The Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve has increased in establishment from 3,500 to 3,850 to provide an expanded pool of personnel for use across the Fleet.

The Reserve Air Forces

The Reserve Air Forces have increased in establishment from 2,650 to 2,920 with new posts in logistics and other supporting roles.

The Territorial Army – Implications for Employers

The synopsis of the announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence – together with the summary chart of the main changes, and the map showing the locations of Territorial Army Centres (TACs) across the United Kingdom – may be obtained locally from the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations and especially from the Regional Employer Liaison Committees or their local representatives should you wish to have access to it. If, for any reason, regional and county representatives are unable to answer any of your questions, please contact us direct. (For those who use the Internet, details of the Restructuring are available on the Army Home Page).

We wrote to employers, following the Strategic Defence Review announcement, and gave the basic changes that were to be made to our Defence Forces. The Territorial Army has played a vital role over the years and these changes will make it even more relevant, more usable and better integrated with the Regular Army. There are likely, therefore, to be more opportunities for the Reservists to join overseas training and to be deployed on operations. On nearly every occasion, this will still be done on a voluntary basis with the agreement of employers and in full consultation. There may, however, be occasions when voluntary support will be insufficient and there are provisions within the Reserve Forces Act for compulsory mobilisation; this was announced as policy in the Strategic Defence Review.

Importantly for employers, there are provisions to enable applications to be made for exemption or deferral from mobilisation for key personnel, or for those who have special welfare or personal concerns. You should already hold details of these provisions within the literature packs we have previously sent you; if not, please contact the Chief Executive or Secretary of your local RFC Association in the first instance, who will be happy to assist you.

If you do release your employees either voluntarily or compulsorily, and we continue to rely on your goodwill and support to do so, you may well be able to claim compensation payments. You should hold details of these provisions in our pamphlet "Working For You, Working for Us". If you have any questions or concerns we would again ask that you make contact locally in the first instance, but we will always be ready to assist if necessary.

There are other potential implications about which you should be aware. Although most of the 455 TACs across the United Kingdom have been retained, 87 will be closing. As a result any employees in the Territorial Army whose TAC closes may be required to travel further to their training centre; your forbearance and support in being as flexible about this as possible would be much appreciated. We hope that this will not be a major problem and is only likely to be connected with training nights or weekends.

There are a number of other positive points too! The Territorial Army will be given even better training and, by its closer integration with the Regular Army, have much more access to modern high technology equipment and the opportunity to train at the same level as the Regulars. We have already introduced a Human Resource Division in the Army Personnel Centre especially to look after the needs of the members of the Territorial Army. In addition there is a dedicated Reserves Training and Mobilisation Centre which co-ordinates and runs all mobilisation training and ensure that pre and post deployment administration is both cost-effective and efficient. We are introducing Personal Development Records which will ensure better links and understanding between the workplace and the Territorial Army unit; these will contain details of courses, reports and qualifications which should be mutually beneficial. Associated with this we are increasing our involvement in NVQs – and the regional equivalents – and our commitment to Investors In People. The result will be that your employees should be even better trained as well as having the core competencies such as leadership, communication skills, decision-making, time-management, presentation skills, fitness, loyalty and commitment, team-building and a host of other specialist skills that many of them have gained to date. We very much hope that you will continue to give us your support since, as we are more reliant than ever before on our Territorial Army, equally we are more reliant than ever upon your support.

Our Armed Forces are governed by Acts of Parliament and the most important one for the Reserves is the Reserve Forces Act 1996. A brand new Reserve Forces Act has recently been introduced. The Reserve Forces Act is renewed every 5 years and work on the new act for 2001 has already started.

The Government recognises that for the profitable partnership between employers, reservists and the armed forces to work, the interests of the employer and his business have to be given full consideration. What would happen for example, if one of your employees were to be called up?

The rules which govern who can be called out, for what reason and or how long, are all laid down in the Reserve Forces Act 1996, which came into effect in April 1997. Our national concept of Volunteer Reserves is a good one and this new act was designed to make sure that the way our Reserves are managed is right up to date. There are improvements all round:

• The circumstances in which call-out is allowed have been reviewed and the Reservists themselves have wider opportunities to serve and with less bureaucracy.
• For the first time the employers, the vital partners in the arrangement, have access to a package of safeguards.
• Reservists will be able to claim payments if their military salary after call-out is less than their civilian income.

Employers will also be able to claim payments to offset any additional costs of replacing the effort lost when an employee who is a reservist is called-out. In all the safeguard schemes, the definition of "employer" extends to the self-employed and business partnerships.

The basis for service

The essence of service in the TA and the Volunteer Reserves of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force remains fundamentally unchanged; individuals agree to bind themselves to a legal call-out liability and to undertake the necessary training in their spare time. Regular Reservists bind themselves to a legal call-out liability when they first join the Regular Service.

