NICOLA ROMAN Industrial Officer
Rostering: What’s in a name? THE INDUSTRIAL TEAM FIELDS A LARGE NUMBER OF CALLS AND EMAILS from Members with questions regarding rostering practices.
… each rostering type places different obligations on WA Police in terms of what shift patterns are permissible, the number of hours that can be rostered in a given week, when overtime is payable and the consultation which must be undertaken when developing the roster.
26 POLICE NEWS FEBRUARY 2016
What sort of roster am I on? Is this shift pattern allowed? Can my roster be changed? When is overtime payable? Rostering matters are often complex given there are three distinct types of rosters allowable under the WA Police Industrial Agreement 2014. However, if this wasn’t confusing enough, matters are further complicated when those creating the rosters don’t always seem to be aware of the difference in roster types. Case in point: there are rosters in several different work areas which are incorrectly titled. So what are the different rostering types and why is it important rosters are labelled correctly? Simply put, each rostering type places different obligations on WA Police in terms of what shift patterns are permissible, the number of hours that can be rostered in a given week, when overtime is payable and the consultation which must be undertaken when developing the roster. It is therefore essential Members are aware of the provisions relating to their specific roster type and are able to identify any breaches and report them to the Union.
STANDARD ROSTERS Standard Rosters comprise of shifts which total 40 hours a week or 80 hours per fortnight. If a Standard Roster is posted weekly, it will include either five eight-hour shifts or four 10-hour shifts. If it is posted fortnightly, it can include a combination of seven, eight, nine or 10-hour shifts to average 80 hours over the posted fortnight. Interestingly, many Local Policing Team rosters contain hours of duty which conform to Standard Roster arrangements not Extended Settlement Period Roster arrangements, despite the fact they are frequently titled as the latter. A Standard Roster cannot include any combination of day and night or afternoon and night shifts in a weekly period. Additionally, the combination of shifts cannot be alternated on a daily basis e.g. day-afternoon-day-afternoon. WA Police do not need to consult WAPU when developing a Standard Roster arrangement. WAPU will only become involved should there be a breach of the provisions contained in the Industrial Agreement.
EXTENDED SETTLEMENT PERIOD ROSTERS An Extended Settlement Period (ESP) Roster allows WA Police to roster a combination of shift types and lengths and extend the settlement period for up to 12 weeks. In layman’s terms, this means WA Police can roster in excess of 40 hours a week or 80 hours a fortnight so long as over the settlement period the hours average to 40 hours per week. For example, the Metropolitan Response Team ESP Roster contains weeks where Members work 50 hours and others where they work only 20 hours to average out to 40 hours per week over the six-week settlement period. Shift lengths can be seven, eight, nine or 10 hours. 12-hour shifts can only be rostered if approved by the Deputy Commissioner (such as the case at the District Control Centre). As is the case for Standard Rosters, shifts cannot alternate on a daily basis. Despite the fact the settlement period is fixed, WA Police is not required to post the rosters for the entire settlement period in advance. The requirement, as for Standard Rosters, is to post the roster on a weekly basis. Whilst Members may receive a roster which indicates all shifts for the entire settlement period, only the first week is regarded as the ‘posted roster’. The rest is simply indicative. Therefore WA Police can amend the roster as necessary, bearing in mind the settlement period is fixed so any changes are likely to be minor (e.g. a change in start time). During the negotiations for the 2017 Industrial Agreement, WAPU will be pushing for a change in posting requirements for ESP Rosters in order to give Members greater certainty. This will also reduce the administrative burden on WA Police. The use of an ESP Roster also places an additional requirement on WA Police if they wish to make a significant change to the roster. WA Police must provide four weeks’ notice to Members before the change is affected. When developing an ESP roster, WA Police must consult both WAPU and affected employees (through WAPU Branches). This ensures we are able to voice concerns early on in the development process and are able to lobby for changes, if necessary.