Dated: 2 June 2023
POLICY TITLE: Attendance, Performance & Conduct
OWNING DIRECTORATE: People Services & Development
AUTHOR: People Services
CONTACT DETAILS: 101
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT: Complete
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AIM OF POLICY: Northumbria Police is committed to delivering a professional, high quality and effective service to the communities it serves by maximising the contribution made by all officers and staff.
BENEFIT OF POLICY: This policy benefits the organisation by pulling together the framework of options available to facilitate effective people management to improve the capability and capacity of all officers and staff. This will help improve organisational efficiency and effectiveness and the level of service provided to all communities in the Northumbria Police Force area. The policy is underpinned by the Code of Ethics which supports each individual member of the policing profession in delivering the highest professional standards of service to the public.
REASON FOR POLICY: This policy is necessary to confirm the expectations of Northumbria Police in relation to the attendance, performance and conduct of all officers and staff.
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Northumbria Police is committed to creating and maintaining an effective workforce through fair and consistent people management. The Force is also committed to the welfare and wellbeing of its staff. To achieve this, Northumbria Police will support and develop its officers and staff to ensure they fulfil their potential and achieve a high standard of attendance and performance within their role.
Where officers and staff do not carry out their role in adherence to the Northumbria Police Ethical Principles and the expected standards for their position, this will affect the quality of service delivered. Furthermore, non-attendance and under performance can lead to increased organisational costs.
In working together to achieve high standards, the welfare and wellbeing of Northumbria Police staff and officers is paramount.
Attendance
Sickness is an individual and personal issue and it is not the intention of Northumbria Police to put pressure on officers and staff who are incapable of working due to sickness, to remain on, or return to duty. The Force will support any officer or member of staff who is finding it difficult to remain at work, and to assist those who are on sick leave to return to work when they are able.
Northumbria Police will:
- encourage a willingness on the part of officers and staff to attend work regularly and to encourage colleagues to do the same
- provide support and advice to officers and staff who are in any way finding it difficult to remain at work
- recognise the value of regular attendance and the importance of individual contributions to the overall achievements of the organisation
- provide counselling and rehabilitation to officers and staff on sickness absence and, where possible, make appropriate recuperative duties available and any required adjustments
- manage absence in order to maintain effective and efficient levels of service
- examine periods of absence, including exceptional patterns of absence, in order to determine their causes, and advise on appropriate responses
- ensure accurate monitoring of absence to enable informed and timely management intervention and the provision of information to meet reporting requirements, e.g. to His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
Performance & Conduct
Public confidence in Northumbria Police is affected by the behaviour and actions of its officers and staff and also the service they provide. Standards are set out to reflect the expectations that Northumbria Police and the public have, of how members of Northumbria Police should behave, to ensure they demonstrate the highest standards of professional behaviour at all times.
Northumbria Police will:
- ensure all staff and officers are aware of the standards expected of them
- recognise the value of individual contributions to the overall achievements of the organisation
- provide procedures which enable a fair, consistent and supportive approach to the management of performance and conduct issues
- ensure accurate monitoring of performance and conduct cases to identify opportunities for organisational learning.
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SOURCE DOCUMENT: Code of Ethics
GROUPS AFFECTED: All staff
ACCESS AND DISCLOSURE RESTRICTIONS: No
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