SDA: Metis Problems & Rostering

Shift Disturbance Allowance (SDA): Metis Premium Payment claim problems and rostering update

This briefing provides an update on current issues facing staff in receipt of SDA, and details two main issues – problems claiming premium day payments on Metis, and a clarification on national rostering policy.

Background

In MB/039/20 PCS detailed the current national situation for staff in receipt of SDA who were being denied access to premium day working, and what PCS intended to do in order to address those problems and clarify issues. Since then some clarification has been provided by the Department, and additional issues have also arisen.

Premium Day Claiming Problems On Metis

The new Metis system has been up and running in part since 28^th September 2020. PCS discovered that there was a problem submitting claims for rostered contractual shifts on premium days. To claim on Metis a member of staff must complete the ‘Time Card’ section. A drop-down menu gave options for what type of claim you want to make, however none of them corresponded with existing claim categories for either 1.5 times plain time for a Saturday or 2 times plain time for a Sunday. To make matters worse a search of the guidance uncovered the following statement. ‘You cannot claim if: this is part of a regular rostered commitment’, all of which meant that staff in receipt of SDA could not claim for rostered contractual shifts on premium days on Metis. Since some local deadlines for submission of premium payment claims were as close as 7^th October (for a national deadline of 15^th October for payment in the end of October payslips ) PCS was aware that this was a matter of some urgency.

What did PCS do?

PCS immediately contacted shared services, informing them of the problem and asking if this issue could be addressed as a matter of urgency. We also wrote to HR to flag up the problem and again asking for speedy resolution.

The Result Of Our Actions

We still have received no response from Shared Services; however some local managers did an excellent job at pushing the issue from their end to help find a solution, and HR too have assisted greatly in trying to find a solution. It has now been accepted that Metis did not allow premium payment claims for staff in receipt of SDA and we were informed that a solution was being sought.

On 6 October 2020 PCS received the following confirmation from HR: ‘We are reviewing the setup in light of your feedback and producing guidance. I have been advised by the Metis team that in light of this, they are developing additional guidance that will be made available to staff later this week, expected to be on Thursday, following further review and testing of the required system transactions.

I can also confirm that although there may be local cut-offs on 7 October, the actual deadline for claims to be submitted and approved is 15 October, which should still allow time for members to submit their claims in time to receive payment in October.

The Metis team apologise for the concern this is causing but are working hard to ensure that the additional guidance is made available as soon as possible’

PCS therefore hopes that by Thursday 8 October a solution is found and guidance can be provided to members on how to submit a premium payment claim on Metis. If there are any further problems in this area please contact a PCS representative.

PCP Rostering Principles

As promised in MB 39/20, following threats made by managers in various locations to roster the Seasonal Workforce premium day duties ahead of substantive staff in receipt of SDA, PCS wrote to Border Force senior management on 16 July 2020. We sought clarification of rostering priorities on the PCP.

On 22 July 2020 PCS received a response as follows: ‘The position remains that Seasonal Workforce (SWF) are not rostered as a priority over staff in receipt of SDA with the position in regions that AHA staff are to be used first at weekends, followed by SDA staff where that meets the business need, as per normal rostering arrangements, and followed by SWF, dependent on location. However, given continuing uncertainty at the present time there will still be occasions when the business needs to roster SWF to supplement staffing as part of the answer to operational requirements. This is particularly the case when staffing is required late in the process due to changing demands’

PCS members in receipt of SDA need to be aware of the above rostering priorities, and if you suspect that these guidelines are being breached please contact a local PCS representative (for Home Office Merseyside Branch members only) as soon as possible.

Equality Breakdown Of Staff in Receipt of Shift Allowances

PCS requested and received an equality breakdown of all staff on AHA, SDA and AAA. This is an analysis of the numbers of those in receipt of each allowance, broken down into equality groups (gender, race, disability etc). PCS found the data of interest and we are considering our options as a result.

Membership Input

If members in receipt of SDA identify any further issues in the areas detailed above, or indeed any additional issues not thusfar identified then please contact PCS with your concerns. We in turn will keep members updated on any developments, and actions taken in our ongoing representation of those on Legacy Allowances.

Pete Wright (Group Vice President), Stephen Taylor (Assistant Group Secretary)