Do reserves get the same amount of Saturdays off?

camelelf · Post by **camelelf** » 03 Sep 2016, 07:52

I've gone through a few threads on here about getting saturdays off as a reserve, and the answer I'm getting is that they get the same as duty holders.

The day off rotation in my office is Thursday, friday, saturday repeat. So that's a saturday every three weeks, is that what us reserves should get or is it a different system?

Pidleypoo · Post by **Pidleypoo** » 03 Sep 2016, 11:12

As a reserve you've got no chance of that and I'm not sure what threads you've gone through to come to that conclusion.you will get whatever day off the for the duty you've been put on and in my experience of nearly 10 years of being a reserve where I was lucky to get 1 or 2 a year I'd say you are kidding yourself for one every 3 weeks.harsh but true sadly

slinder123 · Post by **slinder123** » 03 Sep 2016, 12:54

get your rep to speak up for you its his job to make sure all employees are treated the same if not get a grievence in against the manager and the rep

Pidleypoo · Post by **Pidleypoo** » 03 Sep 2016, 20:29

No one spoke up about this in my office more than me.i spoke to reps area reps, lino's,doms,dsm's all of them and squat was ever done about it.im a duty holder now but it still goes on in our office.hopefuly you've got better managers and reps than we've got and you get something done but I never could despite numerous grievances.its scandolus this goes on really but we all know it does

steve1873 · Post by **steve1873** » 03 Sep 2016, 20:50

You are entitled to the same amount on average. So for example if your office is 1 in 6, in an 18 week period you would have 3 Saturdays off, if you had a set rotational day off. So as a reserve you should be entitled to the same 3 Saturdays over the same period. But you could in theory get 3 in a row and then have 15 weeks without a Saturday.

Reserves days off are certainly worth keeping a track off, for that reason, and additionally if your office is on long & shorts, there is a danger that too many of certain days off could lead to people working more than the 39 hour average, for no extra pay.

Postie.11 · Post by **Postie.11** » 06 Sep 2016, 18:49

No they don't! I'm a reserve, have 12 years service and I've had only 2 Saturday's off this year! In our office duty holders get 1 in 4 off. I have a young family, my kids are in school all week so it's really crap to be honest! I thought it was in the last agreement that it was minimum 1 in 4 for all staff, not just duty holders? I've spoken to my rep but he's not interested!

Post by **trythat** » 06 Sep 2016, 19:52

Postie.11 wrote:No they don't! I'm a reserve, have 12 years service and I've had only 2 Saturday's off this year! In our office duty holders get 1 in 4 off. I have a young family, my kids are in school all week so it's really crap to be honest! I thought it was in the last agreement that it was minimum 1 in 4 for all staff, not just duty holders? I've spoken to my rep but he's not interested!

Every time I see this subject come up, it annoys me, everyone shoudl be treated the same. If the office defaut is 1 in 4 then you should get the same, it doesn't matter that you are a reserve, unless you are on a 3 day week contract.

As others have said, if office rep not helping go to the Area or Div rep, if they won't help go to HQ.

telithowitis · Post by **telithowitis** » 08 Sep 2016, 19:07

I'm a relatively new part timer and happened to speak to my rep about this today. He told me I was entitled to 12 Saturdays off per year. The FT staff in my office get a long weekend 1 in every 4 weeks.

camelelf · Post by **camelelf** » 15 Sep 2016, 20:22

Postie.11 wrote:No they don't! I'm a reserve, have 12 years service and I've had only 2 Saturday's off this year! In our office duty holders get 1 in 4 off. I have a young family, my kids are in school all week so it's really crap to be honest! I thought it was in the last agreement that it was minimum 1 in 4 for all staff, not just duty holders? I've spoken to my rep but he's not interested!

Rep also isn't interested here either.

It's frustrating when you see other reserves, just like us on the same duty every week which means they get their 1 in 3 Saturdays off, whilst I'm getting every Tuesday off.

wannabeek · Post by **wannabeek** » 17 Sep 2016, 19:46

There is a loophole they use to give reserves less than their share of Saturdays off - here every leave week for a reserve is normally given the Saturday off.
Assuming a regular guy on a standard rotation gets 8 to 9 Saturdays off a year and the reserve gets his max of 6 weeks holiday (both would be normal here) then the reserve would only need to get 2 to 3 Saturdays per year for the stats to show that he was getting exactly the same Saturdays off as everyone else in the office.
V naughty in my opinion but not a thing anyone can do about it, so far as I can see.

