Agenda item
Report of the Chief Executive - Proposed Changes to Staff Terms and Conditions
- Meeting of Member and Employment and Development Panel, Thursday 7th August, 2014 4.30 pm (Item 25.)
- View the background to item 25.
Minutes:
At its last meeting on
9th July 2014 the Panel requested that consideration of
reducing annual leave entitlements for new employees and the
removal of unsocial hours allowances be deferred pending a full
Equality Impact Assessment. The Head of
HR Shared Services advised the Panel that this had been undertaken
and was set out at Appendix B to the report.
Responding to concerns from some Members that the reduction in
annual leave entitlement would not be helpful in the retention of
existing staff, the Head of HR Shared Services stated that the
intention was not about downgrading the terms and conditions but an
attempt to align the Council’s terms and conditions to those
140 members of staff who worked within shared services. It had already caused some difficulties and this
would make it easier for the staff concerned.
Members were of the view that existing staff should not be
penalised under the new scheme and if they were promoted within the
Council then they should remain on the existing annual leave
scheme.
Members also agreed that the leave entitlement should be reduced to
30 days instead of 32 for new members of staff recruited on grades
14-16, only increasing to 32 days after five years’
service.
In addition, Members felt that those staff who had completed 25 years of service should be entitled to an additional day’s holiday in recognition of their loyalty to the Council, this is consistent with the council’s existing arrangements.
Members enquired if
there was a mechanism for the carry over of annual leave
entitlement. The Head of HR Shared
Services explained that this was granted in exceptional
circumstances (up to a maximum of 5 days) by the Director/Chief
Executive. Responding to an enquiry
from a Member who asked if the Head of HR Shared Services could
guarantee that requests were always granted, Dena Smart advised
that in the 8 years she had been at the Council she had not known
of any occasions where it had not been granted.
In responding to the issue of removing the unsocial hours allowance, concern was expressed by Members
about the unsocial hours that the Civic Officers worked and due to
the fact that one Civic Officer had left already, in terms of
retention, it was important that the grade properly reflected the
duties carried out. It was agreed that
the post should be re-evaluated as soon as possible.
During discussions it was noted that a quarterly Workforce
Monitoring Report was produced by HR and Members felt it would be
beneficial for this to be sent to them for information.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the annual
leave entitlements be reduced for new
employees in line with the level negotiated with the trade
unions;
(b) That existing staff would
remain on their current annual leave
scheme if they were promoted through the grades;
(c) That the
initial leave entitlement under the new scheme be reduced
from 32 to 30 for new staff being recruited on grades 14-16;
(d) That when
an employee reaches 25 years service, they be given
an
additional day’s holiday in recognition of their loyalty
and
commitment;
(e) That the Civic Officers
posts be re-evaluated by the HAY
Evaluation Panel at the beginning of September and the
results
be fed back to Members of this Panel;
(f) That the Head of HR
Shared Services circulate, on a quarterly
basis, a copy of the Workforce Monitoring Report to this
Panel;
and
(g) That
the unsocial hours allowances are removed from the
Council’s
allowances subject to the exceptions set out in the report to
the
Panel on 9th July 2014.
Supporting documents:
- Proposed Changes to Staff terms and Conditinos, item 25. PDF 40 KB View as HTML (25./1) 36 KB
- Enc. 1 for Proposed Changes to Staff terms and Conditions, item 25. PDF 34 KB View as HTML (25./2) 11 KB
- Enc. 2 for Proposed Changes to Staff terms and Conditions, item 25. PDF 161 KB View as HTML (25./3) 57 KB
- Enc. 3 for Proposed Changes to Staff terms and Conditions, item 25. PDF 179 KB View as HTML (25./4) 146 KB