Bank Time

richard_b

Hi all,

Does anyone know what the story is with Bank Time in the Public Sector?

Who is entitled, and how much. Is there any official guidance on bank time?

(As far as I am aware Bank time is given to certain members in the public sector on the Thursday they are paid)

McCrack

richard_b wrote: »

Hi all,

Does anyone know what the story is with Bank Time in the Public Sector?

Who is entitled, and how much. Is there any official guidance on bank time?

(As far as I am aware Bank time is given to certain members in the public sector on the Thursday they are paid)

What do you mean by "bank-time"? Like time off during work to nip out and pay the gas bill?

Please tell me that doesn't exist in the civil service\public sector.

richard_b

Yes that is it exactly, allowing an individial to cash their pay cheque and carry out other tasks, such as paying bills etc.

It is a policy in some area's in the public setor. Not to sure on the exact details. But i think new contracts do not allow for it.

There is currently a bit of confusion in my work place about the exact details, and the legal status of it. Also, does anyone know where i can find information on it. I have done a google search, but to no avail.

Maximilian

This is not really a legal issue. Moving to Work & Jobs

pawrick

"Staff appointed after 1 October 2003 are not entitled to bank time as their salary is paid exclusively by Electronic Funds Transfer."

This refers to the civil service side not the general public sector (rules may be different).
I can't find anything else but the Dept. of Finance issue the circulars governing it so best check with them for the correct info.

As far as i know it was phased out on a personal to holder basis once you dont get promoted etc. through the various partnership agreements.

Trix

i'm with the public sector and we get 30 mins every thursday for bank time. even though we get paid into the bank. we also get 1 hour 20 travel time every 4 weeks.

richard_b

hi pawrick. Thanks for that. Where about did you find that, or is information you just happen to kno

notlongleft

this is exactly why i want a job in the civil service!!!! cant believe they give a half hour for this kind of stuff! and travel time - for what??
going to give my upcoming apt test even more attention now!

steof1984

I would search the department of finance there is probably a circular on Bank time

steof1984

sorry ment to say search the department of finances website

Kimbot

travel time?? I have never heard of that in my 7-8 years in the service.

pow wow

New staff don't get it....as I found out myself when I got paid by cheque last week because of a cock up in Personnel and had to take a long lunch to go lodge the cheque whilst the pre-2003 people sat around getting an extra 45 mins pay and a BACS salary payment :rolleyes:

ixoy

Aye, an AO was saying how new joiners didn't get the bank day. She had to make do with her 23 standard days, 18 days on overtime, 3 partner days, and 1 shopping day in addition to the normal public holidays...

Kimbot

ixoy wrote: »

Aye, an AO was saying how new joiners didn't get the bank day. She had to make do with her 23 standard days, 18 days on overtime, 3 partner days, and 1 shopping day in addition to the normal public holidays...

3 partner days???

There is no 1 shopping day, its a half day shopping to be taken around christmas and its up to the PO/AP to decide if the section gets it.

18 days overtime?? You can work up hours and take time in lieu alright but there is no maximum set. I got 6 weeks off for overtime once becuase the clock was messed up so I owed near 200 hours and need time off to go on my holiday.

Kimbot

ellscurr wrote: »

New staff don't get it....as I found out myself when I got paid by cheque last week because of a cock up in Personnel and had to take a long lunch to go lodge the cheque whilst the pre-2003 people sat around getting an extra 45 mins pay and a BACS salary payment :rolleyes:

Goto your local HR dept and explain that you got paid by cheque and HAD to take a long lunch to rectify the matter and they should credit you back time.

ixoy

jonny24ie wrote: »

3 partner days???

That's what she told me because we were discussing holidays. I assume partner days vary depending on the Department you're in?

There is no 1 shopping day, its a half day shopping to be taken around christmas and its up to the PO/AP to decide if the section gets it.

Still a nice touch though, don't you agree? I'm not aware of the practice in the private sector anywhere.

