Police Diver's Court Bid for Overtime Rejected

2nd December 2010

A Northern Irish police diver's claim that he was owed more than £30,000 in overtime has been rejected by the UK High Court, BBC News reports.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11876736

Constable Mark Lloyd, previously of the PSNI's underwater search unit, argued that he was entitled to overtime pay for being available round the clock over a 15-year period.

The court also heard how in 2006 Constable Lloyd and other members of the diving team faced disciplinary action related to their refusal to forgo holiday leave.

His barrister noted that the team were issues with pagers and expected to be on 24-hour call-out at all times barring illness or annual leave with no special allowances.

Lawyers for the PSNI – which outsourced the diving team operation in 2008 - countered that being on call was equivalent to "being expected to receive a pager or mobile phone call".

Though the judge, Justice McCloskey, held there was "no error of law " relating to the payment of overtime and rejected the claim for a judicial review, he added that Constable Lloyd may still have cause to claim for an on-call allowance for specific periods.

A Northern Irish police diver's claim that he was owed more than £30,000 in overtime has been rejected by the UK High Court, BBC News reports.

Constable Mark Lloyd, previously of the PSNI's underwater search unit, argued that he was entitled to overtime pay for being available round the clock over a 15-year period.

The court also heard how in 2006 Constable Lloyd and other members of the diving team faced disciplinary action related to their refusal to forgo holiday leave.

His barrister noted that the team were issues with pagers and expected to be on 24-hour call-out at all times barring illness or annual leave with no special allowances.

Lawyers for the PSNI – which outsourced the diving team operation in 2008 - countered that being on call was equivalent to "being expected to receive a pager or mobile phone call".

Though the judge, Justice McCloskey, held there was "no error of law" relating to the payment of overtime and rejected the claim for a judicial review, he added that Constable Lloyd may still have cause to claim for special allowances in specific circumstances.

Published in Diving

Tagged under

psni
diving

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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