This page will be used to consult with you on changes to HR and Health & Safety policies. We review policies on a scheduled basis and following the consultation where appropriate, these will be referred to the Council's Partnership Forum and then to the Executive for approval.
There are currently 3 policies out for consultation, and we would appreciate if you could take some time to complete the surveys and provide feedback. The surveys are open until 17 January 2025. Please see the details below.
Previous consultations
Job Evaluation Policy
The Job Evaluation Policy has been reformatted so that there is now one main policy document and 3 How To Documents:
- How to Prepare for a Job Evaluation (for managers)
- How to Participate in a Job Evaluation (for employees)
- How to Appeal a Job Evaluation (for employees)
All of the policy documents have been reviewed to ensure that plain language is used. The main changes to the policy are in relation to backdating (changing from the date the evaluation is approved at the job evaluation group to the date that the responsibilities of the post changed) and re-evaluation in the appeals process (TU rep to be involved in the re-evaluation and re-evaluated posts will be referred back to the appeal panel instead of the job evaluation group).
Extra Mural Policy
The majority of respondents confirmed that the policy and how to guide were clear and easy to understand.
There was some feedback seeking clarity in relation to voluntary work. The Policy is clear that it is not intended to cover adhoc charitable or voluntary work but situations where individuals are officeholders with a charitable organisation or similar.
There was also some reference to a lack of awareness of the current policy. This will be addressed as part of the re-launch of the revised Policy.
Finally, it was queried whether individuals would require to submit a myform if their extra-mural employment has already been agreed. This should be actioned via the annual review process. Again, this will be communicated as part of the policy re-launch.
Family Leave Policy
The family leave policy has been updated to take account of changes to legislation on paternity leave and carers leave.
Feedback received during the consultation is shown below:
- 93% of respondents found the updated arrangements for maternity support clear.
- 87% felt that the maternity support leave should remain as a fixed block and all felt we should retain this provision.
- All respondents found the updated arrangements for paternity leave clear.
- 80% found the arrangements for statutory carers leave clear, there was a query over how far in advance you can advise of carers leave and what counts. The policy covers the definition of a dependant and further defines a 'long term care need' . A dependant with long term care need is required to be able to apply for statutory carers leave. There is also a section on notice to be given for statutory carers leave in the policy and how this leave can be used.
- We also received feedback that the flexibility was positive for parents.
- There was feedback received that we should look at improving the duration of Maternity leave and Paternity leave with full or partial pay. Whilst we appreciate that maternity and paternity leave can be difficult on family finances, we are not in a position to be able to further enhance our provision at this time. We offer Occupational Maternity/Adoption Pay which is above the statutory requirements and Maternity Support Leave is paid at full pay for 1 week which is a higher rate than statutory paternity pay.
- We have therefore not made any further changes to the policy as a result of the consultation.
How to Manage Health & Safety Risks
We had a limited response to this consultation with 2 responses received, both respondents consider that the policy is easy to read and understand. Both consider how the Council expects work areas to manage hazards to be clearly outlined and the requirements for Services to manager their H&S action plan and H&S risk profile to be clear.
Adverse Weather
We had a limited response to this consultation with 7 responses received.
All respondents consider that the policy format is clear and easy to understand. All who responded indicated that they are clear what is expected from them as an employee in a severe weather situation.
Some respondents (33%) consider that the policy is unclear in terms of what is expected of managers in a severe weather situation.
In response to comments received, it is noted that the policy refers to the Council Organisational Severe Weather Plan, which gives more guidance on issues affecting service delivery in a severe weather situation. The question was asked about who is responsible for standing down external contractors. The Resilience Team considers the appropriate approach to weather warnings and informs the public accordingly. External contractors are responsible for following public weather alerts in relation to their own employees.
The Organisational Severe Weather Plan was amended in October 2023. The changes have been made to the policy to reflect the updated plan, including changes to guidance on applying weather warnings.
Severance Policy
Most respondents found the amended policy clear and easy to understand.
Most employees felt the processes for both voluntary severance and redundancy were clear. Managers understood their role in these. It was noted that this was much clearer than the previous policy.
There was a comment made about the use of 'you' and 'the employee' in the policy document. This has been amended for consistency.
It was also noted that there is some duplication between the documents. This is intentional as some of the documents may be read on their own.
Some employees felt the steps to be taken to apply for voluntary severance could be clearer and there could be more information on voluntary severance. A how to document has been created to assist with this.
There were comments about sections seeming disjointed, these have been reviewed.
There were comments about the redundancy selection how to which have been addressed and updated.
H&S Strategy
The Council's Health & Safety Strategy outlines the key priorities for safety management within the Council for 2023 – 2026.
This document outlines the Council's aims and priorities for health and safety over the 2023/26 period and how the Council will accomplish these.
