Human Resources - Armed Forces (Volunteer and Reservist) protocol (L160)

1. Summary of changes

1.1. This protocol has been reviewed in July 2021 – the following amendments have been made:

• section 3.3.2 new applicants wishing to join the police who have a military liability are required to complete a secondary business interests form with their application
• section 3.4.2 existing officers and staff wishing to volunteer for reservist or cadet forces must apply using the secondary business interests process
• section 3.5.4 - the new employer support framework is found on the governments Defence Relationship Management (DRM) website which replaces the Armed Forces SaBRE website

2. What this protocol is about

2.1. This protocol provides guidance on membership and special leave provisions for reserve, volunteer and cadet forces.

This protocol is not nor is it intended to be contractual. Compliance with this protocol and any governing policy is mandatory.

3. Detail the protocol

3.1. This protocol applies to volunteers (including cadets) to the Armed Forces i.e. Territorial Army, and to officers who join the force with a military liability due to previous military service within the Armed Forces. This protocol does not relate to those seeking to serve in such a capacity for the armed forces of another nation. In such cases, officers or police staff would normally need to resign from Kent Police. Exceptional cases should be referred to the head of resourcing for consideration.

3.2. Definitions

3.2.1. For this protocol the following definitions apply:

• reserve: ex-regular servicemen who may retain a liability to be mobilised
• volunteer: civilians recruited into any of the four volunteer reserve forces (Royal Naval Reserves, Royal Marine Reserves, Territorial Army (TA), and Royal Auxiliary Air Force)
• cadet: cadets are representative throughout the Services and their ages range from 16 to 18 years old. Adult volunteers working with cadets are representative throughout the Services. There is no active service liability and members cannot be called up for service

3.3. Ex-military reserve liability

3.3.1. Officers and police staff who join Kent Police who have previous military service within the Armed Forces usually carry with them a reservist liability of several years. 

3.3.2. When applying to join Kent Police with a reservist liability the individual will be required to complete a secondary employment and business interests form, which will be assessed by Professional Standards, but also by HR Resource Planning who will determine if the force has capacity to accept the application and take on the operational risk posed by the reservist liability.

3.3.3 In the event the force is unable to accommodate the application based on the forces incapacity to accept the reservist liability, the individual will be placed on a waiting list. The final decision to accept an application from a candidate with a reservist liability rests with the head of resourcing.

3.3.4 Military reservist liability will be recorded on SAP. Officers and police staff should ensure their military liability is accurately recorded in conjunction with HR Business Services.

3.3.5. Officers and police staff with a reservist liability could be called up on a compulsory basis at any time to serve overseas. The decision by Kent Police whether to support will be subject to individual circumstances and documentation should be forwarded to the Head of Resourcing for consideration and consultation with the officer's senior leadership team (SLT). 

3.4. Membership applications - volunteer and cadet

3.4.1. Kent Police support the principal of volunteer and cadet forces. In order to maintain the policing service to the people of Kent, the maximum of 1% of police officers and 1% of police staff will be permitted to be on the approved list at any one time.

3.4.2.  Applications for membership of a volunteer unit or the cadet forces, where special leave may be required to support training obligations, must be made on a secondary employment and business interests application and processed through the division/department SLT for recommendation. Authority for approval rests with the head of resourcing as per protocol L11060 secondary employment and business interests.

3.4.3. Applicants who volunteer for cadet forces are responsible for liaison with HR Revenue and Customs, to ensure that tax liabilities are correctly discharged.

3.4.4. A registration with a volunteer force such as the Territorial Army will need to be recorded on an officer's/police staff SAP personal record. On successful application, the onus is on the individual officer/police staff to ensure the correct information is maintained on SAP through HR Business Services.

3.4.5. The individual must notify HR Business Services team should they leave the membership of a volunteer or cadet force and ensure their SAP record is updated accordingly.

3.4.6. HR resource planning will monitor the number of individuals who are members of volunteer/cadet forces to continually assess the impact on the force.

3.5. Call up for duty

3.5.1. Whilst individuals may be supported by the force to attend training obligations (as arranged with division/department SLT) there will be a limit to the number of officers supported to go overseas in the event of call-up. 

3.5.2. If mobilisation papers are received, these should be forwarded to the Head of Resourcing for consideration and consultation with the officer's SLT.

3.5.3. The decision to support call up will be subject to individual circumstances. The following list is not exhaustive but criteria will include the following:

• officer's rank/police staff role and grade
• officer's/police staff skill background and specialist knowledge
• number of officers/police staff already overseas on call-up to the military
• strength of the force at the time of call-up
• any other overriding organisational requirements at the time of call-up

3.5.4 During periods of call up, reservists are paid by the armed forces, not by Kent Police. Further details of this process are available on the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) website.

3.6. Special leave approval  

3.6.1. Applications to attend specified training courses for either volunteer, reserve or cadet forces will be processed locally through the division/department SLT.

3.6.2. Members of the reserve forces or Territorial Army may be granted special leave with pay to engage in military activities or training up to a total of 15 days in any leave year. Approval is subject to exigencies of duty. Additional time may be granted upon the request of the relevant military commanding officer, at the discretion of the head of resourcing.

3.6.3. Members of the cadet forces may be granted special leave with pay to attend specified training up to a total of five days in any leave year. Approval is subject to the exigencies of duty, and is at the discretion of divisional commanders/Heads of Departments.

3.6.4. Special leave for part-time officers or members of police staff in either of these organisations will be calculated on a pro-rata basis, dependant upon the number of hours worked and will take into account their join date within a leave year.

4. Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)

4.1. This protocol has been assessed with regard to its relevance to race and diversity equality. As a result of this assessment the protocol has been graded as having a low potential impact.

5. Risk assessment

5.1. There is no specific risk assessment or health and safety consideration thought relevant to the content of this protocol.

5.2. Officers and members of police staff engaged within the process must remain aware that they must follow the protocol correctly. A failure to fully adopt the principles set out in this protocol could have a detrimental effect upon individuals, officers and staff and the reputation of the organisation.

6. Consultation

6.1. This is a format change only, therefore no consultation is necessary.

7. Monitoring and review

7.1. Monitoring will be undertaken by the Head of Resourcing, with a review being undertaken two years after this protocol is in place.

8. Governing force policy. Related force policies/protocols/linked operating procedures.

This HR protocol supports the overarching HR policy L1.

9. Data security

9.1. Essex Police and Kent Police have measures in place to protect the security of your data in accordance with our Information Management policy - W1000 Policy - Information Management.  

10. Retention and disposal of records

10.1. Essex Police and Kent Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention and Disposal policy - W1012 Procedure/SOP - Records Review, Retention and Disposal.

10.2. We will only hold data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected.