Facility Time Publication

Trade Union Facility Time Publication

Trade Union Facility Time Publication Requirements for the reporting period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Introduction

Facility Time is the provision of paid or unpaid time off from an employee’s normal role to undertake Trade Union duties and activities as a Trade Union representative. There is a statutory entitlement to reasonable paid time off for undertaking Trade Union duties. There is no statutory entitlement to paid time off for undertaking Trade Union activities.

Facility Time Information

Under the Trade Union Facilities (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Time 2017 regulations the Trust is required to collate and publish the following:

• Table 1: the number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period, and the number of full-time equivalent employees.
• Table 2: the percentage of time spent on facility time for each relevant union official.
• Table 3: the percentage of pay bill spent on facility time.
• Table 4: the number of hours spent by relevant union officials on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours.

The data or the reporting year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 is shown below. 
       

Calculation 1: Relevant union officials 

What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period? 

Compared with the previous year, the recorded number of Trade Union officials (22) reported as engaging in paid facility time in 2023/24 has more than doubled in comparison to those reported in 2022/23.  The increase in Trade Union officials who have recorded facility time sits within the 0-0.9% bracket, which indicates that they are likely to have been abstracted to undertake training and shadowing opportunities. In addition, it is also noted that individuals who elect not to continue to undertake Trade Union duties may not provide notification that they will no longer be undertaking any facility time hours. Therefore, a number of individuals who are recorded as undertaking zero hours of facility time may no longer be actively working as Trade Union representatives. This is also represented in the Table under Calculation 3 where there is only a modest increase in total expenditure on Trade Union Facility Time in comparison to 2022/23.  

Calculation 2: Percentage of time spent on facility time. 

How many of your employees, who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent, a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time? 

The calculation above does not include any abstraction for Trade Union officials who participated in industrial action. Like members of staff, representatives recorded as striking were not paid for this time by the Trust.

Calculation 3: Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time.
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.

*  This number includes notional pension, but excludes unsocial hours 

Calculation 4: Paid trade union activities 

As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities? 

No representatives reported undertaking any activity time in Trust paid time in the last three years.   

The Trust supports the role trade unions can play in:

• Maintaining and developing good employee relations
• Assisting communication between the Trust and its workforce
• Representing individual employees.