18 days overtime?? You can work up hours and take time in lieu alright but there is no maximum set. I got 6 weeks off for overtime once becuase the clock was messed up so I owed near 200 hours and need time off to go on my holiday.

Are you sure there's no maximum? I've been told otherwise by people working in Revenue and in the Financial Regulators. It would seem sensible to limit it.

Trix

ellscurr wrote: »

New staff don't get it....as I found out myself

well i'm only working since jan 2007 and i get bank time, travel time and 1 day shopping in december. i can also work up 2 days flexi every 4 weeks which is an extra 26 days a year. we also have christmas day to new years day off. don't have to use any of our own days.

NinjaTruncs

Trix wrote: »

well i'm only working since jan 2007 and i get bank time, travel time and 1 day shopping in december. i can also work up 2 days flexi every 4 weeks which is an extra 26 days a year. we also have christmas day to new years day off. don't have to use any of our own days.

I'm surprised you guys find time to work... oh wait :cool:

indiewindy

ixoy wrote: »

Aye, an AO was saying how new joiners didn't get the bank day. She had to make do with her 23 standard days, 18 days on overtime, 3 partner days, and 1 shopping day in addition to the normal public holidays...

18 overtime days!! you are totally wrong there, your pal probably said they can work up 18 flexidays a year. There is also no such thing as partner days

Trix

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

I'm surprised you guys find time to work... oh wait :cool:

i come in, do my work and go home. my job isn't a bit stressful and it is an easy number but should i turn down all these extra days just because other people don't get them. i'm sure if anyone in the private sector had the option of flexi days they would take them. as for a days shopping in december. who would turn that down?!

NinjaTruncs

And a little bit of boards surfing to go with it!
get back to work you freeloader

Trix

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

And a little bit of boards surfing to go with it!
get back to work you freeloader

i've done my time in college. just gonna sit back now and wait for 40 years to pass me by.

Kimbot

ixoy wrote: »

That's what she told me because we were discussing holidays. I assume partner days vary depending on the Department you're in?

I have never heard of that in the civil service at all so I think thats bull to be honest.

ixoy wrote:

Still a nice touch though, don't you agree? I'm not aware of the practice in the private sector anywhere.

I agree entirely its nice to get it. But remember alot of private companies give bonuses to staff and the public sector give nothing bar 3 and a half hours off work to do a bit of shopping.

Are you sure there's no maximum? I've been told otherwise by people working in Revenue and in the Financial Regulators. It would seem sensible to limit it.

That must be flexi time you are refering to, see below.
If you work time in lieu there is no limit what so ever.

indiewindy wrote: »

18 overtime days!! you are totally wrong there, your pal probably said they can work up 18 flexidays a year. There is also no such thing as partner days

gazzer

well i'm only working since jan 2007 and i get bank time, travel time and 1 day shopping in december. i can also work up 2 days flexi every 4 weeks which is an extra 26 days a year. we also have christmas day to new years day off. don't have to use any of our own days.

Where abouts do you work? I work in the Civil Service and while I get a half hours bank time every fortnight I dont get travel time, I dont get 1 days shopping in December and I cant work up 2 flexi days a month. and if I want to be off from xmas day to new years day I would have to take some annual leave. I dont know anybody in the civil service who does and I have worked in 3 government departments.

gazzer

I assume partner days vary depending on the Department you're in?

Never heard of anybody getting partner days in the civil service. Funnily enough though there are private contractors working in my office(not civil service staff) and last year on Friday 21st Dec while all the civil service staff were in work the contractors got a partner day and were not in work.. Still dont know what it means though. I will have to ask them.

indiewindy

gazzer wrote: »

well i'm only working since jan 2007 and i get bank time, travel time and 1 day shopping in december. i can also work up 2 days flexi every 4 weeks which is an extra 26 days a year. we also have christmas day to new years day off. don't have to use any of our own days.

Where abouts do you work? I work in the Civil Service and while I get a half hours bank time every fortnight I dont get travel time, I dont get 1 days shopping in December and I cant work up 2 flexi days a month. and if I want to be off from xmas day to new years day I would have to take some annual leave. I dont know anybody in the civil service who does and I have worked in 3 government departments.

