Miscellaneous

  1. Table of contents

Managing sickness/absence

High attendance at work is crucial for the effective operation of our services. The Managing sickness absence policy covers all employees and ensures a fair and consistent approach in dealing with absences from work.

Managers have direct responsibility for managing sickness absence, whilst employees must follow certain procedures to be entitled to Occupational Sickness Allowance and Statutory Sick Pay. Entitlements are in accordance with the national conditions.

Long service awards

In order to recognise the loyalty, commitment and contribution to service provision of employees with continuous long service with Falkirk Council (and its predecessor Authorities of Falkirk District Council or Central Regional Council), we will make the following awards:

  • 25 years service - £300 voucher
  • 40 years service - £800 voucher

If you qualify for this, you will receive a letter in the year that you achieve the milestone and this will tell you more about the voucher and when you will receive it. This is normally the following January.

Notice periods

From Falkirk Council

As defined by employment legislation, the minimum periods of notice the Authority must provide an employee on termination of contract are:

Continuous Service* Period of Notice
Up to 1 month Nil
1 month but less than 2 years 1 week
2 years or more 1 week for every year of employment up to a maximum of 12 weeks

*continuous service is defined as all periods of non-broken Local Government Service or equivalent service as defined in the Redundancy Payments (Local Government) (Modification) Order 1983. (as amended).

From Employees

The minimum period of notice you must provide the Council on resigning is:

Non-teaching

  • Up to and including Grade H: 4 weeks
  • Grade I and above: 8 weeks

In the event of a request made by an employee, the period of notice may be altered with the approval of the Chief Officer subject to mutual agreement.

Craft

  • 1 week

Teachers and associated professionals

  • a teacher on the main grade scale, a teacher on the Chartered Teacher spine, Music Instructor or an Education Support Officer, Quality Improvement Officer or Education Psychologist - 4 working weeks
  • all other teachers, quality improvement managers, principal and depute educational psychologists - 8 weeks, which include 4 working weeks.

Indemnification against theft or assault

We undertake to indemnify (cover) all employees against financial loss, caused by violent or criminal assault, suffered in the course of or as a consequence of their employment. In the event of an employee's death, payments will be made to their dependants.

This condition will be applied in accordance with the SJC & Craft conditions.

Damage or loss to property

You should look after your personal belongings while at work. We will not accept responsibility for damage to, or loss of, personal property while on duty.

If your property is lost or damaged, your manager can authorise a claim of up to £100 towards the cost of the repair of the damage or value of the item lost. We will consider the following when agreeing the value of any claim:

  • If there is negligence on the part of the Council
  • If there is negligence on the part of the employee

You need to submit proof of the value of any lost item or the cost of repairing a damaged item.

If the item costs more than £100, this will need to be approved by an appropriate Head of Service in exceptional circumstances only. You must submit your claim on MyView within one month of the damage or loss occurring. Claims after this period should be discussed with the relevant Head of Service/ Chief Officer.

Records will be kept on MyView.

Protective clothing supplied by us is not covered by these guidelines.

Identity cards

In the interests of security, you will be issued with an identity card / access card, which must be worn at all times when on duty. From April 2022, Falkirk Council and Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership are issuing SMART identity cards which, going forward, will be used to allow access to multiple Council buildings.

For security purposes, lost or damaged cards or key fobs should be reported to your line manager and an email sent to access.control@falkirk.gov.uk as soon as possible. You may need to pay for a replacement card.

To request a new or replacement identity card, the line manager should email access control with the following details:

  • Name
  • Employee number
  • Location
  • Service
  • Suitable passport standard picture

Professional registration fees

Payment of professional registration fees is the responsibility of each individual employee. Payment may be made in specific circumstances.

Data matching

We are required by law to protect the public funds we administer. To prevent and detect fraud, we may share information provided with other public bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.

External data matching will be undertaken in accordance with the relevant Audit Scotland Code of Practice.

Dress code

With the move to hybrid working in many areas of the Council, it is considered important to clarify expectations in terms of appropriate dress code.

Many employees have been working from home for many months and dress codes may have become less formal as a result. It is important to establish basic guidelines for appropriate dress at work which:

  • promotes a positive and professional image
  • maintains good staff morale
  • respects the needs of workers from all cultures and religions
  • makes adjustments that may be needed because of a disability
  • is flexible for transgender and gender non-confirming workers
  • helps employees and managers decide what clothing it is appropriate to wear to work and
  • takes account of health and safety requirements.

Given the diversity of services, in terms of operating needs, such as customer expectations, and safety, it is for each service to determine the appropriate dress code for each job so that employees know what is acceptable/unacceptable.

It is important that employees know that they are expected to:

  • maintain a professional image whilst dressing appropriately for the needs of their job, including when working from home
  • consider where they are working and who they are meeting/coming into contact with

If you are working from home or in an office that is not customer facing, then you can dress less formally, although this should still be business smart/casual. You should always dress appropriate to the situation, respecting colleagues at all times. Remember you are at work and you should be dressed appropriately, so jogging bottoms or sports wear should remain for the gym rather than the office for instance. If you question whether it might not be appropriate for the office, it probably isn't.

For time spend working from home, just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean that you skip getting dressed. Cameras should be switched on in meetings so its important that you are still appropriately dressed. A smart/casual look from home will also make you feel more productive.

All front line employees must be clean and smart when at work, particularly when in contact with customers, clients, service users or the public. This is the case whether you are working on our premises or elsewhere.

If you are provided with a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), you must ensure it is worn and replaced when required.

Dress Down Friday

Services have discretion to implement a Dress Down Friday policy offering employees the option of dressing in a casual way on certain Fridays each month. If you are unsure about whether a particular item of clothing conforms to the business casual approach then it is probably not appropriate.

Dress down Friday is optional and therefore if you feel more comfortable wearing a suit to work, then you should continue to do so. Regardless of style - casual or professional - you must always be clean and neat when attending work or representing the Council.

You should consider the feelings and thoughts of others and items of clothing should not offend. All such arrangements must recognise the need to deliver Services.

If you are going to a meeting at a business that has a different dress code, it would be expected that your dress be adjusted to fit the situation for that day.

You will be notified if this arrangement is in place for your place of work, otherwise normal dress rules apply. Where uniforms are provided no alternatives should be worn.