Withdrawing my services from out of hours cover. Possible?
Withdrawing my services from out of hours cover. Possible?
Author
Discussion

andycaca

Original Poster:

472 posts

157 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
Hi all. Long time lurker, small time poster here,

I am employed full time and a year or so after accepting the role my team were "selected" to provide the out of hours (OOH) cover for P1/major type incidents. This went though HR and appropriate consultation channels and our employment contracts were changed to reflect this new responsibility.

Fast forward a couple of years and the OOH demands have increased in scope, whilst the number of people providing the OOH service has never met the initial specification (4 people on it, rather than 5). In a nutshell, I feel the company is taking the P*ss out of us (for example not telling us we are now providing P1 support to an external company) whilst also not providing adequate resources to put measures in place to mitigate the potential of P1 incidents.

I'm trawling through my emails at the minute to find the consultation docs etc, and haven't yet spoken to HR formally as I wanted to gather some opinion from a bunch of internet strangers smile

The question is: Can i turn around to my boss/his boss/HR and simply state "I don't want to cover OOH any more", or have they got me over a barrel because I've accepted the change of contract previously and continued to cover OOH for the past couple of years. Leaving the company and returning to contracting is something I've been mulling over in recent months, so if it comes down to such an impasse i will GTFO.

for what it's worth, there is a lack of people in the area i live and work that can do the job, it is highly skilled.

Thanks for reading smile

Foliage

3,861 posts

151 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
Id be trying to spin it - have you any ideas how the company can better service the customer, make more money or save money while putting you in a better place with regards OOH?

supertouring

2,228 posts

262 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
Have you spoken to your boss about these issues?

mph1977

12,467 posts

197 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
the OP has answerred the first question iwas going to ask - what is the contractural position ...

as the changes were put into the contracts it's more likely to be something to take as a grievance

asking to withdraw could be a Nuclear option especially if the management are powerfully built be -goatteed PH types ...

andycaca

Original Poster:

472 posts

157 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
I work for a government funded public body, so the powerfully built directors are more akin to career slimy toads. btw, i am not a doctor and this isnt some perverse dig about the "7 day a week NHS" strikes currently ongoing - although to some extent it is indicative of the mess i/we find ourselves currently in.

there are supposed to be 5 of us on OOH, but having just had a chat with my colleague (who should be no.5), he is not being placed on the OOH roster in order to save a paltry 4.5% salary. that wasnt directly given as the reason by our betters, but we arent stupid...

megaphone

11,638 posts

280 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
So they pay you 4.5% more for the OOH cover?

mph1977

12,467 posts

197 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
megaphone said:
So they pay you 4.5% more for the OOH cover?
plus the relevant pay for work performed on call...

TwistingMyMelon

6,506 posts

234 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
Do you not want to do OOH any more?

Or are you just fed up and more money could sway you?

If its the later, group together with the rest of team that provide ooh and work as a team to negotiate a better deal, if your company is taking on more OOH work , then I bet they are getting more money for it.

If its the first one, have a friendly talk to your boss, if no joy consult your employee manual/grievance procedure...

mph1977

12,467 posts

197 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
Do you not want to do OOH any more?

Or are you just fed up and more money could sway you?

If its the later, group together with the rest of team that provide ooh and work as a team to negotiate a better deal, if your company is taking on more OOH work , then I bet they are getting more money for it.

If its the first one, have a friendly talk to your boss, if no joy consult your employee manual/grievance procedure...
'government funded public body' the only chance for more money i nthe role is a recruitment and retnetion payment as OOH rates and on call rates will be part of the properly constructed and tested against job evaluation schemes that the public sector had forced upon them by a combination of discrimination suits and the pressure of staff side ... so all the powerfully built be-goatteed wheezes will fall on deaf ears ...


andycaca

Original Poster:

472 posts

157 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
mph1977 said:
plus the relevant pay for work performed on call...
4.5% salary hike for being on call, no payment for work carried out - TOIL instead.

its not about the money, tbh the way im feeling right now they could double the payment (never going to happen) and it would not change a thing.

i think a chat with my immediate boss is in order, where i will say that i am considering the possibility of withdrawing from OOH. this will then lead to only three people providing OOH, which i can see kickstarting a whole load of sh*t around the service that is expected of my team.

im finding myself becoming increasingly more frustrated, leading to real anger, at the way more things are asked of us, but are given less to do it with (not just talking about money) and how no f*cks are given by the management layer (of which i am immediately below).

contracting had its own stresses, but of a different type which i flourished on. problem solving and creative solutions are what i am good at - not performing the impossible and then getting slated for it because it wasnt totally perfect


aargh!

andycaca

Original Poster:

472 posts

157 months

Friday 22nd January 2016
quotequote all
Also, with the recruitment and retention payments:
http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/recruit...

we recently recruited for two people to join our team. there were 16 applicants, all rejected before interview. there simply isn't the skilled workforce in this area, so in a very real sense I could leave and come back as a contractor. this is going on right now in another branch of the same speciality at a more junior level!!

i think need to lay out the possible directions i could take this and the options each direction offers.