Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Labour Turnover

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are highly valued, specialist personnel. We are committed to listening to their concerns and keeping a continued dialogue to address the issues they have raised. Recruitment and retention of staff remains a priority for the RFA and is part of the Defence-wide initiative driven at Ministerial level through the recently established Recruitment and Retention Board. Work is ongoing to address the ongoing pay dispute raised by Maritime Trade Unions and to improve RFA terms and conditions of employment.

Work is focussed on addressing issues in the short term, while also generating meaningful improvements to the RFA "offer" overall, to ensure it remains competitive in the long term. There are a number of initiatives in support of this which include updating working practices - such as part-time, flexible, and family-friendly arrangements - modernising allowances and pay, and shortening the timescales of recruitment.