A number of Branches have enquired about attendance arrangements over the Christmas/New Year period 2010/2011. A briefing was issued by Openreach in the summer of this year but, given that most of the new attendances were not implemented at that time, the briefing may not have resonated with members.

As you will know Christmas Day and Boxing Day are Bank Holidays in England and Wales , as is New Years’ Day. In Scotland , 2nd January is also a Public Holiday.

This year, Christmas Day (25th December) and New Years’ Day (1st January) will fall on a Saturday with Boxing Day and 2nd January both falling on a Sunday.

Consequently, the associated official Bank Holidays for the period have been designated for the 27th, 28th December and 3rd, 4th January.

With the exception of people on shift working, it is confirmed that people will not be rostered in on the Saturday and Sunday of 25th/26th December of the Saturday and Sunday of 1st/2nd January.

Following the agreement made in January 2000, rostered attendances would be moved to an appropriate day within the same week if possible.

For night workers, shift swaps will be used as in previous years.

The operational manager will agree arrangements within teams, mindful that all team members should receive one shift off per bank holiday.

For clarity, the aforementioned arrangement applies across all team members in Openreach.