Thread: TA and the Civil Service

Sorry if this has been created before, no idea how to do a search of just the forums on here.

I'm currently a Civil Servant working in Whitehall. I'm interested in joining the reserves, but am concerned that doing so would effect my career.

The Civil Service code says departments must let people from the reserve forces join up and have leave, however it doesn't mean that hiring staff wouldn't be bias against someone who could potentially be out of the office for 28 days + holidays.

Does anyone know of central government civil servants being in any of the reserve forces and whether it has an effect on their career moves?

I knew a couple of people in DIS, and DGIA that were in the TA. They got on well, and it didn't appear to hold them back at work. They did put a lot of effort in though.

Civil Service is usually really good about this (after all, if they can't do it right, how can anyone else be expected to?) That said, it just won't fit well if you're in a job which posts you frequently. And any lengthy deployments might have a slowing effect on progression in your day job.

Originally Posted by UNRE4L

Sorry if this has been created before, no idea how to do a search of just the forums on here.

I'm currently a Civil Servant working in Whitehall. I'm interested in joining the reserves, but am concerned that doing so would effect my career.

The Civil Service code says departments must let people from the reserve forces join up and have leave, however it doesn't mean that hiring staff wouldn't be bias against someone who could potentially be out of the office for 28 days + holidays.

Does anyone know of central government civil servants being in any of the reserve forces and whether it has an effect on their career moves?

It should make no difference whether you are a Civil Serpent working for central govt or anywhere else in the CS. A good mate of mine (now FTRS) worked for the DWP in Leeds and elsewhere and knows his way around the system. There should be no problem being a reservist I don't think, however I'm not sure where you get 28 days out of the office from. Most of the reserves are restricted in terms of Man Training Days but the "28 days" are weekends mostly and won't affect work. Also, the CS should award you an additional 2 weeks paid leave for reserve duty,

Hope this helps - PM me if you need more.

Never caused me a problem. I was in the T.A. before I joined the Snivel Service, and my boss's boss (all 3 of them) have all thought it was splendid, etc.

CS in the TA will get 10 days SPL per year for training. Any extra time off required comes out of your own leave. As for impacting on career, by deploying you will gain a far greater understanding of who and what you support in your day to day job - this will ultimately benefit your career. My missus is TA and CS and for her previous 2 CS job interviews (both successful!), they were positively interested in her TA career. Look on the 'people services' section of the intranet under 'leave' for info on what time off you are entitled to.

PM jim30, he is one of the SMEs ;)

MSR

Thanks for all the responses. All sounds good so far!

My current position is in one of the Minister's offices, so that's why it may be slightly different.

We cant even take our leave unless its in recess and with the coming election we cant even be sure we'll be allowed that.

I know the CS "should" allow it, but its whether behind the scenes they are less likely to hire someone in the TA.

Shouldn't AFFECT your job etc however, if you have a spineless trenchdodging lefty commy twat of a chief exec like mine it may take you some time before the "permission to attest" passes round all the useless twats that call themselves management make a decision!

All said, eventually after bringing them to book and making them realise that they actually had any remit over the request (bricks out of pram big style with one - told him he may wear his desk ) all turned out ok :D

I think you should be fine as long as you are not employed by the Ministry of Defence as they don't appear to have much time for the Armed Forces.

Originally Posted by UNRE4L

Thanks for all the responses. All sounds good so far!

My current position is in one of the Minister's offices, so that's why it may be slightly different.

We cant even take our leave unless its in recess and with the coming election we cant even be sure we'll be allowed that.

I know the CS "should" allow it, but its whether behind the scenes they are less likely to hire someone in the TA.

Given that your particular post is, perhaps, more demanding in terms of the type of work and the schedules you work too - box deadlines, submissions, briefings, etc - you should discuss it with your line manager in the first instance. The HR / personnel guidance is there for you both to access and you should be able to weigh up the demands of your primary employment with what your TA role will require from you as a minimum.

I moved to a new CS post in the summer last year which requires regular drafting of and input to Ministers briefings and submissions, and while my boss is supportive of being in the TA, your job in the CS is your main one and you will have to make decisions regarding which you deem most important to you. As an example, unfortunately one i had to make was that i could not attend my unit's camp in Sep 09 as it would be unreasonable to do so when a Bill, now an Act, involved significant contribution from my section and the demands on our time and input were considerable.

If you're a fast-streamer or looking to move to more senior grades elsewhere in the CS then certainly in Private Office you will be expected to, pretty much, work to the hours your Minister works to. Additionally, your predecessors in Private Office will tell you, and you will know, that it is a high-profile post which has a high turnover (average time 12-18 months) due to its demands and you might be better placed to do more in the TA when you're in a less demanding CS post.

it doesn't mean that hiring staff wouldn't be bias against someone who could potentially be out of the office for 28 days + holidays.

Lets be honest - would you be any different from all the other lead swinging dodgers such as Term time working? I can't see how they can stop you, and it might even add to your competencies!

What are you thinking of joining?

To be honest, I've not decided what I'd go for if I were to join. I'm keeping in mind a few options.

Thanks for that Gluck. Its all true! I've worked in Private Office for 18 months already and in that time directly for around 10 different Ministers, two being Cabinet members. I know the demands very well. Being on constant call from the Ministers / department means your own life and the Minister's are kind of attached for the period your in their office.

The only problem with waiting until you leave private office is that you tend to leave on promotion and, usually, the higher the grade you are in the CS (or at least in the areas I'd like to progress into) the higher the unpredictability and frequency of demands on your time.

My own HR team have said there shouldnt be a problem, but it may be disliked by senior staff. They also said at the end of the day if I really want to do it, i should go ahead and apply.

All of this came about from a discussion with a senior officer in MOD, so I think I'm going to go to an open day to which I've been invited and see what they say there.