1 December acting start

1 December 2001 is the starting date for the Resources 25 days acting formula.

The formula, arrived as a result of the ballot held in August last year to resolve the London Operations dispute, refers to staff carrying out up to 25 days a year of daily acting with no compensation.

The union has proposed the 1 December starting date to Resources management in view of the acting compensation payments made in the December 2001 payroll.

In view of management raising no objection, the reference 12 month period runs from 1 December 2001 to 30 November 2002. It is important to note this is not a rolling 12 month period.

Therefore staff should calculate the number of days of acting carried out since 1 December 2001, and continue to do so for the rest of the period.

It is important staff keep their own records of these acting days, as there is unlikely to be a robust management system recording such activity.

If there is a requirement for more than 25 days over this period from an individual then long term acting arrangements with relevant payments should apply.

Please note these acting days are outside of acting carried out as a result of the recent held 50% and 100% acting Boards.

It is worth repeating part of the letter issued by the union with the ballot papers covering this subject last year:

The management's final offer on ERR is not as straightforward and is the result of several meetings.

In brief, the management have proposed a number of promotions in Studios, Post Production and OBs in various categories and also a number of long term Acting positions for individuals. These would be of at least three months' duration and a number would be for 6 and 12 months. This is to ensure that there are enough people at the higher level to significantly reduce the requirement for short term or ad hoc Acting.

There would still be a requirement for some ad hoc Acting where you turn up on the day and the senior person has called in sick.

There would also be a need for some medium term Acting to cover leave. BECTU sought to limit the amount of this kind of Acting, and after discussion 25 days per person per year was agreed.

This was with the proviso that if you have to act up to cover leave, or a show, or series, and an amount of planning is required, it would always be preceded by a discussion with the member of staff. This is because some staff lack the confidence or necessary training to equip them to take on the higher level of responsibility.

The management agree that it is not in the interest of London Operations to have staff taking on responsibilities that they could not discharge, and they will always take into account the response of the member of staff to the request to act.

They were unable to agree that you could refuse to act in all circumstances because sometimes the needs of the service dictate otherwise, but they would be seeking the agreement of the member of staff and would be prepared to address any training issues.

Subsequent 12 month periods will start on 1 December every year.

The above covers London-based Resources staff in:

• Studios
• Post Production
• Graphics (MediaArc)
• Technical Services
• Television and Radio OBs

Along with Resources staff in the English Regions.

Acting arrangements in Broadcast Engineering continue on a normal basis and are not effected by the above.

Any problems or question with the above should be directed to ESPG Committee members.