Latest:
SCRAPPING TEA BREAKS SAVES 8%
00:00 16 Mar 1995
|
Towards the end of last year, construction workers on Shell UK's
giant Stanlow oil refinery complex at Ellesmere Port voted to scrap
formal tea breaks as part of a major new site productivity
agreement.
The deal covers repair, maintenance, and minor modification works worth up to œ20 million a year. It was brokered with the contractors under pressure from a major client seeking big cost reductions. It also covered more flexible use of skills.
Early indications are that it has already cut site labour costs by 8%.
Chris Taylor, Shell construction director, commented: 'We have closely monitored the impact of this agreement. We have had a big improvement in efficiency. It is a measurable and significant increase and we got it almost from day one.'
Tea breaks are an emotive issue. But Taylor emphasises that they have not been scrapped. Operatives have been issued with flasks. And they fit their break in with their work pattern. The site thus avoids the total disruption of a formal and fixed break. And that disruption can be all the more costly on a huge site like Stanlow which covers 2000 acres.
Elsewhere, a fixed tea break may have as less significant cost impact. But a similar review of national working rules can be equally relevant.
Under the electrical contracting industry's national agreement, for example, there is special provision for a 'call-out' payment for operatives who may be required to return to work in an emergency after the normal finishing time. It may well be that the operative is needed for just half an hour's work. But the present agreement gives a guaranteed minimum payment equivalent to four hours at standard rates.
It is this kind of area where contractors will be looking to trim their costs and negotiate a more relaxed approach with the unions.
A parallel tidying up exercise is already under way in the building and civil engineering sectors, where some details of the working rules have been 'bought out' to provide greater working flexibility and make room for an interim pay grade between the general operative and the craftsman.
The deal covers repair, maintenance, and minor modification works worth up to œ20 million a year. It was brokered with the contractors under pressure from a major client seeking big cost reductions. It also covered more flexible use of skills.
Early indications are that it has already cut site labour costs by 8%.
Chris Taylor, Shell construction director, commented: 'We have closely monitored the impact of this agreement. We have had a big improvement in efficiency. It is a measurable and significant increase and we got it almost from day one.'
ADVERTISEMENT
Tea breaks are an emotive issue. But Taylor emphasises that they have not been scrapped. Operatives have been issued with flasks. And they fit their break in with their work pattern. The site thus avoids the total disruption of a formal and fixed break. And that disruption can be all the more costly on a huge site like Stanlow which covers 2000 acres.
Elsewhere, a fixed tea break may have as less significant cost impact. But a similar review of national working rules can be equally relevant.
Under the electrical contracting industry's national agreement, for example, there is special provision for a 'call-out' payment for operatives who may be required to return to work in an emergency after the normal finishing time. It may well be that the operative is needed for just half an hour's work. But the present agreement gives a guaranteed minimum payment equivalent to four hours at standard rates.
It is this kind of area where contractors will be looking to trim their costs and negotiate a more relaxed approach with the unions.
A parallel tidying up exercise is already under way in the building and civil engineering sectors, where some details of the working rules have been 'bought out' to provide greater working flexibility and make room for an interim pay grade between the general operative and the craftsman.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Viewed Articles
ADVERTISEMENT