ISS SECURITY OFFICERS’ HOLIDAY AND HOLIDAY PAY – UPDATE

Issue No. 058/19 

06 December 2019

TO ALL BRANCHES WITH ISS MEMBERS

 

Dear Colleague

ISS SECURITY OFFICERS’ HOLIDAY AND HOLIDAY PAY – UPDATE

In response to enquiries around our previous briefings 032/2019 & 037/2019, ISS and the CWU have continued to have discussions regarding holiday pay on the BT account. Prior to TUPE, the CWU had made representations to both BTFS and ISS stating that where Security Officers had regularly and consistently worked hours over and above their contractual hours it was not acceptable that this was not reflected in their holiday pay.

At that time ISS gave the CWU assurance that it was not their intention to change the number of hours worked, the level of holiday pay for the Security Officers and that further discussions would take place post transfer to resolve this matter.

Since then the CWU have continued to make representation on this matter as despite these assurances there has been a significant amount of concern that previous BTFS Security staff could be being disadvantaged. ISS sought legal advice to ensure everyone receives the correct holiday pay. ISS follow the current government guidelines on the calculation of holiday pay.

We are therefore pleased to report that as a result of discussions with ISS, they will continue to pay holiday pay based on the actual hours worked per shift.

We know there was also some concern around holiday entitlement, and wanted to clarify the main points are as follows:

  • All holiday entitlement will be automatically calculated in days by the ISS system using the current legislation (which is 28 days including bank holidays for full time employees)
  • All full time officers that are working an agreed recognised shift pattern will be given a ‘base holiday entitlement’. The minimum base holiday entitlement will be 20 days leave plus bank holidays based on the current legal minimum entitlement.
  • Any officers that are currently contractually in receipt of more than the ‘base holiday entitlement’ will continue to receive that holiday entitlement.
  • Please note all full time Security Officers that transferred from BTFS are entitled to a minimum of 22 days leave plus bank holidays.
  • Where an officer is either part time or a relief/ flexible worker, holiday entitlement will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
  • Maternity/Paternity – holiday entitlement is not affected by maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The employee still builds up (‘accrues’) holiday over these periods.
  • Sick Pay – ISS will use the recognised shift pattern and actual working patterns to ensure that holiday entitlement is accurately accrued.

How holiday pay will actually work

ISS will continue to pay security officers for the full length of the shifts they work, at their contractual rate. This will be based on the roster pattern the officer works (and not the contracted hours BTFS declared in the contract provided to ISS), if there is a variance.

When a security officer goes on holiday ISS will ensure that where an officer works regular overtime in addition to their contractual hours ISS will calculate holiday pay based on the average hours per day worked over the previous 12 weeks.

For clarity it is important to understand that for workers, holiday pay will be based on the roster pattern the worker is assigned to. This means, for example, that a worker who has regularly worked 12 hours shifts will get paid for 12 hours each day they take holiday.

It is important to note that any overtime worked in the preceding 12 weeks will be calculated and we will ensure that the officer receives that uplift as part of the ‘hours paid per holiday day’ examples would be:

 

 

What about your holiday entitlement?

Over the next month (4 weeks from Monday 2nd December 2019) the ISS BT management team will continue reaching out to the supervisory team and briefing them directly. Your direct supervisor will then speak to you and ensure that ISS have correctly recorded your holiday entitlement and answer any questions you may have. Where it is agreed that an officer has not received the correct holiday entitlement, ISS managers will work with you to ensure that you can either take this holiday in this holiday year or to carry it over to next year where the first option is not practical.

ISS have explained that they will then ensure that from the 1st of January 2020 you will all be able to see your correct holiday entitlement when you view or book holidays through the self-service portal.

Nick Britten, ISS BT Global Account Director endorsed previous comments made by Mikkel Knudsen who stated, “We are pleased that ISS and the CWU have reached an agreement in this matter and we are particularly pleased with the way these negotiations have been conducted. We recognize that our teams are the most valuable resource we have and to be able to remove this worry from their daily life is important to me personally and the business. We look forward to working with each officer and resolving this matter.”

Conclusion

We know that the Security Officers have not been happy with the existing arrangements and the time it has taken to resolve the matter. The CWU believes that the new process will resolve the current confusion and unfairness that exists, it is not only easier to understand but is fairer and well ensure correctly calculated pay for each holiday day based on the shift pattern worked. The Security Officers will also be able to enhance their holiday pay by working overtime when this available.

Any queries relating to the above should in the first instance be notified to your local branch representative.

CWU Join Online at https://www.cwu.org/join-us/join-online

Yours sincerely

 

Brendan O’Brien

National Officer

Briefing 058.2019 ISS Security Officers Annual Leave Entitlement – Update