All reservists may be called-out, or recalled, "when national danger is imminent or a great emergency has arisen". The new Act also makes all volunteer Reservists and the higher obligation ex-regulars liable for call-out, or recall, when "warlike operations are in preparation or progress". There is a new power of call-out for peacekeeping, humanitarian or disaster relief operations.

What employers should know about new categories of Reserve

There are also two new categories of Reserve created; the Sponsored Reserves and the Higher Readiness Reserves.

Sponsored Reserve
The first of these, the Sponsored Reserve, now makes it possible for some employees of certain defence contractors to come under the umbrella of the Reserve Forces Act when they are working under operational circumstances.

High Readiness Reserve
The High Readiness Reserve is aimed at existing Reservists with special civilian or military skills which the Services depends on, but need only occasionally. Initial plans are for up to 2000 – 3000 of them. They voluntarily make a special agreement to be subject to an additional call-out power.

In addition, if they work for 14 hours a week or more, they can only enter into this special agreement with the written consent of you, their employer. After 12 months the agreement requires renewal and, again, the consent of the employer. If they change employment, they must secure a new agreement with the new employer.

Should a High Readiness Reservist be called-out, he could be required to serve for up to 9 months. The safeguards mentioned earlier would apply, but exemption would be granted only if circumstances had changed since the Special Agreement was signed.

Call out and security of employment for the Reservist
In reality, the likelihood of call-out remains low unless there were real emergency. It would probably take a threat to the UK mainland for a general call-out of Reserves to be considered – our insurance policy!

This protection, provided under the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985, (known as SOE 85) is valid even if the Reservist indicates a willingness to be called out at a particular time.

Safeguards for employers
New safeguards for employers have been introduced which mirror those introduced for Reservists. They include the right to seek exemption and deferral and to apply for financial assistance.

Exemption and Deferral
The exemption and deferral scheme recognises that there may be certain employees whose personal contribution is critical to the success or even continuation of a business, either for a specific period of indefinitely. The scheme offers the employer the opportunity to make a case, demonstrating, for example, that it would not be possible to replace the individual with a temporary employee, or to share his work among others, at a cost which could be reimbursed under the payment regulations. As an employer your case will be stronger if you can show that you have taken steps against the normal risks of an individual’s illness, resignation or at the extreme, unexpected death. The grounds for exercising this right will be more generous for the humanitarian level of call-out than when the country is under threat.

Financial assistance for employers
Employers will be able to seek financial assistance to replace the contribution lost when a Reservist is called-out. The rules governing the scheme allow payments to be made to the partners in a firm in respect of another partner who is a Reservist and is called out.

Reserve Forces Appeal Tribunals
If the reservist or employer is dissatisfied with the determination of his claim under the safeguard provisions of the new Act, he will have reoccurs to the new Reserve Forces Appeal Tribunals.

The tribunals, in keeping with the spirit of the safeguards in general, are intended to be informal, open, accessible and rapid. They will be independent of the MOD and rather like industrial tribunals. They will have a legally qualified Chairman and two lay members, chosen for their understanding of business and employment matters. Although there will be no requirement for you to have legal representation, this is not excluded.

Other Types of Reserve Service with the Regular Forces – How they affect employers
Not all service by Reservists involves call-out. There are opportunities for Reservists to volunteer for periods of full-time service, if their personal circumstances allow. They might be between jobs of perhaps able to negotiate leave of absence with their employer. However, the decision to serve remains firmly with the volunteer and the formal safeguard of employment provisions do not apply.

For example, for four months in 1995, the bulk of our ground forces in the Falklands were provided by soldiers of the Territorial Army; men and women who had volunteered for this short full-time deployment. It was quite an experience for most of them. Other tasks might include assisting Regular Forces in outloading important military stores from a UK depot for a few weeks or providing civil engineering specialists to accompany a small Regular force training for a month in a Third World country while carrying out a construction project for the local community.

Given flexibility with the dates and duration of such periods of full or part time service, Reservists and employers are often able to work out a satisfactory voluntary arrangement which benefits everyone. As well as full time reserve service the Reservist is also now able to undertake part time reserve service on a scheduled regular arrangement or for fixed short periods. This again may fit in well with employees who work reduced hours or who have periods of short time working.

Twice a citizen
Whatever they do, from simply training to completing one of the range of service opportunities now available, there’s no doubt that the Reservists come back enhanced by the experience and better prepared to take on greater responsibility at work. The great majority of spare-time Volunteers choose to remain just that; civilians with a job who accept an annual spare-time training commitment together with a liability to call out in time of national emergency. They are "twice a citizen" as Winston Churchill described them. This must be good for the country and good for their employers!

Points of Contact for further information

The information given here is intended to be no more than a rough guide. If you need any further information please contact your local RFCA, the address is available from our RFCA map, but for detailed references and authorities you will have to refer to:

• The Reserve Forces Act, 1996
• The Reserve Forces (Security of Employment) Act, 1985
• The Reserve Forces Act, 1980
• The Reserve Forces (Protection of Civil Interests) Act, 1951