We received our Probation Letters today in Sheffield. I have been invited to express and interest in either the New Probation Service or Community Rehabilitation Company. As mentioned previously, I expected to be allocated straight into a Community Rehabilitation Company. But whatever, both "allocation" or "express and interest" are like signing up for a journey into the unknown.
Probation staff have received their letter but we are still in the dark and we can only guess at where we are going as we grope around in the dark. Basically the Transforming Rehabilitation Process is reducing things for staff to nothing more than a dangerous game of Blind Man's Buff.
One of my Sheffield colleagues writes:
I received my letter today from my employer asking me to give an expression of interest with regard to my future career. Do I opt to stay Public Probation or go to a Private company? This decision would be easier to make if I had any type of information about what each option will involve. I have NO job description, salary range or future progression possibilities. I don't even know who I will be working for if I opt for the private company.
The letter does say that if you don't express and interest I will be sifted and allocated into a place, with no right of Appeal. However, I will bide my time and respond with my Grievance as soon as I have discussed my letter with NAPO colleagues. Here is a copy of my letter, which I hope is big enough to read when I publish this blog post:
We have also been told in Sheffield that Human Resources will be visiting us next week on Thursday 19th December to give a brief presentation on the staff assignment process; demystify the information available regarding New Probation Service or Community Rehabilitation Company, and provide the information about the appeals process, and how the Trust will respond to any grievances raised about the process etc. I reckon demystifying the information available regarding New Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Company will be a tough nut to crack. How do you demystify a journey into the unknown?
Admin staff received a different letter which literally spoke of names, or numbers being put into a hat, or the throwing of a dice. One person with nearly 25 years service could not believe that this method of sifting was being considered to make a decision of where your future would be. Then said I just feel demeaned and worth nothing to my organisation.
And the question for me is am I up for a bit of Blind Man's Buff, or shall I respond with my unfolding grievance. Given that I still bear the scars of a game of Blind Man's Buff which went very wrong when I was a teenager, I am sure that I will be registering my Grievance very soon.
Thanks for posting this and your thoughts. I wonder if it is advisable to identify individuals - I was requested to remove a similar item a few weeks ago, that shewed the contact details of a person who whose permission was not obtained before it was made public.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if they are saying it is a privilege to be allowed to appeal and one that will be removed if one does not make an expression of interest.
That is VERY unsatisfactory and I wonder if it is even lawful. I do hope some of this nonsense is tested in court before much longer. Presumably the Unions involved are able to give advise, on what would be a major issue for me, were I not retired. I simply would not make a choice of either one without knowing the job description and main terms and conditions of both before I opted for either. Of especial interest to me would be the name of the employer, the continuity terms, and the location arrangements. Now CRC's and the NPS are going to cover much larger areas, what is the limit of a normal transfer of office location, could I even be expected to move home?
Andrew Hatton