Equality: At the heart of what we do

I am the brand new Equality Lead for GMP Fed, and I’m looking forward to working on your behalf to ensure that we continue to represent the interests of every single member.

I know some of you might have a cynical view of the Fed; if that’s you I recommend you speak to your local rep and ask them how much of their time they spend helping colleagues with equality related issues. You will be both surprised, and reassured; helping to ensure an equal and fair working environment for officers really is at the heart of what we do.

Policing with Pride

Dear Colleagues,

 

It is with some emotion that I sit here now to write what will be my final article for Manchat since I bow out from the stage that is Greater Manchester Police next month. Avid readers of this column will know that I usually use this column as an opportunity to lament those things that the force gets wrong, however on this occasion I want to speak from the heart in sounding a much more positive note and do something we are far too reluctant to do, which is highlight how good we actually are and identify the massive cultural changes that I have seen over three decades of policing.

 

Flexible Working

Although the Pension issue and how the governments’ changes to our pension have adversely affected officers, this continues to be an incredibly busy period in the general field of `Equality`. Many officers find themselves encountering problems with working arrangements that have in the past been unchallenged by management.

However, officers are now finding themselves very much under the microscope. This has led to difficulties for officers in that if we were to be honest we know that many colleagues have enjoyed arrangements that benefited the individual. Yet now with Divisions and departments being squeezed they are having their flexible working patterns reviewed and many are not happy with the outcome.

The position that I have been taking, is that we have to start from a position of honesty with the Force and acknowledge that nobody has an automatic right to flexible working.

The organisation only has an obligation to consider each application - which in practical terms means very little. The most important message we need to get across is that as times have changed the necessity to show some flexibility on both sides is now more important than ever.

We have had instances in recent times when officers have refused to show any degree of compromise when submitting plans and then believed that it was simply a case of lodging an ET to get what they wanted. That is incorrect.