Holiday/Leave arrangements for a trainee senior conductor

Pepé Le Pew · 6 Dec 2018

Hello,

Could someone confirm how many days holiday a trainee senior conductor gets and what are the leave arrangements, please?
I am starting my training on Monday 7th January 2019 in Birmingham and in the contract the only information regarding this subject is to refer to the Conductor Restructuring document which was not included in the pack.
I have contacted HR but I have not received a reply so far.

RailUK Forums

12guard4 · 6 Dec 2018

No idea you haven't said what TOC you have applied for.

185 · 6 Dec 2018

May vary, but generally the WMT arrangement is 31 days per annum consisting of

4 weeks allocated block leave = 16 days is based on 4 day week (9hr shifts)
Plus
15 days floating leave days.

At the start you will work Mon to Fri (7 hr shifts) solid for the first 13 weeks during course with no leave allowed. Annoyingly lol.

Pepé Le Pew · 7 Dec 2018

185 said:
May vary, but generally the WMT arrangement is 31 days per annum consisting of

4 weeks allocated block leave = 16 days is based on 4 day week (9hr shifts)
Plus
15 days floating leave days.

At the start you will work Mon to Fri (7 hr shifts) solid for the first 13 weeks during course with no leave allowed. Annoyingly lol.

Thank you for the information. Very much appreciated.

Pepé Le Pew · 7 Dec 2018

12guard4 said:
No idea you haven't said what TOC you have applied for.

West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway.

Peter B · 27 Dec 2018

Hi Pepe Le Pew, I will be joining you on the 7th in Birmingham.

I’ve been trying to find out what the shifts will be during the first 3 months but to no avail.
I was told by a senior conductor from Snow Hill Depot, where I will be based, that after the initial 3 week induction we will be doing the traction training & this will most likely involve shift work.
He also told me 5 of us will be starting the training.
185 what are you thoughts on this regarding the working hours for the 1st 3 months?
I’m
Trying to find out due to child care/school run arrangements.

Pepé Le Pew · 28 Dec 2018

Hi Peter,

Thank you for your message. My situation is different to yours because I do not have to worry about child care or school run arrangements so I am quite flexible. All I have been told so far is that the first three weeks we will be doing Monday to Friday. After the initial three weeks, I have no idea at the moment but I am sure we will find out when we start on the 7th. Our shifts might be different because we are not based at the same depot. Did you contact the trainers to try to find out more information? or the recruitment team?

185 · 29 Dec 2018

Peter B said:
Hi Pepe Le Pew, I will be joining you on the 7th in Birmingham.

I’ve been trying to find out what the shifts will be during the first 3 months but to no avail. I was told by a senior conductor from Snow Hill Depot, where I will be based, that after the initial 3 week induction we will be doing the traction training & this will most likely involve shift work. He also told me 5 of us will be starting the training. 185 what are you thoughts on this regarding the working hours for the 1st 3 months? I’m trying to find out due to child care/school run arrangements.

Pepé Le Pew said:
Hi Peter,

Thank you for your message. My situation is different to yours because I do not have to worry about child care or school run arrangements so I am quite flexible. All I have been told so far is that the first three weeks we will be doing Monday to Friday. After the initial three weeks, I have no idea at the moment but I am sure we will find out when we start on the 7th. Our shifts might be different because we are not based at the same depot. Did you contact the trainers to try to find out more information? or the recruitment team?

To the best of my knowledge, your course, weeks one to twelve are all Monday - Friday, with no annual leave allowed.
Your first week is 3 days induction at the academy and two days PTS at Tyseley. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Weeks two and three are rules in the academy. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Then about five weeks in depot with minders/coach learning first traction and then routes. (still 7hr shifts, 5 days a week, can be 5am on, or up to 1am finish)
Then two weeks retail back at the academy, learning the fares and the machine. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Then last two or so weeks in depot signing off routes and being passed as competent by manager assessments. (tbc locally, still 7hr shifts/5days)

> This is give or take a week or two, some depots shorter by a few weeks, some longer.

Then you join the main roster (four on, two off as mentioned above, shifts around the clock).

Peter B · 30 Dec 2018

185 said:
To the best of my knowledge, your course, weeks one to twelve are all Monday - Friday, with no annual leave allowed.
Your first week is 3 days induction at the academy and two days PTS at Tyseley. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Weeks two and three are rules in the academy. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Then about five weeks in depot with minders/coach learning first traction and then routes. (still 7hr shifts, 5 days a week, can be 5am on, or up to 1am finish)
Then two weeks retail back at the academy, learning the fares and the machine. (roughly 8.30-4.00)
Then last two or so weeks in depot signing off routes and being passed as competent by manager assessments. (tbc locally, still 7hr shifts/5days)

> This is give or take a week or two, some depots shorter by a few weeks, some longer.

Then you join the main roster (four on, two off as mentioned above, shifts around the clock).

Hi, that’s great information thank you.

Peter B · 30 Dec 2018

Pepé Le Pew said:
Hi Peter,

Thank you for your message. My situation is different to yours because I do not have to worry about child care or school run arrangements so I am quite flexible. All I have been told so far is that the first three weeks we will be doing Monday to Friday. After the initial three weeks, I have no idea at the moment but I am sure we will find out when we start on the 7th. Our shifts might be different because we are not based at the same depot. Did you contact the trainers to try to find out more information? or the recruitment team?

Hi Pepe, thank you. I contacted HR who said they would contact trainers but haven’t heard anything back. Like you said, we will find out very soon.
Catch up with you on the 7th.

Undiscovered · 30 Dec 2018

To follow what 185 has said, that's a pretty good overview of training.

In the route/traction phase, your coach will be detached from their rota and is free to set their own timings and schedules.

It's advantageous to follow a reasonable shift pattern, to familiarise yourself with getting up at 3am! and at least do one early and late turn over each of the routes you sign- the difference between bright midday sunshine and a foggy dark morning is very noticable!
I'd also recommend doing the late Friday and Saturday shifts too, as well as turns around football matches. Trains are likely to be very busy n rowdy n you'll certainly have a few interesting situations. The more out of course events you experience in training, with an experienced coach to guide you and bounce ideas and action plans off, while it may seem nerve wracking now, will stand you in good stead further on down the line.

Peter B · 6 Jan 2019

Undiscovered said:
To follow what 185 has said, that's a pretty good overview of training.

In the route/traction phase, your coach will be detached from their rota and is free to set their own timings and schedules.

It's advantageous to follow a reasonable shift pattern, to familiarise yourself with getting up at 3am! and at least do one early and late turn over each of the routes you sign- the difference between bright midday sunshine and a foggy dark morning is very noticable!
I'd also recommend doing the late Friday and Saturday shifts too, as well as turns around football matches. Trains are likely to be very busy n rowdy n you'll certainly have a few interesting situations. The more out of course events you experience in training, with an experienced coach to guide you and bounce ideas and action plans off, while it may seem nerve wracking now, will stand you in good stead further on down the line.

That’s really useful and great advice. It will also give you a better insight to the job & conditions you are likely to encounter. Thank you very much.

Holiday/Leave arrangements for a trainee senior conductor

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