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Union Mail March 2016 – Holiday Arrangements, Bonus Scheme Changes, NEC Appointment, LGBT TUC Survey, Virgin Experience Days and Affinity Leasing

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Two-Week Continuous Holiday Requirement

The Joint Statement issued on 11 Feb 2016 confirms that the requirement for all employees to take a two-week continuous holiday will no longer apply except for a limited number of specific roles.
The requirement to take a two-week continuous holiday came into force in 2010 and was introduced as an internal fraud prevention measure following guidance issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The guidance was in response to a reported fraud incident in a treasury function of a French bank.

At the time, the Union proposed that the rule should be applied on the basis of risk and not as a blanket measure imposed on all employees. Although we acknowledged it was an appropriate fraud measure for high risk areas, we wanted the majority of employees to retain as much flexibility as possible when booking holidays. Ultimately it was agreed that managers could agree to relax the rule on request provided other risk measures were in place.
The Union negotiated a general dispensation from the rule for all branch employees in 2013 as part of the changes to the branch working arrangements and continued to press the case of a wider review of the policy. Although it has taken some time, we are delighted that a review has finally been conducted and agreement reached to remove the requirement for the majority of employees.

It is important to note that employees can still request to take a two-week continuous holiday – subject to normal booking arrangements.

Public Holiday Working Arrangements

The working arrangements over public holidays in 2016 and early 2017 have been agreed and are confirmed in the Joint Statement issued on 15 Feb 2016.
This year Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on a Saturday. All branches and Nationwide Now will close at 12 noon on both days. Departments that work on Saturdays will close no later than 1pm on Christmas Eve and 3pm on New Year’s Eve. The parts of the business that operate on a 24hr basis, such as the Contact Centres, will agree arrangements locally.
HR has also issued guidance about booking holiday on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and this is available on the intranet.

All Joint Statements are available to read on the Union’s website at https://ngsu.org.uk/joint-statements

Tim Poil
General Secretary

Group Distribution Bonus Scheme

The Society is currently consulting with the Union about proposed changes to the bonus scheme for employees in Group Distribution (Branch Network; Direct Sales and Nationwide Now). The change would see the bonus move from a quarterly payment to a six-monthly payment. It is only the frequency of payment that would be changing – the money available for bonuses is unchanged.
Local Union Representatives will be attending events with Divisional Directors to discuss the proposals and share feedback from members. These will be important events in helping to shape the final proposals and how they will be implemented. Branch Reps will be attending a branch EIC meeting on 8 March – please share your thoughts with your Rep. You can find out who your Rep is from the Union website https://ngsu.org.uk/whos-my-rep or from your Area office.

National Executive Committee (NEC) – Caledonia House

The closing date for the nomination period for National Regional Officer, Scotland Admin Centres, on the National Executive Committee, closed on 26 Feb 2016. A single nomination has been received and I declare that Barry Murphy has been elected unopposed for the remaining period of the 2016-2017 term of office.

Tim Poil
General Secretary

TUC – LGBT Survey

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) is conducting a survey about the workplace experiences of LGBT workers and NGSU members are invited to participate.
Although LGBT workers are twice as likely to face bullying and harassment at work, statistics show that very few make use of their legal protections. The TUC is carrying out a short survey of LGBT workers who have faced discrimination but not taken a case to employment tribunal under the Equality Act 2010 to identify why. Total confidentiality is guaranteed to all respondents who wish it.
The survey can be completed online from the TUC website, www.tuc.org.uk/LGBT or you can go direct to the survey form at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TUCLGBT.
Please complete the survey by 31 March 2016

Virgin Experience Days

We are pleased to announced that we have teamed up with Virgin Experience Days to give NGSU members a 20% discount on all full priced experience days – all 1600 of them. More details are available on our website at https://ngsu.org.uk/virgin-experience-days

Affinity Leasing

Member benefit provider Affinity Leasing tell us that interest in the new “16” registration plates has led to a very busy March for new car deliveries. They joined us at a very well attended membership event in Swindon on Wednesday 2nd March. Some current popular offers include the deal of the month, a Vauxhall Astra diesel from just £109 per month, the individual Vauxhall Adam from just £99 per month, Audi A6 saloon from £249, Golf R from £199, or the Audi Q5 from just £269 per month. All cars are brand new, are delivered with the full manufacturer’s warranty and have no benefit in kind tax to pay – friends and family members are eligible also and prices start at £99 per month with discounts of over 40% currently available. Contact them free on 0800 060 70 70, email info@affinityvehicleleasing.com or visit https://www.affinityvehicleleasing.com/members/ngsu with the unique code Union.”

March Draw Winners

Prize Chance Sum Winner Branch/Dept
1st 075730 £12,826 Arthur Amos Pension Fund Members
2nd 129426 £5,000 Donna Cooper Letchworth Branch
3rd 079811 £2,000 Jason Mountfield Risk Management Optimus
4th 133115 £500 Unnati Patel Barkingside Branch
4th 137738 £500 Nathan Ashley Telford Branch
4th 088312 £500 Lisa Hamilton Leicester (Horsefair St) Branch

You can have a maximum of 10 chances – each chance costs just £1.  Every month 75% of the draw pool is returned to members as prizes and 25% is retained to help meet the running costs of the Union.  The draw is restricted to NGSU members only. NGSU members can increase their number of chances in our monthly draw at any time during their Union membership.

To enter the draw or increase your chances please email us at ngsu@ngsu.org.uk, call us on 01295 710767 or download an application form from our website.

If you pay your Union subscriptions by salary deduction we can collect your draw subscriptions that way too.

Please ensure we have your correct contact details on file so that we can let you know the good news!  Please visit www.ngsu.org.uk to edit your details.

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