Cops cry foul over holiday pay
(CNS): Police association members are threatening to take their boss to court again, this time in a dispute about annual leave. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Association, which is a de facto work place union for police officers, has sent a ‘Letter Before Action’ to the RCIPS commissioner outlining their concerns about what it claims are “unlawful decisions” surrounding the new Uniform Shift Policy in Grand Cayman. This is the second time this year that the RCIPA has threatened to take Commissioner Derek Byrne to court over policy changes that impact employee conditions and follows a letter sent in January regarding a breakdown in the internal promotion system.
The latest bone of contention concerns annual leave. The association said this is now calculated and determined using a new “formula” that results in a substantial reduction to the annual leave entitlement for police officers working an eight-day shift cycle. Rank and file officers are seeing their paid holiday reduced, even though there has been no change to the regulations or any other part of the law relating to police employment. The RCIPA believes that this unlawfully breaches the Personnel Regulations and is in contravention of the legitimate expectation of police officers.
CNS has contacted the RCIPA regarding this latest complaint as well as the status of the legal action to address the promotion problems and we are waiting a response.
Meanwhile, the RCIPS communications department confirmed that there was “no comment” from the commissioner in the face of these staffing concerns.
- Fascinated
- Happy
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- Bored
- Afraid
People cry foul over pay to cops for sitting on their bums and doing nothing.
The fact they are challenging this is ridiculous. It shows how inept they really are.
Annual leave is based on hours when you move to a ‘continental pattern’ like extended shifts.
So to rake one day off requires 12 hours not 8 in a 12 hour shift pattern. Can they not do math?
Every time I try to get in contact with the community officer in Bodden Town, the message returned is either on vacation or sick? Something is wrong.
They haven’t lost any leave at all. Their vacation was calculated as 22 x 8 hour shifts which equates to 15 x 12 hour shifts . Since they are working a 12 hour roster they require to take 12 hours vacation time to cover any shift.
C’mon Chief! They need the time off to sell the drugs they stole from their own lock-up!
…and send the proceeds to Jamaica.
Police doing work? Amazing
When one is in danger, who do they call? I would not want to go in to some of the situations these men and women face. It is a dangerous job. They deserve their vacation time.
I see all the keyboard cops are out in force.
Very quick to judge are some of you.
These are frontline officers, who deal with the dregs of society day in, day out. They work a minimum of 12 hour shifts, often longer, when they have calls to attend at the tail end of a shift.
Like any large organisation, there are some shirkers. However, most of the officers are hard working individuals, with a lot of their work going unheralded. Unfortunately, it’s the idiotic minority that attract all the headlines.
The frustrations being vented here are legitimate, however, I can guarantee the reason the idiots on Shamrock/Fairbanks seem to get away with it, is because units are tied up with domestics, car accidents, DUIs and any other nonsense you can imagine.
Already some people seem to think they live in an oppressive police state. Others think we need more cops. Please make up your minds.
If half the talent here in the comments section could be recruited, I’m sure crime would be solved overnight.
It can only be a minority that works hard. The complaints about racing on roads is not isolated it is repeated over and over. Go out late at night and you can witness for yourself all the drunk drivers. Drive to and from work everyday and you will see, people on their cellphones, kids in front seats, kids sitting on the laps of adults in front seat, cars driving in the dark with no lights on, trucks speeding, jake braking etc. Why do people do this? It is because they have little fear of being caught and that is poor policing no matter what anyone says!
I think people do this because they’re inherently stupid.
Driving with just foglights on = stupid
Unrestrained children = stupid
Jake braking = stupid
Using cell phones = stupid
It’s a selfish mindset.
I don’t need the fear of being caught to be a factor, I don’t do the above because I’m not an idiot, and I was taught how to drive properly.
The issue with traffic offenses is that the system doesn’t work. If you get caught using a cellphone, you get $150 fine. As long as you can afford it, you can get them as often as you please. There’s no deterrent.
Until there’s a possibility of losing a license, and then serious repercussions for driving once disqualified, then the same behaviors will be repeated.
Funnily enough, having bright blue beacons does kind of warn people to put their phones down until the threat is gone, and by the time a u-turn has been performed, any offender has long gone.
I’d be all for much more of a traffic department, but currently there’s not enough of them. I’d also like to see a fleet of at least one unmarked vehicle per district.
400 would be enough anywhere else, but not here apparently. Too many third world officers.
Dangerous job. Thankless job.
Why thief their vacation?
4 days on 4 days off equals half a year and they still need 4 weeks holiday?.
Those must be their contracted hours. If you like those hours, train and join them. They deserve their holiday hours.
Were they all on leave Sunday while people were drag racing up and down shamrock road all afternoon?
The Rcips seems to be one of the most irresponsible and unproductive sectors of the civil service that I can think of. To be honest unless there’s something I’m really missing, it’s a complete and utter embarrassment. Happy to be proven wrong but not hopeful that’ll happen
Yep, same at Fairbanks road with motorcycles travelling fast and doing wheelies been going on for years and despite being reported to police, the sighting of a cop is rare.
Sundays are a day of rest. Its a cultural thing.
Really most of them lucky to even be here driving around all day doing nothing.
I consider the fact that RCIPS do absolutely nothing while on shift is accrued holiday already.
rcips(like the rest of the civil service)…overstaffed, underworked and overpaid.
You all should be ashamed. The job of a Police Officer is so dangerous and difficult. As far as i am concerned they dont earn enough. I am speaking from experience. For the records this is Gillard McLaughlin
Oh give me a break! Cayman is smaller than most towns.
So the officers here don’t deal with sudden deaths, murder scenes, mangled car accident victims, sexually abused kids…do shut up.
Introducing counter arguments to arguments not presented is a poor way to debate. The post did not specify or imply any of what you have said.
It implied that working as a police officer here isn’t dangerous and/or difficult, as it is a small population.
I’d love to see how you handle being single crewed and asked to respond to an incident in East End involving someone with a machete. I’d class that as dangerous and difficult, even if it is in quaint, friendly East End.
As you were.
Shoot them with your taser first and go from there. Or call for assistance from one of the other 399 cops.
You know that frontline response cops don’t have tasers? That’s just armed response. Backup could be over 20 minutes away.
Higher percentage of police per head of population than most US towns and cities, ditto policing budget, and a massively lower incidence of violent crime. Cry me a river.
Most US towns don’t have the breadth of policing requirements that we have in Cayman, since it’s an overseas territory, dummy.
It’s dangerous in some places but not really here. When was the last time an officer was assaulted seriously or killed? Let’s just be honest it’s a damn cushy gig here and they don’t do much at all.
It’s so ‘cushy’ they have issues recruiting and retaining officers.
You should join up, or at least become a special.
I’d say that the fact that officers are not seriously injured as a matter of course is more to do with some well trained officers, with support from colleagues.
Anytime anyone tries to bring order to a runaway govt. department, there is a huge pushback .
Other statutory authorities have suffered similarly, and have prevailed despite attempted interference from popularity seeking Jamaican MPs.
Stick to,your principles Mr.Byrne.
lucky to have jobs…
they obviously could not get real jobs in the real world…
In fairness, some of them have those as well.