Detail Of The LUL Offer For Olympic Working Rejected by RMT

This is the bulletin and related question and answer sheet regarding the Olympic offer made by LUL to 'all permanent staff (including those on fixed-term contracts) employed by LU ..., excluding those covered by the Senior Manager Reward Framework'

The offer has been rejected by the RMT as explained here in a separate article.

Olympics and Paralympics: recognising the contribution of staff

Today we met with trades unions to continue discussions about how we would recognise the contribution that staff would make in delivering a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We propose to reward London Underground staff for their contribution during the period of the Games, using two different mechanisms:

  • Up to £300: For flexibility and critical attendance – additional payments of £15 per shift worked during the specific Olympic and Paralympic period; on average, this is expected to total around £300 per person (based on an average of 20 shifts worked). This also applies to non-operational LU employees, who volunteer at operational locations during the Games period
  • £100: For achieving or exceeding the CSS target, based on a unique set of customer measures, recorded network-wide during the Olympic and Paralympic period

Please also find attached a useful Q&A document, to help explain our proposals.

These special arrangements acknowledge the additional challenges we all face in LU of delivering a world-class service over the Olympic and Paralympic period, and mean that LU staff could achieve a bonus of £400 for quarter two alone. The CSS target and measures for this period will be different than for the rest of the year, and will be based on specific measures that are particularly crucial for achieving customer satisfaction under significant and unique pressure of the Games.

This proposal has been developed based on your feedback and that of your union representatives. CSS is an LU reward scheme and only applies to LU staff.

This year will be one of unprecedented challenges, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and all the other demands of 2012 in London.

I am confident that we will continue to deliver a world-class service, throughout a period of exceptional demand, and that we can demonstrate to London that we have done so.

Your flexibility and commitment, shift by shift, in directly supporting our operation will be essential to achieving customer satisfaction over the Games period and our revised CSS will directly recognise each person’s efforts over this unique time.

Q&A: CSS bonus scheme for 2012-13

How will the CSS bonus scheme work for 2012-13?
Across 2012-13, LU employees will have the potential to earn £700 in bonus.
For each quarter of 2012 a CSS bonus will be paid to all CSS-eligible staff if LU
achieves or exceeds specified CSS target scores. In quarters one, three and four,
the bonus will be £100 and will be based on the CSS overall evaluation measure as
usual.

For quarter two there will be special arrangements in place to acknowledge the
additional challenges we all face in delivering a world-class service over the Olympic
and Paralympic period. During this period there will be two components to the bonus:
one based on the score achieved on three specific CSS measures and a second,
larger payment, related to achieving the flexibility essential to delivering customer
satisfaction during the Games. The total bonus available during quarter two will be
£400.

How does the quarter two bonus work?
The £400 bonus available is split across two components:
the CSS target - £100 to be paid to all CSS-eligible staff on achieving or
exceeding a specified target across three measures network-wide during the
Olympic and Paralympic period
flexibility and critical attendance – additional payments of £15 per shift worked
during the specific Olympic and Paralympic period; on average, this is
expected to total around £300 per person (based on 20 shifts worked).
What measures will be used for the CSS target in quarter two and why?
We recognise that the Underground will face really significant challenges in
delivering a world-class service during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the
bonus scheme must continue to be based on delivering high quality customer
service despite those challenges.
Taking this into account, we have identified the three measures that are particularly
crucial in delivering an excellent customer experience on the Underground during the
Olympics and Paralympics , and these alone will be used for the CSS target during
this period.

The measures included for this quarter will be:

  • Train and Station information
  • Station staff helpfulness and availability, and
  • Train service.

All the other areas of the CSS will still be measured, but only the scores in these
three between July 27-Aug 12 and Aug 29-Sept 9 will count toward the bonus
payment for the Olympics and Paralympics period in quarter two.

How does the flexibility and critical attendance component work?
To deliver world-class service during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we
acknowledge that we will be asking everyone to be flexible and available to an
unprecedented level. Without this, we simply cannot achieve customer satisfaction.
In recognition of this, the following payments will be made:

  • All CSS-eligible operational staff working a shift during the specified Olympic
    and Paralympic period will receive a payment of £15 for both rostered and
    non-rostered shifts
  • All CSS-eligible non-operational staff who agree to place themselves at the
    disposal of the business, are prepared to be deployed to any location and at
    any time in supporting LU’s business, and undertake any activity for which
    they hold the necessary competence during the specified Olympic and
    Paralympic period will receive a payment of £15 per day when they are so
    deployed.

What does ‘flexibility’ look like?
Rostered staff will have to be available to cover all contingencies that relate to the
Olympic and Paralympic games. Practically this could mean:
Changes to shift patterns, sometimes at shorter notice than would normally be
the case.
Potential changes to shift length, start and finish time and roster patterns
It might include working from varied or different work locations, or working
alongside others not normally engaged in that activity.
In some cases, our staff may also be called upon to undertake different types
of work, for which they are competent, to meet the requirements placed on LU
by the Games.
There will also be limitations on “non-rostered” annual leave over the summer,
when it is most popular.

What is the Olympic and Paralympic period?
This has been defined as the critical period of 29 days covering the Olympics and
Paralympics from 27 July to 9 September but not 13 August - 28 August. We
appreciate that in some areas of the business, particularly across APD, there will be
heavy demand at times outside of this but we believe that using this one period for
all is the most fair and consistent approach.
The CSS bonus will be measured against performance across the Olympic and
Paralympic period only.

Is there any limit on the number of additional payments?
For operational staff we anticipate that on average people will work about 20 shifts
during the specified periods although there may be slight variations depending upon
rosters and other contingencies.
We do not expect any non-operational staff to work in excess of 20 shifts that will
attract the £15.

What will the CSS targets be for 2012-13?
CSS targets are generally agreed just before the beginning of each financial year.
This enables us to analyse as much data as possible and monitor the impact of line
upgrades and other service improvement plans, to help ensure we set the
appropriate targets.
Targets for quarters one, three and four will therefore be set and announced around
the end of February.
For quarter two, in recognition of the significant challenges we will face in delivering
a world-class service during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are proposing
to set the CSS target at 78. The CSS target during the Olympics and Paralympics
period will be the average score achieved across the three specific CSS measures:
train and station information; station staff helpfulness and availability and train
service.
These targets are not arrived at lightly – they reflect what we know we can achieve
as an organisation but are of course designed as an incentive to all to be the best
that we can.

Who is eligible?
All permanent staff (including those on fixed-term contracts) employed by LU are
eligible for the bonus, excluding those covered by the Senior Manager Reward
Framework. This is an existing LU bonus scheme and therefore those employed by
TfL will not be eligible for this bonus.

What period does the 2012-2013 bonus apply to?
The 2012-13 bonus, as with every other year, is assessed between during the
financial year beginning in April.

Why does this differ from the original proposal last year?
We listened to your feedback and that of your union representatives. We want you to
be confident that you can continue to deliver a world-class service throughout a
period of exceptional demand and that we can demonstrate that you have done so.
Your flexibility and commitment are essential to achieving customer satisfaction and
so we have adapted our proposal to reflect that. You can earn this bonus and you
will deserve it.