After analysing the different options for the separation of shifts, it’s now clear that only the Company’s model, or a model that separates out the night shift, will work.  For a model to work you need to add the times included in the Day shift to another shift to have an overall “shift” long enough to fit at least 8.5 hours of each of the 2 original shifts in it (see below). Any other model will push people to work across shift boundaries and this would mean every employee would need an IFA and this would be a dangerous precedent.

So we are working to put as many protections in place as possible including:

1. A written commitment that everyone goes back to their original shifts (like it or not) once the order is removed. This includes 10 hour shift people going back to 10 hour shifts.
2. A Sunday afternoon shift is introduced to give afternoon shift people the opportunity to do overtime.
3. A written commitment that people will continue to be paid their usual loading, penalties, and allowances regardless of what shift they end up on.

We will also be pushing for single parents that can demonstrate the need to work school hours, have their wages subsidised if they lose hours because of the separation and that the Company get everything organised now but nothing should change until they are ordered to by the government.

If you have any other questions please raise them with your Organisers or call the SDA office on 07 3833 9500.

This process will not be easy but we have been advised by the Company (and have asked for evidence in writing) that the government has told them that if they have one case of COVID-19 in the DC, and the shifts aren’t separated, the government will shut the entire shed down.

Click here to see potential alternate shift separation models for the BRDC.