Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I can confirm that Essex County Fire & Rescue Service does hold this information.
Please see below the answer to your request.
Initial Request:
Does your service have a formal system that allows uniformed operational staff swap shifts? For example, a firefighter who is due to work a Saturday can swap his work day with a firefighter who is rostered off?
If so, does your service record these swaps and keep a running tally of the swaps for the individuals?
What happens when one resigns or retires. Does your service have a way of dealing with any positive or negative balances for these swaps. For example the swap mentioned above what would happen if either of them then resigned or retired before the "pay back of the swap". Would the firefighter who got Saturday off have his final pay reduced because he never paid his day off back to the other firefighter? Or if the firefighter who worked the extra shift then retired or resigned. Would he receive a days pay for working the Saturday and the Firefighter that got the day off have to work a day to pay back the day off he got?
Final Response:
We have no formal process to manage shift swaps of the kind described in the request. Operational crews and their line managers would manage any swapping locally.
As we have no formal process for managing shift swapping, any situation like the above that arises would be addressed on a case-by-case basis
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to apply for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your original email and should be addressed to: Internal Review, Performance & Data Team, Kelvedon Park, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex CM8 3HB.
Please note that the response and data released to you as part of this request will be published on the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service website. The website address is http://transparency.essex-fire.gov.uk/. All requests will be anonymised and no personal information including contact details will be disclosed as part of this process.