Work overload - contradictory messages from all levels of management
Pros
The work is interesting, status as an "Expert" in the court arena is a privileged position. Knowledgeable and dedicated colleagues. A good health and wellbeing package is available.
Cons
Unfortunately, there is far too much work and too few staff. Staff turnover is high. Staff sickness because of stress in increasing. We are frequently told that "Demand is increasing" in the family justice arena and that Cafcass are "Committed" to investing in more staff and BTW thanks for working hard..... However, the pool of potential staff that they are drawing from is very small and CAFCASS seem to want absolute perfection from the start rather than investing in people who have potential. Too many interviewees are disregarded at stage 3 (Panel interview) despite a gruelling, lengthy telephone interview and an intense online test. Other cons include a lack of any control of your workload and frequently being overworked as a result. Although management say that we should "Not be working late or at weekends", the reality is that this is unavoidable due to excessive allocations. Management seem averse to challenge in this area. The workload weighting system is, in a word, pathetic. FCA's now spend more time doing admin tasks on ECMS, despite Business Support staff being more than willing to help us. They are having more and more work removed from them and passed to the FCA. One member of BSO staff told me that they were so bored that they were doing college work during working hours, because many of the tasks that BSO staff used to do are now done by FCA's. If you raise your concerns about capacity, we are often ignored or told that we have to take the work because there isn't anyone else to give it to. Work is often allocated when staff are about to go on leave or who are already on leave which means that preparation cannot be done in line with CAFCASS' own policies and procedures. The FCA is then criticised for not completing planning work in time or missing hearing dates, when it is not the fault of the FCA. In addition, staff are working beyond capacity, at the expense of our family and social lives, without remuneration for extra hours. Whilst staff are encouraged to take TOIL, the reality is that this is often impossible. When concerns are raised with managers, staff are blamed for not managing their own time "Effectively." A lot needs to change in the organisation to avoid the excessive staff turnover that is currently occurring. Staff are not robots and the work cannot be approached like it is factory piece work. It often feels like all that matters is that the work is allocated and reports filed on time. We work with people in complex and emotionally charged situations. This has an impact on the emotional wellbeing of the staff. Regular supervision, preferably clinical supervision, such as that which mental health professionals receive would help a lot, but it often feels like we are on our own without much support. It is all very well directing staff to the Health and Wellbeing package that is available, but if there is not enough time to benefit from it through excessive, unrealistic workloads and unrealistic expectations of FCA's, what is the point? It is not the fault of the existing staff that recruitment and retention is a problem. In the current climate, many of us can only see it getting worse. Pay is now poorer than in the Local Authority, and we have had an abysmal pay rise with a sad excuse from the CEO.
