rodders5

Hi all,
I have been doing lots of reading and speaking to people on here (thanks ann) am being presented next week and is all starting to get a bit real now!!!

My main concern is annual leave, or more to the point the lack of it!!!!

Can people who are already over there confirm how much you actually get and then how they cope on so little? I know people are working extra days etc to top it up, is this easy to do?
How many public hols do you get?

Am kinda put of by the thought of only 12 days a year off!!!
cheers
add

Pompeyboy

You get about three weeks but working 4 on 4 off and adding all the stat holidays its just as good as I got in the UK..

dawnzocalgary

I've heard its only 12 days too.....generally out here you get 15 days, lots of employers only give 10 so anything more than that is a bonus.

There are around 11 days public holiday too.

The annual leave was something i was concerned about when moving out here as i had around 50 days in uk...but like i've said a thousand times it makes you appreciate your time off way more. And when working on shifts, days on, days off etc i really dont think that it will feel like only 12 days.

When summer cmes in and you can sit out on the deck every night for 3 months of the year its not so bad and doesnt make you crave a holiday quite so much

minihaha

Hi Rodders. It really is not just 12 days off per year.

You can accrue your over time and use that to bump up your leave days.

This is substantial as the amount of court days you do is all time and a half or double time. Sorry I didnt mean full court days , hubby turns up and then is sent home for whatever reason and is still paid the extra time.

There are many bank holidays here, again if you are working them its double or even triple time when Xmas.

The CPS are not all on 4 on 4 off, one shift has triald it and it looks like they are going to bring it in for all shifts in the summer.

Even without the 4 on 4 off my hubby has 5 off this weekend. The past month it has been 3 , 4 days off, only pants when its after a night shift. But then he might go back on a night shift so not to bad.

Hope this helps, it really is not that bad for time off at all.

We always have loads of time together as a family.

Mrs minihaha

rodders5

thanks all!!
Re over time /court duty etc how does it work?? do you have an overtime card and then can take it in time off or payment at your choice???

doesnt sound so bad after all

dawnzocalgary

I believe you can take it as pay or time, but im not sure if you sign up for one of the other at the start of the year??? Anyone know if you can switch between the 2 ?

minihaha

Hi. Hubby can either take his accrued over time as days off or add it to his fortnightly wage. He can choose how many hrs he adds to his wage too.

I will get hubby to explain how the court over time works when hes back home.

mrs minihaha

rae

do not know if it is the same with CPS, but i have been told as i am the new guy i can pretty much forget holidays, this year at least. All the summer time is already filled and they took no account of me joining the squad. days off are great at the moment, however no court yet. they do not have mg10 court calenders, you go on your rest days or when you are working, that includes nights. so work at night finish at 8, go straight to court, back on that night. same for the 1700-0400 shift.

source

If the trial of 4 on 4 off comes off for everyone - is this with 12 hour shifts?

Thanks

minihaha

Yes 12 hr shifts, two days 7 am till 7 pm then two nights 7 pm till 7 am.

mrs minihaha

source

Not bad!

kws

just to clarify the new shifts at CPS. I've been working them since September and they are good, however, it's not a straight 4 on 4 off system. There are 06:00hrs, 07:00hrs, 16:00hrs or 19:00hrs start times for the 12 hour shifts. then there are 08:00 - 16:00 hrs and 17:00 - 03:00hrs shifts which are shorter. It's slightly confusing but works OK. Most of the time we work blocks of 4 days, say 06:00 for 2 days then 16:00 to 04:00hr for the next two, the following week will be 07:00hrs for 2 then 19:00hrs for 2. We have to do shorter shifts on two rotations in the 10 week cycle so that we work the same hours as other districts. So there are 3 08:00hrs shifts and 4 17:00hr shifts.

As for annual leave. You won't get any the first part year worked, the following year is pro rated to the time in service the previous year. So I joined in April 07 and got 92hrs for the 08 year but have already accumulated 150hrs OT, that's without working any extra shifts or court time. That's just from stat days and being kept on at the end of a shift. The hours go into a bank and you choose how you take the time (money or time off). We are allowed to accumulate upto 240hrs in the bank before there is an automatic pay-out of 40hrs. Despite the lack of holidays I've never had so much time off on my hands the only problem is making it work with the other half as she works normal business hours, so we tend to have lots of time off seperately. However, it beats the 7 on 2 off and all the other cazy shifts I worked in the UK.

KWS