Rest Day Protections Should Not Be Weakened

Officers should not work on their rest days or be called into work on their days off, South Yorkshire Police Federation has warned.

Chair Steve Kent was speaking following proposals to weaken protections around officers’ rest days.

In their submission to the Government-controlled Police Remuneration Review Body, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has proposed removing a safeguard, with officers paid at time and one-third, calculated in 15-minute increments, for the exact time worked.

The submission also seeks to tighten the rules around how cancelled rest days are re-rostered.

But Steve warned that this system could be abused, leaving officers’ wellbeing in jeopardy.

He said: “You’d have officers being called in for an hour on their day off and you’d have officers being kept on indefinitely because of proposed changes to the way they are paid. I have already made representations to our Chief about this and these discussions are ongoing.

“Because of the way that police officers are treated and the way that police officers can be called to duty at any point, even on holidays, this is a frankly shocking proposition that would likely be abused across the country.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales is fighting the changes, with its ‘Hands Off Our Rest Days’ campaign; part of the fight for better pay, working conditions and support for police officers.