South Tyneside YOS Cover Arrangements Policy

Guidance for all staff

Version: 1.0

Date of Issue: August 2012

Review Date: August 2013

Author: Gary Bell, Operational Manager

Contents

Page

Booking of Annual Leave/Flexi 3

Minimum Staffing Levels4

Access to Peak Holiday Periods4

Halfback System5

Duty Rota7

Appendix A (Annual Leave/Flexi Cover Arrangements document)8

Booking of Annual Leave/Flexi

Entitlement to annual leave is based upon your current spinal column point and subject to continuous service. Annual entitlement begins on the 1st day of your birth month and finishes on the last day of the month prior to your birthday month the following year.

Leave entitlement commences on the day you start employment and is calculated on a month-by-month basis. All staff are entitled to one twelfth of their annual leave for each month or part thereof.

Annual Leave calculations are the responsibility of Human Resources, South Tyneside Council.

Under flexi time, you may vary your start and finish times, howeverthe maximum numbers of hours that can normally be worked on a single day is 10 ½, with a minimum of 11 hours break required between the end of one working day and the start of another, in accordance with the Work Time Regulations.

The accounting period for calculating flexi is 4 weeks with a credit, up to a maximum of 37 hours or a debit of 10 hours, which may be carried over from one accounting period to another.

1.The following applies to all staff:

1.1 Leave/Flexi can only be agreed by a manager.

1.2 Leave/flexi will always be subject to the requirements of the service. Leave/flexi can and will be refused if there is an identified risk to service delivery.

1.3 All annual leave or flexi must be signed off on the annual leave card and entered on the ‘Annual Leave Chart’.

1.4 Extended periods of leave/flexi of 10 continuous working days or more are subject to the above requirements with the additional requirement of authorisation by an Operational Manager or above.

Minimum Staffing Levels

The following staffing levels are to ensure a minimum level of cover and to maintain a high quality standard of service delivery.

These levels are based on current staffing numbers and are therefore subject to change. The minimum number equates to required staff per working day.

Designation / Minimum Number
Management[1] / 2
Prevention / 2
Case Management / 3
ISS / 2
Business Support Services / 2
Total / 11

Table 1.

Access to Peak Holiday Periods

To facilitate equal access to peak holiday periods the following ‘cut off dates’ for leave requests apply.

Requests for leave/flexi prior to these dates will not be agreed/signed off until the cut off date.

Holiday Period / Cut Off Date
Bank Holidays (those not falling in the periods below) / 3 months Prior
Easter Holiday Period / 1st January
Summer Half Term (May, Whit Week) / 1st January
Summer Holiday Period (July to September Inclusive) / 12 months prior
Autumn Half Term (October, Blackberry Week) / 3 months prior
Christmas Holidays / 1st October

Table 2.

Halfbacking System

For the purposes of this policy, the ‘case manager’ is the member of staff who has been allocated a young person on a statutory or voluntary intervention. The ‘halfback’ is the practitioner who is covering the case in the absence of the case manager during authorised annual leave/flexi.

During periods of unplanned leave (i.e. periods of sickness or ‘stuck not sick’) the halfback assumes the role of the case manager.

2.Identification of Halfbacks

2.1 At the point of allocation, whether statutory or voluntary interventions, the manager allocating the case must identify a halfback.

3.The Case Manager must ensure that:

3.1 All young people have a ‘halfback’ to caretake the case during any period of agreed annual leave/flexi. Cases, which do not require any appointments, still require a halfback to monitor the case.

3.2 All paper and electronic records are up to date prior to beginning leave/flexi. This includes assessments, risk assessments, reviews, supervision plans and all contacts (including planned contacts). Staff unable to meet this requirement must bring this to the attention of a manager immediately

3.3 Any required enforcement action has been undertaken prior to going on annual leave/flexi. Case managers unable to meet this requirement must bring this to the attention of a manager.

3.4 The halfback has been updated with any areas of concern including safeguarding and/or risk of harm to others.

3.5 Cover arrangements are recorded using the table in Appendix A and a copy given to Business Support Staff.

4.The Halback must ensure that:

4.1 All planned appointments are delivered as outlined in the cover arrangements document (see appendix A).

4.2 Statutory appointments are enforced when required and any subsequent breach action is taken. This includes following up any failures to comply within national standards, administering warning letters and the preparation of breach documentation for court.

4.3 Any immediate crisis, in respect of safeguarding and/or risk of harm to others, is responded to and action taken. This includes referrals to relevant agencies.

5.Emergency Cover:

5.1There will be instances when emergency cover will be required for young people’s appointments (e.g. the case manager is on holiday and the halfback is sick).

5.2If emergency cover is required it is the responsibility of the managementteam to try to find this. Managers seeking cover must explore every opportunity to cover any appointments. Should there be no front line staff available, then managers will cover the appointment themselves.

5.3Only when all opportunitiesto get cover have been exhausted may an appointment be cancelled.

Duty Rota

6.Cover for Duties

6.1 All swaps and changes to the rota must be agreed by a manager

6.2 It is staff responsibilityto find swaps for their duties and to bring these to a manager’s attention

6.3 It is the manager’s responsibility to agree the swap and email YOS Business Support

6.4 Business Support staff are then responsible for highlighting the swap on the rota (in red)

6.5 Holiday/flexi requests will not be signed off until duties are covered (by the above process)

6.6 In the event that staff cannot get cover for their duties, the manager will also seek to get cover. If all options are explored and no cover can be secured then holiday/flexi will be refused

7.Staff Responsibilities Whilst on Duty

7.1The table below outlines the timings for duties which staff must adhere to. The following also applies to all staff undertaking any duty:

  • If you have to leave the office during a duty you must get cover.
  • During duty times you must keep your diary free.
  • Staff are entitled to take a 30 minute lunch break but must get cover for this if leaving the office.

Duty / Times / Comments
Court / 8.30 to 5.00pm / On arrival staff on duty must ring the court cells. If court runs past 5.00pm then staff are required to stay until finish.
Pace / 8.30 to 5.00pm / On arrival staff on duty must ring the Police cells. This also covers office duty on every day other than Wednesday
Office (Wed) / 8.30 to 5.00pm / Covers inductions from court as well. If court is closed office duty still carries on until 5 in case court re-opens.
Panel / 5.00pm to 7.15pm / Staff must be at Gordon House for 5.00 to set the room up and prepare for the first panel at 5.30
Triage / 2.00 to 5.30pm / Staff on duty check in the morning for triages, if none are booked in then this duty is not required
Groupwork / 3.45 to 5.00pm / Staff need to be at Gordon House for 3.45 to prepare for the session.
Reparation / 4.15 to 6.30pm / Staff need to be in reception for 4.15 for a 4.30 start.

Appendix A -Annual Leave/Flexi Cover Arrangements

Case Manager
Dates of Annual Leave/Flexi
Young Person / Planned Appointment(s) / Comments / Halfback

1

[1]Not counting Specialist Youth Support Manager or the Service Development Manager