Staff who work on public counters are able to work up 2 days flexi a month, I think travel time is another myth

Trix

indiewindy wrote: »

Staff who work on public counters are able to work up 2 days flexi a month, I think travel time is another myth

i work in the public sector. and no travel time isn't a myth. i get 1 hr 20 mins travel time every 4 weeks.

Trix

gazzer wrote: »

well i'm only working since jan 2007 and i get bank time, travel time and 1 day shopping in december. i can also work up 2 days flexi every 4 weeks which is an extra 26 days a year. we also have christmas day to new years day off. don't have to use any of our own days.

Where abouts do you work? I work in the Civil Service and while I get a half hours bank time every fortnight I dont get travel time, I dont get 1 days shopping in December and I cant work up 2 flexi days a month. and if I want to be off from xmas day to new years day I would have to take some annual leave. I dont know anybody in the civil service who does and I have worked in 3 government departments.

sorry its a half day shopping in december.

mikemac

What's a partner day? And what if you don't have a partner, do you lose out?

I've never heard of this before, is some poster making this up?

ixoy

micmclo wrote: »

What's a partner day? And what if you don't have a partner, do you lose out?

I've never heard of this before, is some poster making this up?

*Shrug* Can only go on what I was told - maybe she mislabelled it or I misheard it? It was certainly days in addition to those from flexi-time. I thought it was an extra day(s) given at the discretion of your PO - we have something vaguely similiar where company partners grant an extra day in addition to the standard 20 (typically for Good Friday).

Now what is the difference between flexi-time off and time-in-lieu?! Are some here saying that they can take as much time-in-lieu off as they want which is amazing: if you worked double shifts for the first half of the year, you're honestly saying you could take the rest of the year off?!

As perks, bank time is ridiculous given most payments are done by electronic transfer (the private sector seems to manage okay) and travel time seems some sort of bizarre joke - paid to get into work?!

Kimbot

ixoy wrote: »

Now what is the difference between flexi-time off and time-in-lieu?! Are some here saying that they can take as much time-in-lieu off as they want which is amazing: if you worked double shifts for the first half of the year, you're honestly saying you could take the rest of the year off?!

In my case flexi is all hours worked between 8.30am and 7pm that are counted.
If I am out on site and am working from 7am until 9pm then any adition hours would be taken as time in lieu.

THe main difference between the 2 is that Flexi Time has to be taken in the next flexi period whereas Time in lieu is taken whenever you want, its not recorded on any HR system and is upto your boss to approve it.

You could work up that scenario but I doubt your bosses will let you take half a year off in fairness.

granturismo

jonny24ie wrote: »

3 partner days???

Is this not 'force majeure'? Its available to public and private sector alike.

http://www.equality.ie/index.asp?locID=22&docID=-1

dresden8

Well, this rapidly turned into civil servants get paid a million a year with six months holidays, again.

And we ****ed up the celtic tiger. Ho Hum.

ixoy

dresden8 wrote: »

Well, this rapidly turned into civil servants get paid a million a year with six months holidays, again.

No it didn't - but I was curious about a hypothetical situation. As it is, you can hardly deny that the potential holiday time for a civil servant is an excellent benefit and in excess of much of the private sector (standard being 20 days in many cases these days).

And we ****ed up the celtic tiger. Ho Hum.

You helped

dresden8

Really, I thought it was greedy developers, who had the government in their back pocket who pushed up the price of land and housing, leading to increased wage demands from all sectors of the economy, along with a private sector that has raped it's customers every step of the way for the last ten years, leading to increased wage demands from all sectors of the economy, thereby leading to a gross deterioration in the country's competitiveness.

Or maybe it was that half day at Christmas that did it.

Riskymove

[QUOTE=ixoy;56212028
Now what is the difference between flexi-time off and time-in-lieu?! Are some here saying that they can take as much time-in-lieu off as they want which is amazing: if you worked double shifts for the first half of the year, you're honestly saying you could take the rest of the year off?!