Post by **postiewhite** » 24 Sep 2016, 15:54

Reserves are entitled to 1 in 6 or whatever your office agrees. Ive seen proof in the agreement.

hampshireman · Post by **hampshireman** » 02 Oct 2016, 14:06

wannabeek wrote:There is a loophole they use to give reserves less than their share of Saturdays off - here every leave week for a reserve is normally given the Saturday off.
Assuming a regular guy on a standard rotation gets 8 to 9 Saturdays off a year and the reserve gets his max of 6 weeks holiday (both would be normal here) then the reserve would only need to get 2 to 3 Saturdays per year for the stats to show that he was getting exactly the same Saturdays off as everyone else in the office.
V naughty in my opinion but not a thing anyone can do about it, so far as I can see.

There is no loophole. It is the usual con from RM management (sic) to tell staff that they have to accept what is on offer.

It really is bollocks.

Had this crap in my previous office .. Everybody else on 1 in 6 .. Me as a reserve .. Oh you'll just have to take the day off for the walk.

Rubbish!!!!

Just said that ' I would follow the floats and have my 1 in 6 when they did ; and that it was not my problem how they covered it. ' People have to be firm about this.

telithowitis · Post by **telithowitis** » 02 Oct 2016, 21:21

I have spoken to my local rep and been informed that I am entitled to the same number of Saturday's as regulars. I'm keeping a record over a reasonable period and then intend to raise it with the management by EMAIL as all verbal requests about anything seem to me to be ignored or fobbed off by my local RM managers
Others have said they seem rota us all for Saturday's so there are no savings left and they can go home before anyone gets back.
Meanwhile I am told in mid week managers seem too busy prepping lapsed rounds to deal with anything??
On another point have other reserves noticed that each time there is a bank holiday we are all on rest day or is that just my DO???

Sir Henry · Post by **Sir Henry** » 03 Oct 2016, 18:09

There IS a tendency for lazy screws to give reserves bank holidays as their day off but we can f**k with their budgets by demanding payment for those days instead of some nebulous day off far in the future. Watch them squirm/lie/prevaricate/delay. Sometimes it's almost worth getting a BH Monday off.

sardonicus · Post by **sardonicus** » 03 Oct 2016, 19:38

Does anyone know - for sure - or can tell me where its stated in print, as part of policy, that reserves are entitled to Saturdays off, be that one in 4, one in 6 etc etc.

I have been with RM for a year next week, no mention so far of a permanent contract, on a 20 hour, 5 day week 6 month temp contract which was rolled over at six months despite my request to be made permanent.

I tried to pin down my line manager today about the status of saturday days off entitlement - he told me that I was not entitled to any saturdays off at all, and that my normal day off which is nearly but not always a tuesday was suffice.

He did tell me that he would 'work with me' when he could if i asked him in advance for a saturday off, however he said that even then there was no assurance it would be granted.

The f/t staff get 1 in 4 off with a long weekend, the p/t staff get one in four off if they are working on a permanent duty, the 3 day floats get a saturday off in every four.

I told my manager i wanted one saturday off in every six, and that i cant plan my life when i have to put in requests that i do not know if they will be granted - they wont.

I already deliver the same amount of door to doors as f/t staff but get half the pay supplement, I sometimes work with duty holders or 3 day p/t workers and if we finish early i have to sign out and only get paid to that time yet the same people i just worked with on the same duty in the same van continue getting paid till end of their shift ( im on a 4 hour a day 5 day 20hr contract), and although its impossible to do a prep and walk in that time, the union still allow these contacts to flourish. A new intake into the depot is happening in a few weeks and the newbies will be on 23.5 hours over 5 days, meaning they will get more holiday and sickness entitlement than the existing people in the depot on 20hrs - these contracts were never offered to us. does the union really give a monkeys about p/t staff? My union rep has no interest whatsoever and just says that the managers can do what they like as i am part tie and temp contact, though they are happy to take my money!

btw when i was at my induction a union guy came in and said that if anyone was working regularly more hours that their contract, esp 20hr / 23.5 hr contracts they would fight at the depot to get the contact up to say 30 hours - I average 35 hours a week, last 2 weeks 43 hrs each, im asked to go in a 7am most days and work till at least the same finishing time as full timers - if i say i dont want to work more than my contract hours or even just say no mo=re than an hour over my contact hours the managers revert me to the countback system ie startng at the finish time and working backwards in hours my four hours and then saying the morning was overtime, ie i did overtime before i did normal time? more proof that 4 hours a day is an unworkable contract!

To get back to the subject in hand, it must be written somewhere in an agreement etc exactly what the saturday day off policy is for p/t staff - I would dearly like to confront my manager with some solid and definative back up info, PLEASE HELP if you can, I love the job but am about to hand my notice in any time soon as i cant abide being treated differently from others and being discriminated by the managers etc - cant believe a company with the word 'royal, in its name and a crown on the vans can get away with this kind of behaviour!