Officers Granted Two Extra Days’ Paid Holiday To Improve ‘Spiritual Well-Being’

Officers at Lincolnshire Police are to be given two extra days’ paid holiday per year to improve their “spiritual and emotional well-being”.

The force said the initiative will ensure officers have sufficient rest and recuperation time, a move which they say is a first for policing.

It is hoped the change will help officers cope with the pressures of the job which are “taking a greater toll on them”.

The force believes the policy, due to be put in place in April, will put them in a better position to meet the “particular needs” of a “large rural county”.

Officers will be entitled to as many as 32 days holiday per year after the change.

Chief Constable Bill Skelly said: “This is one of a number of initiatives that we will introduce over the next few months.

“I have been most impressed by the commitment of Lincolnshire Police staff and officers but I am increasingly seeing the impact that this can have on their physical and mental well-being.

“By encouraging our staff to take time to look after themselves I believe that we can make an improvement to how they feel at work.”

Mr Skelly added: “We hope that this will help to reduce sickness and improve levels of resilience across the organisation.”

In a statement confirming the initiative, the force said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare of our staff we are continually looking at ways to improve and look after the well-being of every individual in the Lincolnshire Police family.

“We know that the demands placed on officers and staff who work in policing are great and we know, that without the space and time to allow for rest and recuperation, these demands can take a toll on an individual.

“In Lincolnshire, our workforce has to cope with the significant and particular needs of policing in a large rural county.

“Recent surveys have shown that those involved in policing are regularly working longer hours than they are obliged to, that the incidents and pressures they face are taking a greater toll on them, and that the ability to recover is being compromised by the current shift patterns.”