As perks, bank time is ridiculous given most payments are done by electronic transfer (the private sector seems to manage okay) and travel time seems some sort of bizarre joke - paid to get into work?![/QUOTE]

In my Civil Service experience its the following:

Flexi-time allows you to work extra hours over a 4 week period up to 11.5 hours and you can then take up to 1.5 days off in the next 4 week period.

Its not only in the Civil Service and it allows people to be (as it says on the tin) flexible when needed to leave early one day, stay on next etc. There are certain core hours where you must be in.

Bank time has been done away with in recent years for new recruits (as its compulsary to be paid electronically) but remains for existing staff (as its not compulsary to have it paid electronically)

travel time is not something I have encountered in my time. The Poster who is talking about it says he is in public sector so could be anywhere (Garda, Prison officer, etc) and could relate to staff who are on the road or expected to report to different offices around the country.

pawrick

By any change does your friend who mentioned partner time mean Paternal leave? it only applies to men who have a new born child and can only be taken around the time of the birth of the child? I think it's 3 days or used to be anyhow.

Also civil service rules differ to public service rules where there are a lot of differences for time off and allowances - this was because they used to be negociated at local level between management and unions. civil service office have less unions involved and generally degociations cover all dept's. so it's not comparing like for like.

Travel time i have heard of but not in the civil service, if it was there it has probably been phased out over the years.

Flexi time is a good idea and is not available in all government offices depending on the work they are doing but it is available in most.

pawrick

richard_b wrote: »

hi pawrick. Thanks for that. Where about did you find that, or is information you just happen to kno

it's an official line used but if you want the full doc you need to check with the Dept. of finance - they will email you a copy - i can't find it on their web site to give the link.

ixoy

Mea culpa - she said "Privilege Day" not "Partner Day" A privilege day is equivalent to what my company terms a partner day, which is why I got muddled!

Flexi-time is a good idea - I'd cap it at a lower limit and increase the core hours but that's only because I want that sweet time deal for myself..

Riskymove

ixoy wrote: »

Mea culpa - she said "Privilege Day" not "Partner Day" A privilege day is equivalent to what my company terms a partner day, which is why I got muddled!

Flexi-time is a good idea - I'd cap it at a lower limit and increase the core hours but that's only because I want that sweet time deal for myself..

In my experience there are two privilege days one at Christmas and one at Easter

The Civil Service is closed the day after St Stephen's Day - which is hardly crime of the century:D

The Easter one is I admit a bit OTT, the service is closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday anyway. It has changed in recent years in that the office is open on both Holy Thursday and Easter Tuesday but staff can use the priviliege day to take either day off (but office is open so some staff need to be there both days)

richard_b

Thanks Pawrick. Found it after a good bit of searching online. For those who are interested here is cicilir in relation to the removel of bank time.

2. In particular your attention is directed to the following two elements of the General Council Report:
a. In the case of all staff taking up duty for the first time on or after 1 October 2003 your Dept/Office must ensure that suitable arrangements be put in place to ensure
- their salary will be paid exclusively by EFT (with the onus on staff members to provide the correct account details to their employing Department/Office).
- the "bank-time" provision, whether through Flexible Working Hours or otherwise, will not apply to them.
- on retirement they will receive any Civil Service pension through EFT.


This is from the website http://www.personnelcode.gov.ie/, and is Circular number 19/08/2003 LP

microbio

in my previous life as a public sector employee we had 30min banking time a week (as historically the staff were paid by cheque weekly and could not be taken away as union said it was one of the 'perks'), 1.15hours for lunch, 20min coffee morning and afternoon. 9.30-5pm, 2 privilege days, shopping half day.... It's a wonder we got anything done as we were really only 'working' a bit over 5.5h a day!
Honestly can't remember why I left now!?! Must have seemed like a good idea at the time....

Am back in public sector now and no banking time, 9-5, but still the same privilege days etc. and work is closed from 24th Dec to 5th Jan or thereabouts and it does not come out of our holidays.
On the downside- we never get any monetary bonuses....