Few questions regarding Scotrail.

[Iamanoob]

Hi there, have an upcoming interview for a dispatcher (amongst other roles) next week and shadowed a dispatcher on Wednesday and i think i've got the jist of it,.
but forgot to ask about the actual shift patterns (apart from early, late and nights).
1. Is it 4 on 4 off, 5 on 2 off etc.
2. With them (not just Scotrail) not brining in as much money as they should have over the last few months and possibly over the next few, what are the chances of any pay offs happening.
Thanks

 

[Stigy]

Hi there, have an upcoming interview for a dispatcher (amongst other roles) next week and shadowed a dispatcher on Wednesday and i think i've got the jist of it,.
but forgot to ask about the actual shift patterns (apart from early, late and nights).
1. Is it 4 on 4 off, 5 on 2 off etc.
2. With them (not just Scotrail) not brining in as much money as they should have over the last few months and possibly over the next few, what are the chances of any pay offs happening.
Thanks

Can’t answer for ScotRail specifically but the shifts on the railway usually rotates over a set period of weeks/months rather than the example you gave.

It’s an unprecedented time, however they have a set establishment to maintain and as jobs go, the railway is probably one of the safer industries to be in at the moment. It’s not unheard of for redundancies to occur, and certain jobs are more secure than other within the railway, but I feel if they were that concerned, they’d have frozen recruitment for a while longer.

 

[Iamanoob]

Can’t answer for ScotRail specifically but the shifts on the railway usually rotates over a set period of weeks/months rather than the example you gave.

It’s an unprecedented time, however they have a set establishment to maintain and as jobs go, the railway is probably one of the safer industries to be in at the moment. It’s not unheard of for redundancies to occur, and certain jobs are more secure than other within the railway, but I feel if they were that concerned, they’d have frozen recruitment for a while longer.

Cheers, I get the rota is set for weeks/months at a time. It was just regarding the days. Looking at previous shifts for Scotrail (although drivers) it looks like you could be working 7 days in a row whilst still technically a 4 day working week. Coming from outside the rail industry, that seem weird to me but probably normal to a rail worker.

 

[Stigy]

Cheers, I get the rota is set for weeks/months at a time. It was just regarding the days. Looking at previous shifts for Scotrail (although drivers) it looks like you could be working 7 days in a row whilst still technically a 4 day working week. Coming from outside the rail industry, that seem weird to me but probably normal to a rail worker.

It can be confusing as it largely just averages itself out. If you start work on a Wednesday and work 7 days for example, it’s potentially a 3 day week if you’ve not worked any days prior, yet a month later you might work from the Monday so it’s all days of the week.

I‘m still trying to get my head round certain aspect which weren’t there in my last job (still railway shift work).

 

[Ceat0908]

Cheers, I get the rota is set for weeks/months at a time. It was just regarding the days. Looking at previous shifts for Scotrail (although drivers) it looks like you could be working 7 days in a row whilst still technically a 4 day working week. Coming from outside the rail industry, that seem weird to me but probably normal to a rail worker.

Morning, I saw you had a post back in March about this position, is this your interview being rescheduled for this?

 

[Iamanoob]

It can be confusing as it largely just averages itself out. If you start work on a Wednesday and work 7 days for example, it’s potentially a 3 day week if you’ve not worked any days prior, yet a month later you might work from the Monday so it’s all days of the week.

I‘m still trying to get my head round certain aspect which weren’t there in my last job (still railway shift work).

Yeah, it's weird. From an outsider it's 7 days in a row but from a rail point of view, it's a 4 day week followed by a 3 day week (potentially)

 

[the sniper]

Yeah, it's weird. From an outsider it's 7 days in a row but from a rail point of view, it's a 4 day week followed by a 3 day week (potentially)

Indeed. In some places the Sunday in the middle would be voluntary and can be opted out of even if rostered. In an increasing number of places though the Sunday would be committed/obligatory unless it could be covered. Or alternatively if Sundays are rostered as part of the working week, you'd have to book AL.

 

[221129]

It averages over the roster, so some weeks will be longer than others.

 

[scotraildriver]

Sundays in Scotrail are "overtime" but not "voluntary". If you have a rostered Sunday you must work it, but are paid overtime for it. However you can declare yourself "unavailable" and IF someone without a Sunday is looking for an extra one crewplan will reallocate your Sunday to them. Obviously you don't then get paid. However if no one is available to cover your Sunday you are committed to work it.

 

[Iamanoob]

Sundays in Scotrail are "overtime" but not "voluntary". If you have a rostered Sunday you must work it, but are paid overtime for it. However you can declare yourself "unavailable" and IF someone without a Sunday is looking for an extra one crewplan will reallocate your Sunday to them. Obviously you don't then get paid. However if no one is available to cover your Sunday you are committed to work it.

Wait, What. This job requires 13 Sundays to be worked per year, so even though it's contracted you would be paid an O/T rate for it.

 

[Stigy]

Wait, What. This job requires 13 Sundays to be worked per year, so even though it's contracted you would be paid an O/T rate for it.

If it’s like GWR, Sundays are outside the working week, however you’ll have a certain amount of committed Sundays per year to be worked and not working them is based on what @scotraildriver said. They’re paid at an enhanced rate because they’re classed as outside the working week. If they were within it, it would be normal money.

 

[scotraildriver]

Wait, What. This job requires 13 Sundays to be worked per year, so even though it's contracted you would be paid an O/T rate for it.

Yes. That's how it works. 19 Sundays for me as a driver.., guaranteed on top of your base salary.

 

[Iamanoob]

Damn, so based on a 8 hour shift at time and a quarter (i believe) that's about £140, that's just about the same as I earn for a week if I work my contract hours in retail.

 

[Stigy]

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