{"id":330592,"date":"2023-04-04T11:46:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=330592"},"modified":"2023-04-04T11:46:32","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:46:32","slug":"inspecting-ranks-need-to-know-their-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sypfcopperconnection.co.uk\/?p=330592","title":{"rendered":"Inspecting Ranks Need To Know Their Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

INSPECTORS and Chief Inspectors are working extremely long hours without getting paid for overtime and there is \u201ca responsibility in this organisation to call it out\u201d, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n

Inspecting ranks are under strain and it is affecting their home lives as well as their desire to go for promotion, the Federation says. The national PFEW has\u00a0launched a campaign<\/a>\u00a0for Inspectors and Chief Inspectors to know their rights around rest days, overtime and being on-call.<\/p>\n

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent and Secretary Dave Baines have been surveying Chief Inspectors and Inspectors within their force and say it\u2019s an issue that needs to be looked at urgently.<\/p>\n

Steve said: \u201cWe are hearing some really concerning figures about how many hours our the Inspecting ranks are actually working, and not them being able to take the time back. That\u2019s putting up barriers for the right people to get promoted. It\u2019s putting a real strain on people\u2019s personal lives and family lives when they\u2019re trying to do this. So we\u2019re really worried about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think part of this is a culture that the Police Regulations don\u2019t apply to Inspectors in the same way as Constables and Sergeants. So I think we need to see an end to Inspectors\u2019 overtime being completely free, and maybe have a situation where they do a certain amount of hours for time back, and then it becomes paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf some of them are doing a 60-hour week, and they\u2019re not getting to claim that back, they\u2019re actually earning less an hour than a Sergeant. So it\u2019s wrong and it needs to be looked at urgently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve advised Inspectors and Chief Inspectors who were working extremely long hours to start recording their time so that the Federation could fight on their behalf.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cOne thing we find a lot is that these hours aren\u2019t necessarily being recorded and it becomes part of the norm. People say: \u2018I\u2019ll work until 9 or 10 o\u2019clock at night at the weekends.\u2019 I say: \u2018Well, do you make a note of that? Do you put it on a spreadsheet?\u2019 and they say: \u2018No, no. It\u2019s not worth it, is it?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a perception that they might be seen as rebellious if they make an issue of that. Well, no. As a collective, we\u2019ve all got a responsibility in this organisation to call this out. Inspecting ranks need to start logging what they\u2019re doing. That can give us the evidence to go back to senior officers and say, \u2018You\u2019ve got a real problem here\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who really want to do this job are put off by the work-life demands, because they\u2019ve got families and they\u2019ve got lives outside of policing. We\u2019re self-harming with this, quite significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n