the UK – SE England Provides Adult and Children's social care services Community & infrastructure services including libraries and highways Fire and rescue services Population over 1 Million people, 650 square miles Mix of rural and urban centres

Surrey Fire and rescue Service Employs nearly 780 firefighters in total Around 640 Whole time firefighters 140 Retained firefighters in rural areas Mainly employed on fire prevention, general rescue/emergency duties, training rather than emergency firefighting Whole time firefighting – no recruitment or retention difficulties: upwards of 100 applicants per vacancy – low turnover 5%

Shift patterns Wholetime firefighters 2 day shifts ; 2 nights then 4 days off 42 hour average at work Retained firefighters Must live/within within 4 minutes of station May have other full time employment Called as necessary in an emergency plus planned training requirement

Retained firefighters Surrey’s reliance on retained firefighters is limited but nationally there are around 17,000 and in rural communities this is how services are provided Only ever “called out” in an emergency Primary employers have no incentive to support retained firefighters, the system relies on their goodwill and support In the UK retained firefighters are recognised as employees, can join the pension scheme and are not volunteers

Opt out Only 50% of retained firefighters in Surrey have signed an opt out on 48 hours Given they may have 40hr/week main job, plus 2-3 hours fire training, plus a couple of emergency calls will be close to 48 hours on regular basis Retained firefighters likely to have other primary employment – very difficult to measure hours worked for compliance Whole time firefighters still need to monitor shift swaps/training requirements etc to ensure below 48 hour average

Dual employment Some whole time firefighters have other employment on “rest days” eg building trades Most retained firefighters have other employment Difficult to record other work – resistance to recording between employers especially when we need their cooperation to support retained system Resistance from individuals to declare other work – desire to maximise earnings

Daily rest Length of the night shift does not give 11 hours daily rest However night shifts, unless called out, are generally less pressured with 12am-7am with no duties Fire stations have facilities to prepare meals/sleep/wash etc Employees may prefer to be able to sleep at work rather than have to rush in to work in an emergency/always live very close to the station Shift length is part of collective agreement/custom and practice in the fire service

Compensatory rest Normal shift pattern compliant Additional hours workable in an emergency Difficulties following an emergency in covering the normal rosta again in terms of allowing sufficient compensatory rest given tight resourcing levels Cannot predict when emergencies will occur or duration

Future trends – “inactive on call” Some authorities moving to “day crewing plus” with stations open during the day and staff accommodated near to the station in separate accommodation e.g. “travel lodges” during the night. Have to stay there but can sleep/relax and no duties Staff receive some enhanced pay and have better facilities/more rest than working nights in fire stations Significant cost savings on numbers needed to staff stations fully 24 hours Unclear whether this arrangement would count as working time resulting in a cautious approach

Sickness and annual leave Sickness absence in Surrey’s fire and rescue services is average of 9 days lost per annum. Large proportion is long term sickness Physical job so particularly difficult to identify alternative roles with “light” duties/successfully redeploy staff We look forward to the UK Government clarifying the limits for carry over of annual leave following sickness absence Significant cost to public services as many already have higher absence rates than private sector Longer the absence from work the harder to re-integrate successfully – not in anyone’s interest

Cost pressures While it might be simpler to not use retained firefighters the costs in rural areas would be prohibitive, especially at a time of public spending restraint Surrey spends £21.5M on wholetime firefighters and £1.2M on retained firefighters Within Surrey the fire services needs to make £3M savings over the next 5 years in order to meet the Council’s funding targets Moving to day crewing arrangements could help with cost savings but clarity is needed before investing in new facilities

Other issues for Surrey/sector Rolled up holiday pay: bank/casual workers where hours are unpredictable e.g. child/adult social care, difficulties in calculating and arranging annual leave. Bank casual staff are preferable to agency staff as known to service users, accountable, cost effective and trained Currently there is no legal way to pay them holiday Employees are content to be recompensed financially for holiday rather than have to clarify exactly when they are actually taking holiday. Need to be clear that they are receiving their entitlement to holiday pay

Other issues Continuity of care particularly important in children’s residential services where purpose is to mimic family life/home Need the same worker to put them to bed/come to them in the night/be there in the morning Workers want to be able to sleep if they can as waking nights are more disruptive to health/only need to be awake occasionally for children During school trips/children’s holidays workers may be technically “working” or on duty continuously

Thank you for listening