| Time: | 3.00pm | Place: | Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor Tom Brindley(Chairman), Councillor Fiona Hill, Debbie Ealand(Unison), Mrs D Levett(Unison), C Corr(Staff Consultation Forum) and Councillor Paul Clark(Substitute). |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Strategic Director of Customer Services Corporate Human Resources Manager Human Resources Development Manager Human Resources Apprentice Employee Relations Officer Committee & Member Services Officer |
| ALSO PRESENT: | N/A |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 1 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Lawrence Oliver, for whom Cllr Paul Clark substituted, Cllr Judi Billing and Cllr Lynda Needham and from Chris Carter (SCF). |
Noted | ||
| 2 |
MINUTES Minutes It was agreed that the Minutes of the JSCC meeting held on 20 March 2013 be confirmed as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 3 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS No other business was put forward for discussion at this Meeting. |
Noted | ||
| 4 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman welcomed all Members and officers to this meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee. With the Chairman's permission, the Corporate Human Resources Manager introduced Jack Hughes, the Human Resources Apprentice who had attended this meeting of the Joint Staff Consultative Committee to find out who was on it and to see it in action. The Chairman then read out the following statement: ‘Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary interest, Other Pecuniary interest or Non-Pecuniary interest, and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring either an Other Pecuniary interest, or a Non-Pecuniary interest which requires they leave the room under paragraph 16.3 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.' |
Noted | ||
| 5 |
STAFF CONSULTATION FORUM SCF Minutes 3 April SCF Minutes 1 May SCF Draft Minutes 5 June The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) referred the JSCC to the Minutes of the meetings of the Staff Consultation Forum (SCF) held on 3 April, 1 May and the Draft Minutes of 5 June 2013, for details of the meetings, actions taken and the items carried forward. She provided a summary of the main points from each meeting as follows: 3 April 2013 The CHRM touched on the update given regarding the new waste and recycling services in North Herts given by the Strategic Director of Customer Services (SDCS), to be rolled out in June 2013. She then mentioned the equal pay audit that had been completed and a full report and summary report had been shared with the Trade Union. No significant concerns had been revealed and the summary report would be circulated to the Staff Consultation Forum after the meeting. 1 May 2013 Walk to Work Week starting on 17 May was part of the Council's Healthy Lifestyles promotion, the CHRM explained. For those who lived too far away from the Council Offices to walk to work, there were two lunch hours during that week when there were guided walks, but the turnout was small due to the atrocious weather. On one of the days. The SDCS and the Chief Executive both attended SCF in May to inform the Forum on the forthcoming Spending Review in June/July and the Staff Briefings to be held later on in May 2013. The CHRM informed the Committee that it had been a very good year for sickness levels, which had reached a record low. The question was asked as to whether there was a reward for staff not taking any sick leave, but there was no reward for this other than thanks in Outlook. It was also pointed out that there was a small award for staff Long Service. 5 June 2013 (Draft) The CHRM touched on the fact that the SDCS had passed on thanks from the Senior Management Team to all staff for attending the staff briefings held by the Chief Executive (CE) at which he updated officers on any challenges, financial or otherwise, to be faced in the future and the successes enjoyed over the past year. She reminded the Committee that an item on any pay award that had been negotiated would be presented at Item 7 of the Agenda. It was agreed: That the information provided in the three sets of Minutes of the Staff Consultation Forum be noted. |
Noted | ||
| 6 |
PEOPLE STRATEGY UPDATE Report The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) presented the Committee with the latest quarterly update on the progress made to the People Strategy 2011-2015 Report, which also incorporated the Council's Workforce Development Plan. She explained that Key Performance Measures were given as Appendix A to this report and that the Human Resources People Strategy Work Plan for 2012/2013 was presented at Appendix B, as agreed at the last meeting of the JSCC in March 2013. The CHRM stated that Human Resources (HR) had an extremely intensive work load at present, the most pressing matter being replacement of the payroll service since notice had been served to terminate the software licence agreement for Trent, the current payroll system. A new system would need to be implemented to replace Trent a year earlier than planned, in time for the financial year 2014/2015. This meant that there was