The Strategy outlines three main stream of work around continuing to improve the Council's incident reporting process, improving arrangements for Health & Safety and working with Service's to improve their governance arrangements for health and safety.
Notable targets for this strategy include continuing to provide an online health & safety software package for incident reporting and risk assessments, the implementation of a H&S management system in line with ISO standards and reviewing the governance arrangements for the Safety Management Group and Service Management Teams.
Redeployment Policy
The Redeployment Policy was previously issued for consultation in 2022 and was updated to include feedback from Trade Unions to ensure further clarity was given in relation to the support available to managers and employees throughout the process.
Further consultation has taken place in 2023 which included the online consultation as well as a separate meeting with Trade Unions. Overall the response to the consultation was positive and respondents felt the policy was clear and easy to understand and that they understood their roles within the process. None of the respondents raised concerns about the policy potentially having an impact on employees with protected characteristics.
The policy was further updated to include information on salary placement, responsibilities for costs and permanent employees being redeployed to a temporary post (this information was previously in the How To document but feedback suggested this would be more relevant in the actual policy document). Text was also added regarding support for employees who are unable to access online systems.
Code of Conduct
There was a suggestion that there should be reference to a dress code. Given the wide and varied workforce, we are unable to specify what should/must be worn. A general statement on being presentable has been added, along with reference to wearing any agreed uniform and following health and safety requirements.
There was a question over the gifts and hospitality statement and a suggestion that this needed to be more specific. Additional guidance in a separate document is available however we believe that there needs to be a level of discretion. We have added a link to the register.
The code has been updated to reflect structure and job changes.
Suggestion that the broad principles in the Conflict section make sense but may be useful to have some case studies as examples. We think this is too detailed for this code of conduct, however some of these may fit within other policies that are available eg procurement or disciplinary.
We have added in a link to the social media guidance.
Family Leave Policy response to consultation
There was a limited response to this consultation however all respondents found this clear and easy to read. There was a point of clarification raised around the repayment of OMP and this has been updated in the policy.
Disputes Policy response to consultation
We had a very limited response to this consultation with only 3 responses received. The respondents were from two employees and one trade union representative. All respondents said that they found the new policy format clear and easy to understand. They also indicated that the revised policy gives managers/ trade unions the information required to progress disputes. A specific comment was made that the quicker disputes were resolved, the better for everyone. The Disputes Policy includes clear timescales for progressing issues.
Market Supplement Policy response to consultation
We had a limited response to this consultation with only 10 responses received. The respondents were from 6 employees and 4 managers.
The majority of respondents said that they found the new policy format clear and easy to understand, with the procedure for seeking approval clear.
In response to whether the procedure for seeking approval for a market supplement is clear, feedback received that consultation with TU's should be carried out by Management along with HR. The draft Policy indicates that trade unions will be advised when a market supplement is being considered or reviewed and that HR will arrange for appropriate consultation with the relevant Trade Unions to be undertaken.
Other feedback is considered below:
Terms and Conditions - It was queried whether any market supplement would be taken into account in the calculation of statutory payments such as maternity pay or SSP, this would be the case and the Policy has been updated to reflect this.
Review Process - Concerns were expressed regarding the need for regular reviews both in terms of this being time consuming and also as to whether date may be outdated by the time of the review. It is noted that the review process starts at six months and are to allow for employees to receive notice of any change to their market supplement.
Employee Acceptance - It was noted that the Policy did not appear to be clear what happens if an employee does not sign e.g., to decrease market supplement or for this to cease. Employees are only asked to sign to confirm acceptance of a market supplement. Notice would be provided of any change/ removal of market supplement.
Appropriateness of Market Supplements - It was queried whether Services should commit to addressing wider issues such as workload, management support/training etc carry out surveys to hear what staff in post would like to see happen/change to make the Council a desirable employer. Feedback also queried the appropriateness of using market supplements in the current financial climate. The Policy is clear that market supplements will only be used when a clear business case is identified and recruitment and retention issues cannot be better addressed through the total benefits package, job re-design or changes to the work environment i.e., opportunities for development or support and improvements to facilities.
Equal Pay - Feedback also referenced potential equal pay issues. Conversely, there was some feedback querying the need for posts to be advertised 3 times before consideration of market supplements. The Policy aims to mitigate the equal pay risk by ensuring that any market supplement is objectively justified (including via evidence of 3 unsuccessful recruitment campaigns) and ensuring that these are kept under regular review to ensure that they are still relevant.
Recruitment & Selection Policy (January 2023)
We had 24 responses to this consultation.
The majority of respondents thought:
- The policy was easy to read and understand
- There was enough information for candidates for recruitment
- The managers' role was clear
- The updated process for checking ID and right to work in the UK was clear
- The process checklist is a helpful addition
- The process for new appointment paperwork including the online process and where to store relevant documents is clear
Some queries were raised and are addressed below:
The process is long winded and suggested a flow chart could be done. This will be considered.
