On-call information

Summary

A request was made to the Department of Infrastructure regarding on-call staff hours, pay rates, and response times. The authority disclosed specific operational details for Highways and Housing divisions but withheld pay rate information citing public availability and personal data exemptions.

Key Facts

• Highways Division staff have no minimum on-call hours, with standby frequency ranging from every 4 to 12 weeks depending on the role.
• Highways Division response times are 1 hour for urgent call-outs and 2 hours for non-urgent ones.
• Housing Division foremen provide on-call cover from 4:30pm to 8am on weekdays and 24-hour cover on weekends and bank holidays.
• Housing Division emergency response times are 24 hours for general issues and 30 minutes for safety concerns.
• Pay rates and call-out fees are not disclosed in the letter as they are available via the OHR website or exempt as personal data.

Data Disclosed

• 1 hour
• 2 hours
• 24 hours
• 30 minutes
• 4.30pm
• 8am
• 4.00pm
• every seven or eight weeks
• every twelve weeks
• one in every four weeks
• 2024-06-05
• 2024-07-01

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20: Information accessible to applicant by other means
• Section 25: Absolutely exempt personal information

Original Request

Within the Isle of Man government, several departments have 'on-call' staff who return to work outside of their core hours; 1) How many hours 'on-call' are these staff expected to provide to their employer? 2) What is the hourly rate and/or call-out fee paid to these staff? 3) What amount of time are they expected to respond to a 'call-out' in?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 3905769 3 July 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 5 June 2024, which states:

"Within the Isle of Man government, several departments have 'on-call' staff who return to work outside of their core hours;

1) How many hours 'on-call' are these staff expected to provide to their employer?

2) What is the hourly rate and/or call-out fee paid to these staff?

3) What amount of time are they expected to respond to a 'call-out' in?"

Response: Information held, some exempt I have detailed the exemptions that have been applies to your request and the information that is being released to you below:

Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee.

Fees paid to staff participating in the on-call rota will depend upon Terms and Conditions of the staff group involved. These are available publicly via the OHR website. Please note that not all the rates are published on the OHR website, however this information is held by the PSC as the employer.

Please see the below link in relation to (2) of your request: https://hr.gov.im/terms-conditions-for-employees/manual-craftworkers/articles/payments-for- recalls-to-duty/

Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that:

• The Department of Infrastructure is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and

• The Department of Infrastructure is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department of Infrastructure can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met.

Highways Division:

1) The following information applies to the employees of Highway Services that would be required on standby, including Manual and Craft Workers, Traffic Signals Team and the Duty Officers. The information below may not be relevant to other employees of the Department of Infrastructure or other government departments.

There is no minimum on-call hourly amount employees are expected to work. When on call, the operative can be called into work at any given time outside of normal working hours, with the duration of the call varying dependent on the nature of the work to be carried out. The time employees are required to be on-call also varies between job roles and grade. For Manual and Craft Workers, participation in the out of hours standby roster is written within the contract for new starters. Civil Servants within the operational team are also required to participate on the standby roster as a duty officer. On average the frequency of teams on standby is every seven or eight weeks depending on the skills the individual holds. In the case of the Duty Officer the frequency is approximately every twelve weeks, and for the traffic signals team one in every four weeks.

2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information.

3) The expected response time for call-outs vary depending on the time of call and which team is required. For an urgent callout, operatives are expected on site within 1 hour. For a non-urgent callout, operatives are expected on site within 2 hours.

Public Estates & Housing Division: Housing: 1) On-call is provided by our two foremen: • From 4.30pm – 8am: Monday to Thursday • From 4.00pm Friday – 8am Monday (includes 24 hrs cover for Sat and Sunday) • Bank Holidays have the same cover as weekends 24hrs 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information.

3) Emergency calls such as total loss of water supply, water leaks, toilet or drain blockages, loss of electric, heating or hot water will be made safe within 24 hours. In the case of a more immediate response being required such as where safety is a concern, the response time would be 30 minutes for the foreman and contractor (where applicable) to attend.

Facilities Management:

There are a number of staff who take part in an On-call rota within Facilities Management. These staff are divided into relevant teams for the property portfolio – Health, Education and Properties.
Those required to respond on the emergency on-call rota are required to fulfil a number of set ‘emergency duties’, which may include: • Ensuring the security of property and facilities within PE&H • Carry out temporary repairs to maintain service integrity
• Uphold health and safety standards • Escalate any incident where necessary • Provide a written record of actions and recommendations after each call out

1) Those required to undertake both emergency on-call or telephone standby are rostered for a minimum of 1 full week within any given period, dependant on operational requirements. The week is divided as follows: • Weekday sessions: 1 session, made up of 16 hours, all of which are outside of normal working hours • Weekend/Bank Holiday sessions: 2 sessions per day, each made up of 12 hours Call-outs will naturally vary in frequency and duration, depending upon circumstances.

2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information.

3) Staff responding to callouts are expected to respond as soon as is reasonably practicable, depending upon the nature of the call. We will respond to emergency calls within 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Harbours Division: Coastguard: 1) 24/7/365 split between two officers 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information. 3) Immediate response- on scene within 30 minutes

Director of Harbours: 1) Always available 24/7 as Director 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information. 3) N/A

Divers, Dive Supervisors and Dive Superintendent: 1) 6812 hrs per annum or 365 days 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information. 3) 1 hour

Port Security: 1) Tanker duty shifts should not normally exceed 12 hours duration which is completed over a 1 to 3 days rest period subject to availability 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information.

3) When officers go off duty, they are informed of the scheduled arrival time of their replacement. They are also kept updated on any changes to this schedule

Ports Manager and Deputy Ports Manager 1) 6 Months per year 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information. 3) No specific time

Technical Services: Supervisors and Asset Technicians 1) On-call rota is 1 full week on call in every 4 weeks. 2) Section 20 Information accessible to applicant by other means and Section 25 Absolutely exempt personal information. 3) 40 minutes

Please quote the reference number 3905769 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.