NEWS.CATEGORY: Industrial
GWR: Recap of the year and update on enhanced payments for Sunday 22nd and 29th December
Dear members, in the run up to the new year I thought it might be wise to update members on several topics that have mainly been raised with the company at Company council level.
Sunday 22nd and 29th December
On 16th December GWR met with the full-time officers for the various unions to meet and discuss the mandate that they have been given by the Department for Transport on what they are able to pay for those who work on the above dates. The offer is for Double time for hours worked on those days based on basic pay.
This offer is only for those covered by Collective Bargaining so for TSSA members this will include anyone working in Clerical grades, Stations, Revenue Protection and Management grades that are covered by the TSD & R&R joint council which includes those working in Performance and Network delivery.
Clearly this is another reminder of why those without collective bargaining should join TSSA today www.tssa.org.uk/join and why it is in your interest to encourage your colleagues to join.
These arrangements are separate from your terms and conditions of employment.
Managers grades payments for working Christmas day and Boxing Day
We have had some questions from Management graded members asking about entitlements for working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. There are contractual arrangements that are in place for all management graded staff that date back to an agreement with TSSA in 2011. This entitles any Management graded staff who works a rostered turn of duty commencing on 25th or 26th December to be paid at the rate of triple time or if requested double time and a day in lieu. Payment being calculated on basic salary only excluding any allowances. On Call managers that are called out and required to attend the workplace shall be paid under the same arrangements above.
Ex colleagues backdated Pay
If you are aware of any ex-colleagues of GWR that might be entitled to backdated Pay then please make them aware that they should contact hr@gwr.com to make them aware they are an ex colleague who wishes to receive the backdated pay rises. The company has advised that this will not be paid until at least February 2025, but individuals might be asked to provide further information in order to receive the backdated payments.
Proposed Recruitment Policy
Whilst nothing has been agreed we have been in talks with the company about their proposed changes to the policy. This had been raised several years ago and the unions had been advised that their intention was to make the policy more inclusive and potentially add in a process where candidates’ applications were anonymized before sifting took place. Unfortunately, the proposals do not make the process fairer to remove any biases furthermore they seem to be intended to make it easier for selection to take place without a fair process including a section that allow as “high potential” candidates to be slotted into roles without a role needing to be advertised. Clearly there are issues with this that we are raising with the company and will continue to do so into 2025.
Reasonable Adjustments Guidance
We have had a number of issues with the application or lack of application of reasonable adjustment within the company for disabled colleagues as per the Eqaulity Act 2010. As a result, the company has proposed guidance to assist managers to understand more about what reasonable adjustments are. The company has added a segment about temporary adjustments which has proved controversial in the negotiations at the company council which has delayed its introduction while we try and improve upon the wording.
Secondments ended Early
TSSA has raised concerns with the company about them ending Secondment early which is contrary to both the policy and the individual contracts that they issue. The Contracts don’t have any specific clause that allows the company to end them early. We believe this is a breach of contract and this has led to people losing the pay that they would have been entitled to, had the secondment run its natural course to the original date specified in the contract. We had an understanding that the company would resolve those issues and propose changes to the policy as a result, but the company failed to resolve the issue for the individual concerned and therefore we aren’t able to agree to changes to the policy.
If members are impacted by this issue they should seek advice from their representative as soon as possible and consider lodging a grievance for unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract if members have been in membership before the issue arose we will then consider lodging tribunal claims as long as these are within 3 calendar months less 1 day of the date of the reduction in pay.
TSSA is there for our members on individual and collective matters, if you have any queries on issues that have affected you then please either speak to one of your reps or contact our members helpdesk on helpdesk@tssa.org.uk
Changes in Legislation
This year has seen a large raft of employment legislation being introduced this year which has led to various procedures and policies being updated. In terms of the Respect and Dignity Policy the trade unions have aspired to amend this and improve upon it for a number of years but the Changes to legislation on Sexual Harassment legislation have meant that some minor changes have been put in place to try and make it compliant with the new legislation. We have stated to the company that they need to go further in their amendments including introducing a Risk assessment process in order to demonstrate how they are seeking to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and also have advised they seek to use the Equality and Human Rights commissions 8 step Guide which can be found here
However, in the new year there are a number of Policies and Procedures that we will be looking to seek to improve some of which might require Equality representatives to be involved in the negotiations. If you are interested in becoming an Equality representative, then please contact Alan Valentine as we have a number of vacancies across GWR for TSSA Equality representatives.
I wish you all and your families a very merry Christmas and New year and let’s look to building TSSA in 2025 so that it is stronger and better able to support you and your colleagues in fighting for fairness, dignity and respect.