The Civil Service Reform plans to change civil service terms and conditions in all government departments. The changes to be imposed from 14th October 2013 following consultation but not agreement, with the Departmental Trade Union Side (DTUS), will impact on:
- Privilege leave and annual leave
- Probation
- Discipline and Grievance Policies
- Attendance Management
- Mobility
- Sick pay
The 1½ days historically awarded as privilege leave around Christmas/New Year and for Maundy Thursday will be abolished for new employees but permanently converted to annual leave for current staff with entitlements revised to 23½, 26½ and 31½ days. Improvements have been also gained for new employees as reported in DWP/BB/092/13.
Every employee will be expected to reserve a day’s annual leave because the Department will continue to close to the public for one day in the Christmas/New Year period. The Queen’s Birthday is unaffected and will continue as the sole privilege day.
Discipline and Grievance Policies
Revised Discipline and Grievance policies, based on civil service employee policies, will replace the current DWP policies covering Discipline, Grievance and Harassment, Discrimination & Bullying.
PCS has worked to ensure that the changes not only comply with statutory rights at work but also retain many of the standards and best practices established in DWP.
This outcome is underpinned by the support for the National Campaign, against threats to our rights at work, given by PCS members in DWP.
Attendance Warnings and Appeals
DWP Attendance Management Policy and Procedure for warnings and appeals will be amended. The two warnings under the current procedures will simply be renamed to align with other policies:
- An Oral Improvement Warning is renamed as a First Written Warning
- A Written Improvement Warning is renamed as a Final Written Warning
These changes align DWP with Civil Service Employee Policy and ACAS guidance and are consistent with contractual and statutory rights.
Changes for new employees only
Changes to three policies will impact on new employees only from 14th October 2013. These are:
- Probation
- Mobility
- Sick pay
From 14th October DWP will introduce the principle of “earned entitlement” into the annual leave policy so that, during their six-month’ probation, new employees will have access to 50% of their annual leave. They will qualify for the other 50% when their probation is passed and the appointment has been confirmed.
Mobility for new employees only
New employees will be mobile to any Civil Service post anywhere in the UK providing both the post and its location are reasonable. New guidance will help managers decide reasonableness. This new Civil Service mobility policy will apply to new recruits who take up post on 14th October or later and to employees of other government departments who: (a) voluntarily transfer into DWP, and (b) were recruited into the Civil Service on 14th October 2013 or later.
Sick pay for new employees only
New employees will have access to one month’s full pay and one month’s half pay in their first year of service. This will rise annually (to 2:2, 3:3, etc.) over five years to a maximum of five months’ full pay and five months’ half pay in the fifth year and beyond. This new policy will apply to new recruits and some transferees from other departments who take up post on 14th October 2013 or later.
Impact on promotion
Some government departments will apply the new terms and conditions to employees who gain permanent promotion. DWP has not committed to do this now or in the future. DWP expects to “achieve a comparatively high rate of migration to the new policies through external recruitment and relevant inter-department voluntary transfers.”
PCS Policy and Action
Further guidance will be provided for members. The Civil Service Reform plans to change Civil Service terms and conditions are politically motivated – part of a more general attack on the rights of workers and trade unions stemming directly from ministers. They are not being driven by robust professional personnel policy considerations or good reward principles.
The PCS National Executive Committee (NEC) has provided guidance for the DWP Group Executive Committee (GEC), published in Branch Briefing DWP/BB/014/13, which will continue to guide our on-going opposition to unacceptable changes.
DWP Group Conference, in May 2013, agreed Policy A208 on Civil Service Reform. Conference noted that the Civil Service Reform Plan requires each Department to undertake a review of their terms and conditions ensuring that terms and conditions are "comparable with, but not beyond, what a good, modern employer would provide." Conference rejected any assertion that civil service standards should not be a precedent for improvements for all workers. Equal pay for women, for example, was established in the civil service 10 years before the Equal Pay Act
PCS is opposed to detrimental changes and two tier conditions of service and will continue to demand that all members must have the best terms and conditions and will take all necessary action to achieve this objective.
