STAFF at Dorset County Council will not be forced to take compulsory unpaid leave.

This comes after unions voted in favour of a revised package of terms and conditions of employment.

Employees originally faced being forced to take 12 days of unpaid leave a year over the next two years, later reduced to six, in a proposal for changes to conditions put forward by the council.

However, following meetings between council chiefs and unions, a revised package was put forward that took away the compulsory unpaid leave element and replaced it with an option for staff to take voluntary unpaid leave.

There were also a number of other concessions on the package of changes to terms and conditions, which also covers areas such as standby and callout payments, the withdrawal of the subsidised lease car scheme and a reduction in overtime payments.

The new proposal, which will save the authority £1.03million, also includes a guarantee for no more whole authority changes to terms and conditions of service before December 31, 2012.

It will now come into effect at the start of next year.

Council leader Angus Campbell said: “We very much welcome this decision by union members.

“With the council seeking to find more than £55m of savings over the next three years, we have to look at all areas of expenditure.

“But we hope these changes to terms and conditions will mean fewer redundancies than would otherwise have been necessary.”

Vice-chair of the council’s staff consultative panel, Berny Parkes, said: “Union members reluctantly accepted the proposed changes to their terms and conditions and acknowledged the spirit of co-operation and compromise by all parties that achieved this agreement.”