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 17 March 2015, previously circulated.

The Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 17^th March 2015, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

 Comments received relating to the previous minutes included:

849.i          The wording ‘not normally’ was taken from the Leicestershire Pensions policy. The Head of Human Resources will verify this with Leicestershire;

The Head of Human Resources verbally confirmed what the wording ‘not normally’ referred to when read in conjunction with the policy and the policy is clear that the Council does not award enhancements.

849.ii         7.2 (page 29) – Members expressed their disappointment that the Living Wage was not adopted by Rutland County Council (RCC). The Head of Human Resources stated that this would not have a significant effect on RCC but could be re-visited in the future;

Given the recent announcement and proposal regarding a New Living Wage, the panel rescinded this request.   Developments in this area will be discussed at Cabinet and any changes to the Council’s Pay policy would be referred back to this committee.

849.v       5 (page 40) – The Head of Human Resources provided the panel with a brief update on the staff survey results. Members requested the Staff Survey be added to the agenda for the next Employment and Appeals meeting;

The Head of Human Resources gave a brief overview of the staff survey outcome and actions taken from the survey results.

The Head of Human Resources will confirm with the Chief Executive and the Director for Resources how they wish the staff survey results to be shared with members.

Members request this item appears on the next meeting agenda for more detailed results and update on progress.

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, deputations or questions from members of the public had been received.

To receive Report No 123/2015 from the Director of Resources.

Report No 123/2015 from the Director for Resources was received the purpose of which was for the committee to consider and approve the Relocation Scheme Policy and consider and approve the Social Media Policy.

The Head of Human Resources confirmed both policies had been discussed with trade unions before being brought to the meeting.

During the discussion the following points were noted concerning the Policy on Relocation for Newly Appointed Employees:

                     i.        Appendix A 1.1.2 (page 4 of 8)

The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording to clarify whether employees could claim the full relocation amount if an owner occupied property and half the amount if a rented property.

                    ii.        Appendix A 5.1 (page 5 of 8)

The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording to clarify the consequences of full claims made by two employees living together and how this would be monitored.

                   iii.        Appendix A 6.1.1 & 6.1.2 (page 5 of 8)

The Head of Human Resources to amend the policy wording to show ‘potential employee and partner’.

                   iv.        Appendix A 1.1.4 (page 4 of 8)

The Head of Human Resources advised that the start of the paragraph stated that any financial assistance was ‘at the Chief Executives discretion’ and therefore no grievances could be raised under this scheme but further clarity could be provided in the wording.

                    v.        Appendix A 9.1.2 (page 7 of 8)

The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording to clarify that the Chief Executive would determine to waive repayment.

The Chairman asked The Head of Human Resources to amend the policy wording and circulate the new wording via email to the members.

During the discussion the following points were noted concerning the Social Media Policy:

i.       The Head of Human Resources confirmed that notice of approval of the policy would be delivered via the One Council newsletter, all staff email, managers briefing, and team meetings, they would also look at developing a mandatory E learning package, mainly Question and Answers to check the individual’s understanding of the policy.

ii.       Appendix B 1.1 (page 5) 2^nd paragraph.

          The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording to show ‘out of hours’ instead of ‘out of work’ and make any relevant grammatical changes.

iii.      Appendix B 3.1.3 (page 7)

The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording so that the second and eleventh bullet points merge together.

iv.      Appendix B 2.0 (page 6) 2^nd paragraph.

          The Head of Human Resources agreed to provide further clarity to the policy wording regarding the definition of contractors.

v.       Appendix B 3.1 & 3.2 (pages 6-7).

          The Head of Human Resources agreed to review the layout of the policy.

vi.      Appendix B 4.0 (page 10) 3^rd bullet point.

          The Head of Human Resources agreed to amend the policy wording to clarify how the word ‘inappropriate’ may be interpreted.  Reference was also made to paragraph 3.1.1 which refers to employee responsibilities.

RESOLVED

1.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118.

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

None