Preference and Availability are not the same thing!
As most of you will be aware the turret pilot in Units 1 and 4 begins on the 11th August 2008. PCS and Senior Management met on 6th August 2008 to discuss the scheduling pro-forma and get feedback from line managers in the pilot on its progress so far.
Senior Management reported positive feedback in respect of people volunteering for slots; although some teething problems seem to have arisen regarding a misunderstanding over what ‘availability’ and ‘preference’ actually means. Essentially, ‘availability’ is the period of time you are in the office and ‘preference’ is the period of time you would prefer to work on turrets.
PCS and Senior Management are committed to making the pilot a success, and that this success is dependant on line managers and turret staff recognising the need to work together. We therefore agreed to reiterate the understanding between Senior Management and PCS’s Joint Statement, in clarifying that ‘availability’ means “recognising the different working patterns of staff (some preferring to work early, others late and other patterns.” And furthermore, that staff should “not feel coerced into working times which do not meet their stated availability.”
We will continue to meet with Senior Management to assess the pilot’s progress.