There is a lot of information. We appreciate that there is a lot of information which is why we have separate guidance documents for each stage. We will look to streamline the processes going forward and already have a working group looking at this.
System links could be included. We include these where possible but we have to be aware of potential security issues with this.
Less acronyms could be used. Where these are used we write them out in full in the first instance with the acronym shown afterwards and used thereafter.
There is no admin support for managers on this. Whilst there is no central administrative support both the Staffing & Recruitment team and HR Helpdesk team can provide guidance/advice on aspects of the process.
Why are ID checks needed for existing employees changing post? Checks have been streamlined over recent years and reduced. The checks in place are required are consider appropriate and for a specific reason, eg Care Commission, safety. Right to work checks are not needed for existing employees changing post unless they are being sponsored.
Talentlink guidance notes not up to date. These are currently being updated and will be online shortly. We are also considering providing some video tutorials on the system.
Could we have a policy statement on promoting flexible working in the R&S policy? We have added in some guidance on this in the how to manage and advertise vacancies document.
Could there be a holistic new start process including how to get IT Kit and ID badge etc? Some of this is included in the Induction Checklists which are linked from the policy. As these are not policy matters they would not be included here but we will consider creating a how to guide on new starts.
Can we use the MS Team option on Talentlink to invite candidates to interview? This is in progress and guidance will be issued when this is available to use.
Why is there no reference to interview panels being 'gender balanced'? This is in the how to shortlist for interview document. As this was not updated as part of the review this was not included in the pack.
Any queries can be directed to the HR Helpdesk.
Driving at work
This policy replaces the existing Driving at Work Policy and Amalgamates the Council vehicle and non-Council vehicle Driver Code of Conduct. It also updates the Council Travel Hierarchy and provides greater clarity on links to other Council policies such as Capability and Disciplinary.
Roles and responsibilities have also been updated.
Managing vibration at work
This how-to has been updated as follows:
- Exposure Limit and Action Values are now stated as the equivalent exposure points (Exposure Points System and Ready-Reckoner) rather than a vibration magnitude per m/s-2. This is to make it easier to cross-reference the information provided in the risk assessment, equipment tags and any personal monitoring equipment used.
- Exposure Limit and Action Values stated are an equivalent value 10% lower than those included in Regulation 4 of The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. The HSE approved code of practice L140, Hand-arm vibration, The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, Guidance on Regulations states that research has shown that errors arising from the process of sampling and measuring vibration magnitude and estimating exposure duration can affect the precision of calculations by ±20%. HSE Inspectors work on the assumption that if a risk assessment shows an exposure is within 20% of an action value it's likely that the value could be exceeded in practice. The exposure points stated in the document have been adjusted to account for this.
- When personal monitoring equipment must be used is now defined, i.e any employees:
- whose vibration exposure has been restricted on the advice of Occupational Health
- who use any red tagged equipment
- Line Managers are given the responsibility of notifying the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team if an employee is diagnosed with either Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Team will then report these to the HSE under RIDDOR if necessary.
Recovery of Overpayments Policy
We had a limited response to this consultation with 9 responses received. Most respondents consider that the policy format is clear and easy to understand.
In response to comments received, the definition of a "small overpayment" has been included in the "how to" guide. We have also removed the requirement that the recovery period should not normally exceed 6 months. The policy now states that overpayments would usually be recovered over the same amount of time that the overpayment was made. One of the suggestions made was that recovery could be limited to overpayments made in the previous 3 months. The policy has not been changed in response to this comment. It does however include provisions to minimise financial hardship, taking account of individual circumstances, and signposts employees to avenues for support if required.
Capability Policy
The Capability Policy covers all employee groups, including teachers. It gives guidance on how to support and manage cases where an employee's ability to undertake their role is affected by poor health or poor performance.
Guidance is also given on managing cases where an employee fails to obtain or maintain professional registration or a qualification essential for their role. It is the intention that the Managing Sickness Absence Policy will also be revised so that it ties in with some of the how-to guides to provide clarity on the links between the two policies.
Redeployment Policy 2022
We had a limited response to this consultation with 12 responses received. The respondents were mainly from employees (6) with the remaining being from managers (4) and 1 Trade Union representative. One respondent did not answer this question.
Overall, the response to the consultation on the Redeployment Policy was positive and respondents felt the policy was clearer and easy to understand and they understood their roles within the process. There was a comment received with concerns relating to additional workload possibilities and this has been addressed.
There was additional response from Trade Union representatives out with the policy consultation process relating to concerns about increased workload for managers, removal of the skills audit and provision of training. These have been responded to and will be incorporated into the policy.
How to: First Aid provision
There was limited response to this 'How To' consultation with only 6 received. This was from 3 employees, 2 managers and 2 Trade Union representatives.
The feedback received was positive and there were no changes made to the guidance following consultation.