just 7 months to implement the new system. This was a key project which had been assigned Top Risk status and an Options Business Plan was being prepared. The options were as follows: a) to upgrade from Trent to the i-Trent system; b) to join Hertfordshire County Council in using the SERCO system. It was reported that the Reward Benefit Extras Day for staff on 12 June had been extremely successful: 6 staff had signed up for the Childcare Voucher Scheme; 7 people had registered for the Bikes to Work Scheme; and 188 staff had joined the Wider Wallet Scheme. The Committee were advised that the Apprentice Scheme had settled in well and by July 2013 seven apprentices would be in place, together with two interns in the Museums Service. In addition one was being advertised for HR, one for Housing and Public Protection with another one being advertised later in 2013. The CHRM ran through the development programmes and the CHRM gave the absence figures, which had improved. There were still some long-term sickness cases, but the level was low - during April and May 2013 the average came to ½ person less than the same period in 2012. She explained that staff were currently in the Appraisals round which would be completed by the end of July. An update on this would be given at the next JSCC meeting in September 2013. An update on turnover would also be given at the next meeting. The Committee raised several questions, as follows: were the turnover figures up due to people leaving? (no, staff lost that way were also replaced), and new posts created. The CHRM said the last retention update had identified that a number of professional males had left the Council. This could be related to the long term pay freeze. An update on retention would be on the agenda of the next meeting of the JSCC on 18 September 2013. It was agreed: That the Committee notes the progress against the People Strategy and HR People Strategy Work Plan for 2013/2014. REASON FOR DECISION: The People Strategy supports the achievement of the Authority's key priorities. |
Noted | ||
| 7 |
NATIONAL PAY BARGAINING UPDATE Update The Corporate Human Resources Manager (CHRM) presented an update on National Pay Bargaining and informed the Committee that UNISON were carrying out an unofficial ballot at the time of the report being written, to investigate the number of Union members who considered that the employers' pay offer be accepted. On being consulted, the UNISON representative revealed that 82% of the NHDC employees canvassed had voted, although the national turnout had been 12.43%. Throughout the country, 78% of UNISON branches had voted to accept the employers' pay offer. Employers were currently awaiting the ballot outcome from GMB and Unite and any increase would then be included in employees' August wages. During Committee discussion the question was raised as to what percentage of NHDC employees were in UNISON, and the CHRM said she will obtain an up-to-date figure for the next meeting of the JSCC. The question was asked as to how non-Union members were represented, and the Committee was told that this was through the Staff Consultation Forum. It was stated that the Union was pay bargaining for the best pay deal for all staff, and they will all benefit, whether or not they are members of UNISON. One Member enquired about the Terms and Conditions for Local Authority members, and was told that there were significant variations amongst national pay authorities. The Human Resources Development Manager (HRDM) revealed that the Council abided by Green Book conditions but there was a variance. The Government had spoken about making changes, but the Chancellor had no authority to do this, as it was an independent system. The CHRM stated that the employers had attempted to tie into 1% on annual pay for an individual but this had failed and the Chairman commented that in real terms this was a 1.7% pay cut taking into consideration the rise in the cost of living. |
Noted | ||
| 8 |
TRADE UNION FACILITIES Paper In March 2013, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)published a document entitled Taxpayer Funding of Trade Unions - Making Sensible Savings, the link for which was given in this report. The document was described as "advice", rather than formal "guidance" or "regulation". This document was brought to the attention of UNISON, which was now the only trade union at North Herts District council and would also be of use when Freedom of Information requests were received, as the amount of activity taking place was recorded. The CHRM went through the key points made in the document entitled Taxpayer Funding of Trade Unions: - Councils should save taxpayers' money by significantly scaling back on the cost of trade union facility time. In fact a small amount of money was used for trade union admin; - Employees should not be spending all, or the majority, of their working hours on trade union duties . The Committee was informed that just 5% of annual working hours was spent in this way; - Time off for trade union activities should be unpaid. In fact, this time was unpaid and Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) was used; - Restrictions should be placed on the use of office facilities