Prison staff urged to ignore temporary job offers

Prison officers have been urged not to respond to the government's offers of temporary jobs.

A Unite spokesperson said some serving officers had been invited by a recruitment agency to apply for fixed-term roles at Guernsey Prison, which had better terms than the permanent roles.

At the end of a week of work to rule, the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said it had urged its members "not to participate in any recruitment exercise designed to replace workers taking lawful industrial action".

The States of Guernsey said it was exploring temporary jobs "to help support existing teams".

Following talks with the States on Friday, the POA said a "positive and constructive" meeting had resulted in an agreed action plan to tackle a number of workplace issues.

However, union members decided to continue their withdrawal of goodwill under the current arrangements and said any decision to end the action would depend on the outcome of further talks expected early next week, including discussions on pay.

Officers at the prison spent the week working only contracted hours in a bid to highlight their concerns over pay, staff retention and recruitment.

A spokesperson for Unite said: "We are deeply concerned to learn that some serving prison officers have been contacted by a recruitment agency inviting them to apply for fixed-term roles at Guernsey Prison, offering enhanced pay and benefits that are unavailable to the experienced officers already doing the job."

They said this "sends the wrong message" and said enhanced terms should be given to current staff if they are "necessary to recruit and retain staff".

Dave Le Ray, the director of operations for Justice and Regulation, said: "Any such short term arrangements will ensure that capacity issues relating to current staffing numbers are covered while recruitment to permanent positions is completed."

He said existing staff had gone "above and beyond" to help cover shifts and the recruitment drive was intended to help ease the pressure.

Le Ray said the temporary roles were being offered remuneration in line with the top band of a prison officer role.

He said while agency workers may earn a higher hourly rate of pay, they did not receive benefits of permanent employment such as paid leave, sickness absence and pensions.

A POA spokesperson said that staff welcomed the progress made during Friday's talks and the employer's commitment to addressing concerns raised by the workforce.

However, they said the operational issues were separate from their longstanding call for greater recognition of the "exceptional goodwill" officers had shown over many years to keep the prison running.

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