Royal Ulster Constabulary Regulations 1996

Public holidays and rest days for ranks below inspector

25.—(1) This regulation shall apply to every member below the rank of inspector.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, a member shall, so far as the exigencies of duty permit, be allowed a day’s leave on each public holiday and be granted rest days at the rate of two rest days in respect of each week.

(3) A member shall, if required to do duty on a day which is a rostered rest day, be granted—

(a) where he receives less than 15 days' notice of the requirement, an allowance at the appropriate rest-day rate; or

(b) in any other case, another rest day, which shall be notified to him within 4 days of notification of the requirement.

(4) The appropriate rest-day is, for each completed 15 minutes of duty on a rostered rest day, the fraction of a day’s pay specified in paragraph (5).

(5) The fraction is—

(a) where the member received less than 8 days' notice of the requirement, one sixteenth; and

(b) in any other case, three sixty-fourths.

(6) A member shall, if required to do duty on a day which is a public holiday, be granted—

(a) where he receives less than 8 days' notice of the requirement—

(i) an allowance at the appropriate rate and, in addition,

(ii) another day off in lieu thereof, which shall be notified to him within 4 days of notification of the requirement and which shall be treated for the purposes of this regulation as a public holiday;

(b) in any other case, an allowance at the appropriate rate.

(7) A member who is required to do duty on a day which is a public holiday or a rostered rest day may, within 28 days of the day in question, elect to receive, in lieu of an allowance as mentioned in paragraph (3)(a) or paragraph (6)(a) or (b), time off equal—

(a) in the case of a day which is a public holiday, to double, and

(b) in the case of a rostered rest day—

(i) where the member received less than 8 days' notice of the requirement, to double, and

(ii) in any other case, to one and a half times,

the period of completed quarters of an hour of duty on the day in question.

(8) Where such a member who is required to do duty on a day which is a public holiday or a rostered rest day has elected to receive time off as mentioned in paragraph (7), the chief constable shall, subject to the exigencies of duty, grant such time off within such time (not exceeding 3 months) as he may fix; and subject to such time off being taken, no allowance in respect of the day in question shall be payable under paragraph (3)(a) or, as the case may be, paragraph (6)(a) or (b).

(9) Subject to paragraph (10), for the purposes of this regulation—

(a) a member who is paid a dog handler’s allowance shall not be treated as required to do duty by reason only of his being required to care for the dog;

(b) “a day’s pay” means a week’s pay, at the rate at which the member was paid on the day in question, divided by 5;

(c) “the appropriate rate” means a sixteenth of a day’s pay for each completed 15 minutes of duty done on a public holiday;

(d) a reference to a day which is a public holiday is to be construed, in relation to the member concerned, as a reference to a day within the meaning of regulation 21(1) (meaning of “day” in Part III) commencing at any time on the calendar date of the public holiday in question;

(e) the expression “week” means a period of 7 days beginning with such day as is fixed by the chief constable;

(f) where a member is required to do duty, or is recalled to duty, for a period or periods of less than four completed hours on a day which is a public holiday or a rostered rest day, such period or, as the case may be, each such period, shall be treated as though it were a period of 4 completed hours, except that a period of not more than one hour of duty on a rostered rest day shall, if it immediately follows a period for which he was on duty as part of a normal daily period of duty, count as the number of periods of 15 minutes actually completed;

(g) where a member is required to do duty on a day which is a public holiday or on a rostered rest day, his period of duty shall include (save for the purposes of sub-paragraph (f)) the time occupied by him in going to, and returning from, his place of duty, not exceeding such reasonable limit as may be fixed by the chief constable, save that, for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, there shall be disregarded any period of time so occupied—

(i) which together with the member’s period of duty exceeds 6 hours, or

(ii) which is treated as a period of duty under regulation 28.

(10) Where it is at his own request that a member works on a day which is a public holiday or a rostered rest day, he shall not be treated for the purposes of this regulation as having been required to do duty on that day but shall be granted another day off in lieu thereof, which shall be treated as a public holiday or a rostered rest day as the case may be.