for trade union representatives. In fact, the trade union Branch Secretary role had been deleted so this was not in the Facilities Agreement. - Councils should charge for collecting union subscriptions or end the practice completely; - Councillors should declare payments and sponsorship from trade unions and ensure there is no conflict of interest. The Committee discussed the Facilities Paper and were told that this was reviewed annually and trade union facility time had been reduced year on year. The cost of collecting trade union subscriptions was marginal and there was no plan to stop doing this. With regard to councillors declaring payments and sponsorship from trade unions, the SDCS stated that this was a matter of Member conduct. The Chairman enquired whether the effective total cost of release time was known, and was informed that UNISON had been asked to assist with collation of this point. |
Noted | ||
| 9 |
SUPPLEMENT TO TRADE UNION FACILITIES AND RECOGNITION AGREEMENT Supplement This Supplement was for information only and as such there was no discussion on the paper. |
Noted | ||
| 10 |
DISCUSSION PAPER ON EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE Discussion paper The Employee Relations Officer (ERO) introduced the discussion paper and stressed that 2012 had been a very unusual year as far as employment law was concerned. She pointed out that CRB checks had been replaced on 17 June 2013 by the Disclosure and Barring Service, and was therefore now live. It was expected to be a good service and could be checked online. Apart from that, little new legislation had come into effect or had been passed by Parliament. She went through the major areas where change had either been proposed or had occurred, but comments were made on: Unfair dismissal - there had been a big change, and the unfair dismissal law introduced in April 2012 was not retrospective. The effect on women employees was likely to be greater than on men and it was stressed that an employee had to have completed a minimum of two years in post to be eligible to take action on unfair dismissal. Caps were to be applied to the maximum award for unfair dismissal. The Committee commented that care should be taken before an employee tells a joke, in case it causes offence to a colleague. Employment Tribunal Reforms - the Council Employment Tribunal was now down to one person (the Chairman), so it would take statements as read, which would also reduce the Tribunal time. Retirement age - the Committee was updated that the EU has agreed that a mandatory retirement age is to be reintroduced. The Committee discussed the subject and comments raised included: could annual leave be rolled over if not taken in the appropriate year? (yes, in special circumstances - 5 with a reason. This ensures that staff receives adequate rest and recuperation); should certain Bank Holidays and privilege days be rolled over? Do many male employees take advantage of paternity leave entitlement? (Yes - they get 2 weeks' leave); is flexible working available to parents? (Yes). Sick absence - the Government is looking again at the whole area of law. If sick while on holiday, you get it back, but this only applies to statutory leave entitlement. In new guidance from the Government, a Fit Note states only what you can do at work, not what you are unable to do. Staff need to consider what work they can manage to do while off sick. Equal Opportunities - employers should always ensure they have reasonable grounds for religious discrimination. Out of 4 Christians who took their cases for unfair dismissal to the European Court of Human Rights in 2012, only one was upheld. During Committee discussion it was remarked that nobody should be discriminated against on religious grounds. Regarding bullying and harassment, the case of Vaickuviene and others v. J Sainsbury was touched on, where Sainsbury was vicariously liable for the harassment of one worker by another, resulting in the murder of the first employee, whose family brought the case against the employer. The final outcome was that Sainsbury did not act fast enough, as although the victim had made a complaint, it was not immediately investigated and this resulted in his death the following day. The Committee agreed that it was vital that the employer seriously consider each complaint made and act in good time. The rest of 2013 and beyond - the Government is to introduce a Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service for employees who are off work long term, i.e. four weeks or more. And finally, regarding the increase to the number of trained reserve forces and the White Paper expected imminently, a Member of the Committee asked whether these would include voluntary Police Specials, and was there a Special Leave Entitlement Policy for them. It was agreed: That the discussion paper on Employment Law Update be noted. |
Noted | ||
| 11 |
SUGGESTED DISCUSSION TOPICS List The Committee discussed the list of Suggested Discussion Topics presented by the Corporate Human Resources Manager and the subject chosen for the next meeting was "Shared responsibilities for caring for children and the role of employees in caring for elderly parents". |
Agreed | ||