A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham

Contact: Corporate Support 

Items
No. Item

162.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda.

163.

MINUTES

To confirm the Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 28 February 2017, previously circulated.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 28 February 2017, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

164.

PETITIONS, DEPUTATIONS AND QUESTIONS

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules.

 

The total time allowed for this shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, deputations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.

 

Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Democratic Services Officer 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.

 

Any petitions, deputations and questions which have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

Minutes:

No petitions, deputations or questions from members of the public had been received.

165.

Terms of Reference pdf icon PDF 43 KB

To note the terms of reference, number of places and voting places, membership and dates of meetings of the Employment and Appeals Committee.

Minutes:

The Committee NOTED the Terms of Reference, number of places and voting places, membership and dates of meetings of the Employment & Appeals Committee.

 

2017-2018 Meetings

 

6 February 2018

166.

Annual Report of the Employment and Appeals Committee pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To receive Report No. 139/2017 from the Chair of the Employment and Appeals Committee.

Minutes:

Report no. 139/2017 was received from the Chairman. The purpose of the report was to set out the work of the Committee for 2016/17, in an annual report in line with best practice.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee APPROVED the annual report of the Employment & Appeals Committee.

167.

HR Policies pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To receive Report No. 117/2017 from the Director for Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report No. 117/2017 was received from the Head of Human Resources, Miss Carol Snell. The purpose of the report was to seek approval for updated HR policies with regard to (a) Recruitment (b) Job Evaluation (c) Social Media (d) Code of Conduct and (e) Early Retirement Policy.

 

During the discussion the following points were noted:

 

a)     Recruitment

· Miss Snell informed the Committee of the following:

 

§  There have been no fundamental changes to the ‘policy’.

§  The policy had been reduced from 92 pages to 11 pages – which reflected a streamlined approach and style to the policy and removed the detailed procedural elements.

§  Provision to appoint an individual to a permanent post if the position moved from fixed term to permanent – subject to qualifying conditions.

 

· Mr Clifton requested clarification of the RCC level of commitment to disability as there was reference in the policy to The Disability Confident Scheme yet there was no mention of the level of commitment to disability. Miss Snell would amend the wording to include this in the policy and circulate to Committee Members for approval.

 

· Members were concerned that the policy wording regarding appointing fixed term posts to substantive posts needed further clarification on pre conditions. Miss Snell would amend the wording and circulate to Committee Members for approval.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee CONSIDERED and APPROVED the Recruitment Policy subject to amendments.

 

b)     Job Evaluation Policy

· Miss Snell informed the Committee of the following:

§  The general principle and policy remained unchanged.

§  Analysis and evaluation were carried out by experienced role analysts within HR to enable consistency of assessment against a set of conventions

§  HR quality assured job descriptions and worked with line managers to ensure they were fit for purpose

§  Use of job matching/benchmarking enabled more speedy evaluation

§  Virtual Steering Groups were used

§  Introduced a more focussed appeals process that enabled challenges to be dealt with more efficiently

§  Clarification regarding implications of regrading

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee CONSIDERED and APPROVED the Job Evaluation Policy.

 

c)     Social Media Policy

· Miss Snell informed the Committee of the following amendments to the policy:

 

§  Further reference was made to potential impact on the Council or its representatives

§  Inclusion of a statement that Managers would periodically remind staff of the policy and ensure the risks of using social media for work related purposes had been fully assessed and managed.

§  Head of HR and Strategic Communications advisor would carry out audits periodically to ensure risk assessments had been carried out in key/vulnerable areas.

§  Further clarity regarding the use of social media in the recruitment process

 

· Mr Wilby requested clarification that new employees were briefed on social media. Miss Snell confirmed new employees would complete a mandatory data protection e-learning module which incorporated social media and confirmed there was a specific social media e-learning module.

 

· Members were concerned that the social media e-learning module was not mandatory. Miss Snell agreed to investigate how much of the social media policy was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 167.

168.

ANY URGENT BUSINESS

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

Minutes:

No urgent business was received.