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.

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

To confirm the Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 18 July 2017, previously circulated.

The minutes of the Employment & Appeals Committee held on 18July 2017, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

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.

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

To consider any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 95.

No questions from Members had been received.

To receive Report No. 4/2018 from the Director for Resources.

Report No. 4/2018 was received from the Head of Human Resources.  The purpose of the report was to advise the committee of the TUC’s campaign for terminal illness to be recognised as a ‘protected characteristic’ so that an employee with a terminal illness would have a ‘protected period’ where they cannot be dismissed as a result of their condition.

During the discussion the following points were noted:

a)    ‘Protected characteristics’ as provided by the Equality Act, include age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity. Whilst the Equality Act offers some protection for terminally ill employees, the act still allows employers to dismiss an employee because they are terminally ill. The Dying to Work campaign would like to see terminal illness recognised as a ‘protected characteristics’. It is possible we will see legislative changes in this area. The Campaign is asking private and public sector employers to commit to the campaign. In the region- Leicestershire County, Leicester City, Nottinghamshire County, Nottingham City and the City of Lincoln Councils have already committed their support.

b)    Signing up to this charter would send an important message to staff on how RCC as an employer would deal with these sensitive situations. 

c)    Mr Oxley asked for confirmation on the compassionate leave provision and how much support would be offered. Ms Snell confirmed the leave provision in our existing policy is 5 days however this is looked at on an individual basis and is flexible depending on the circumstances.

RESOLVED

1. The Committee gave their commitment to the Council signing the voluntary ’Dying to Work’ Charter and;
2. APPROVED the amendment to the Sickness Absence Policy as identified in paragraph 4.3

To receive Report No. 5/2018 from the Director for Resources.

Report No. 5/2018 was received from the Head of Human Resources with a presentation delivered by the Chief Executive.  The purpose of the report was to inform the Committee of the outcome of the Employee Engagement Survey 2017 and comparisons to the 2015 survey.

During discussion the following points were noted:

a)    The committee received a presentation from Mrs Briggs on the results of the survey, comparisons to the 2015 survey and the Council’s response to the results and specific programmes of work and actions to be followed.

b)    The Council undertook a staff survey in 2015, the survey was re-run in 2017 using the same company and asking the same questions giving comparable results. The 2017 survey enabled to not only obtain current views and feelings of staff, but also to compare them to 2015 and understand where the actions put in place in 2015 have been successful.

c)    In 2015 a number of staff groups were set up to work against some of the weaker points that came through on the staff feedback, those included looking at staff health and wellbeing and communication.

d)    The biggest change (up 37%) was communication. Since the 2015 staff feedback the one council briefing’s had been improved and tv screens scrolling direct communications to staff had been installed around the building.

e)    Mr Oxley questioned whether staff retention especially in the People’s Directorate had improved. Ms Snell advised staff turnover had levelled compared to 5 years ago with less use of agency and interim staff.

f)     Mr Walters asked if there were any disparities within departments or pockets of less happy people. Mrs Briggs advised the responses were in the main consistent across the organisation although there were some service areas with pockets of less happy people.   The organisation is constantly changing and at the time of the survey, changes within the Places Directorate were happening along with the Business Support Review and that it is likely these had been reflected in some of the comments that came from the survey.

RESOLVED

1. That the Committee NOTED the results of the Employee Engagement Survey 2017 and;
2. NOTED the proposed actions/direction of travel.

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted under Procedure Rule 97.

No notices of motion were received.

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

Items to be included on the agenda for the next meeting of the Committee include:

·      Gender Pay Gap Report

·      Annual Report of the Employment & Appeals Committee