Meeting Date / Report Number
Report Author: / M Stagg, Ben Pilkington, Sally Froment
Presented By / M Stagg
Subject / Rank to Role - update
Type of Report:
Recommendations
Members of the Board are asked to note the contents of the report.
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BACKGROUND
- The National Joint Council agreed to adopt a role based structure in 1998. The initial agreement created seven firefighting roles and an anticipated assimilation from the existing rank structure to the new role-based structure. The National Joint Council circular 13/03 set out the Fire Service Pay and Conditions agreement, which included that with effect from 7th November 2003 the new role structure would apply to all employees in firefighting and control roles.
- A further circular (15/03) confirmed that the assimilation exercise was for pay purposes only and that negotiations had yet to be completed on a number of issues including the assessment of job size for role.
- The National Joint Council 09/05 confirmed that agreement had been reached and the circular included guidance on allocating a job to a role, guidance on job sizing, a model appeal procedure for allocation of a job to a role and the principles to apply to job descriptions.
- Although Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) adopted the role structure for pay purposes in 2005 the assimilation exercise was not completed.
- The Lucas Review and subsequent action plan identified completion of rank to role as a activity which needed to take place in order to create a flatter management structure and replace outdated rank hierarchy.
- As part of the People Structures Project a work stream was set up to undertake the move of ECFRS from a rank based structure to a role based structure.
- The table below shows the alignment of the historic rank structure in place in Essex with the new roles. The Watch Manager A and Station Manager A roles were not used. Sub Officers were assimilated to Watch Manager B and Station Officer (Flexi) to Station Manager B.
This flattened the heirarchy structure and reduced the number of pay levels pay levels.
This is used the principles of Rank to Role as intended. The challenges within the project were around the guidance was dated from 2005 and ECFRS were 12 years behind the FRS nationally. The guidance required that the process be based on job descriptions for each role. Although ECFRS has adopted role for pay purposes, job descriptions were not complete, agreed or in some cases available.
Previous Rank Structure / Previous Pay Level / New Role StructureCFO / Brigade Manager
ACFO/CFO
Dep CFO / Brigade Manager
Asst CFO / ACFO/Dep CFO/CFO
Senior Divisional Officer / Area Manager B / Area Manager
Divisional Officer 1 / Group Manager B / Group Manager
Divisional Officer 2 (unused)
Divisional Officer 3 (unused)
Assistant Divisional Officer (Flexi) / Station Manager
Assistant Divisional Officer (Day) / Station Manager B
Station Officer (Flexi) / Station Manager A
Station Officer on call multi Pump / Station Manager A / Watch Manager
Station Officer (Rider) / Watch Manager B / Watch Manager
Sub Officer / Watch Manager A / Phased out
Leading Firefighter / Crew Manager / Crew Manager
Firefighter / Firefighter / Firefighter
PROGRESS
- The table below sets out the initial products delivered by the work stream.
RANK TO ROLE PRODUCTS
2.1 / Rank to Role Principles /
- Agreed principles
2.2 / Station Based job descriptions / Job descriptions created / Complete
2.3 / Group and Station Managers and Specialist Roles /
- Establish current number of roles and departmental structure of services with specialist roles
- Collate Role Profiles
- Review and update role profiles and person specifications to one job description
Completed
All reviewed
2.4 / Consultation documents / Station Based
- Agreed assimilation process
- Briefing documents for Station Managers
- Face to Face Briefing for Station Managers
- Consultation documents including appeal process will be part of Management Review II
Completed
Completed
Completed ( not in scope)
Specialist Roles
- Mapping process
- 1:1 consultation will be part of Management Review II
- Final report of mapping outcomes including options
Completed (not in scope)
Completed
In addition to the above, the work stream also took on the implementation of Rank to Role for both station-based and specialist departments. This work included:
Station-based
- Agreeing principles of implementation with representative bodies
- Monitoring of line manager/individual consultation
- Letters and SAP actions completed for substantive Group and Station Managers
- Letters and SAP actions for all substantive and temporary watch based Watch and Crew Managers confirming assimilation
- Letters and SAP actions for On call and Day Crewing WM and CM.
- Letters and SAP actions for those on secondment/career breaks/maternity leave
- Thank you letters to those who had been in temporary positions who were likely to step down.
- Redeployment of displaced wholetime Sub Officers, and pay protection put in place for those remaining on station until suitable opportunity arises.
- Appeals collated and responded to
Specialist Posts
- Individual meetings with line managers to discuss and refine current job descriptions
- Individual meetings with line managers to assess each specialist WM role against role maps.
- Panel meetings to assess SM roles against role maps.
- Panel to assess ‘lilac’ roles
- Individual meetings with line managers and HRBPs to discuss assessment outcomes and options
- Letters and SAP actions for Operations, Emergency Planning, Training, Health & Safety/Ops Assurance, Technical, Community Safety, Technical Fire Safety completed. *
- Appeals collated and responded to
*NB: Operations, Community Safety, Technical Fire Safety and Staff Office/Central Resourcing are all subject to department reviews. The holding position is that all substantive postholders have assimilated to their substantive Role and those in temporary posts assimilated to their substantive Role and held temporarily at the current temporary Role, with the caveat that the department structure is subject to review, that they are required to complete the talent pool process to be considered for promotion and the post Role may change.
NEXT STEPS
- The following activity is required to complete the Rank to Role work stream of the People Structures project.
- Control Rank to Role process being addressed as stand alone topic
- Letters and SAP actions for Staff Office/Central Resourcing
- Resolve back payments to those who were temporarily promoted or seconded between April 2017 and Jan 2018
- Backpayments for acting up/overtime to Watch Manager posts since April 2017
- Agree finalised Watch Manager, Crew Manager, Station Manager and Group Manager Job Descriptions with rep bodies
- Distribute agreed station-based Job Descriptions to all postholders
- Outstanding appeals
- Transfer of correspondence to HR for filing
- Lessons learned review
- Closure Report
Benefits
- The benefits of the work identified at the beginning of the project:
a)Flatter structure consistent with other Fire Services
b)Development of a process that consistently assesses the level of a role
c)Clear and simpler career path for uniformed staff
Financial Implications
- There will be an impact on the total salary cost as those paid at Watch Manager A and Station Manager B have been assimilated to the Watch Manager B and Station Manager B roles. This will, in part, be offset by the reduction in Station management headcount by the removal of a tier of management The full financial impact of the project will be finalised for the project closure report.
Equality and Diversity Implications
- None arising from this report.
Workforce Engagement
- No specific issues to raise. Engagement with representative bodies, managers and staff has continued throughout the life of the project.
- Regular communication with employees was undertaken at Managers Briefings and through Weekly News.
Legal ImplicationS
- None from the contents of this report.
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