12 December 2022:  The deadline for impacted staff to opt-in to harmonisation proposals has now closed.

We apologise for the issues that some staff have experienced with their letters. Thank you for your patience and co-operation in assisting us and SSCL to resolve this.

What happens next?

We will shortly be contacting impacted staff by letter to confirm their opt in decision.

For staff who have opted in, we are on track to process changes to pay in time for the January pay roll.

Staff who have opted in will move to a 37 hour standard working week from 1 January 2023. Those working less than 37 hours a week, who were deemed part-time by their previous employer, will continue on their part-time hours.

More information regarding the implementation of terms and conditions for staff who have opted to move to PS terms will be provided on the Probation Hub early in the New Year. We will also confirm further details regarding the deferred opt-in process for staff affected by this.

For staff opting into, or remaining on, Probation Service terms, we will be running sessions on the CBF process in January. More information on these sessions will be shared directly with the relevant staff shortly.

We would like to thank all staff for their time, patience and co-operation during what we know has been a long and often frustrating process. It is our intention to ensure the implementation process, both for those staff who have opted-in and those who have chosen to remain on legacy terms, runs as smoothly as possible.

25 November update – Harmonisation opt-in window extended

Due to complications with the opt-in letters, the deadline for impacted staff to opt-in to harmonisation proposals has been further extended to 09 December 2022 at 23:59.

This should give all staff sufficient time to consider and respond to their letter.

We understand there have been issues with the letters and apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

There are two further drop-in sessions for any questions you may have:

29 November, 1-2pm: Click here to join the meeting

30 November, 1-2pm: Click here to join the meeting

14 November update – Harmonisation opt-in window extended

We are aware of some ongoing issues with some of the opt-in letters for staff impacted by harmonisation, which we are working with SSCL to resolve.  We apologise for any inconvenience but you should receive a revised letter over the next couple of days.

Where hard copy letters are being sent, for example because someone is absent or there was a bounce back from the email address it was sent to, these are being posted today 14 November 2022.

In light of this, the opt-in window has been extended to 12:00 on Monday 05 December 2022.  This will not affect payment in January salary.

10 November update – Opt in letters sent

Opt-in letters have been sent, allowing staff who remain on legacy terms to opt-in to the same harmonisation proposal that was put to trade union members in the September ballots.

Opt-in timescale

• Most impacted staff should have received their letter on 9 November. If you were expecting an opt-in letter and have not received this, please contact HandSTenquiries@justice.gov.uk as soon as possible.
• We are currently still on track to process changes to your pay in time for the January pay roll.
• Staff who have not been aligned to a band or grade since transferwill be given the opportunity to defer opting in until February 2023. Their letter will indicate if this applies. Please note they will actively need to respond, indicating their decision to defer.

Help making your decision

The functional mailbox is extremely busy, but we are doing our best to respond to your queries promptly.

• Please read the updated set of Opt-in FAQ doc 111122 v2, which may answer your question.
• For PO/SC staff, if you have a question regarding the harmonisation agreement and how it may impact you, please also refer to the summary of the proposals here.
• You can view a recording of the engagement sessions to date on the Probation Hub events page.