No apologies were received.

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.

To confirm the Minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 10^th October 2023 and receive an update on actions agreed in the minutes of the previous meeting.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meetings held on 10 October 2023.

It was moved by Councillor S Harvey and seconded that the minutes of the 10 October 2023 meeting be approved.

RESOLVED

a)    That the minutes of the meetings held on 10 October 2023 be APPROVED.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 93.

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 had been received.

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

No questions with notice from Members had been received.

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

No notices of motion had been received.

To receive Report No.52/2024 from the Head of Human Resources.

Report No.52/2024 was introduced by Samantha Maher, from East Midlands Councils.

The report explained to Members that the Council had introduced job families as a mechanism to streamline the job evaluation process for jobs graded 1 to PO5.  The report proposed changes to the Council’s Job Evaluation Policy to reflect the current practice and make minor adjustments to the policy as well as improving the wording. 

Members were in agreement with the proposed changes and thought the slimming down of the appeals process was a great idea and all proposed changes were very sensible.

It was proposed by Cllr D Ellison and seconded that the recommendations of Report No.52/2024 be approved. Upon being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Committee:

a)    APPROVED the revised draft Job Evaluation Policy.

To receive Report No.53/2024 from the Head of Human Resources.

Report No.53/2024 was introduced by Samantha Maher, from East Midlands Councils.

The report advised the Committee the Council’s Gender Pay Gap data as of 31 March 2023 and provided some commentary to help understand what it meant for the Council.

The Council was required to submit the data to the Government website and publish it on the Council’s own website.  The Council’s pay levels reflected national pay awards which were effective from 1 April each year.  Therefore, the 31 March 2023 pay data reflected the pay rates from the pay award implemented on 1 April 2022.

The overall data showed that the median hourly rate for females was higher than the median for males as of 31 March 2023 – this was the case in 2022 although the gap was larger. Members believed this was down to the changeover with directors where male directors had left the authority and been replaced by female employees.

RESOLVED

That Committee:

a)    NOTED the Council’s Gender Pay gap data for the reporting period as at 31 March 2023 and the commentary/comparison to the previous reporting periods.

To receive Report No.54/2024 from the Head of Human Resources.

Report No.54/2024 was introduced by Samantha Maher, from East Midlands Councils.

The Council had an Umbrella Leave Policy which set out in one document the different types of leave that was available to employees.  The Policy had also been reviewed to reflect changes in employment legislation and to keep the policy streamlined so that it is not overly lengthy or detailed.  

Members wished for the career break provision to be reinstated to the policy as a recruitment measure to make jobs more attractive at Rutland and to assist with the Council’s recent issues around recruitment. Officers did respond to say that option had never been used within the authority and the Council looked to streamline the policy but understood Members views.

Officers confirmed it wouldn’t be an issue to reintroduce the offer of a career break within the policy but to do so in a simple form.

Members discussed in depth the wording within Section 4 of the policy. After discussions it was agreed for the wording to be reviewed within Section 4 of the policy. This would be delegated through the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Human Resources, Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development and the Strategic Director for Resources.

It was highlighted by Members that within paragraph 9.3 of the policy, there was a drafting error, a list was missing and needed to be inserted for that part of the policy to read correctly. Officers agreed for the missing list to be inserted.

It was proposed by Cllr G Waller that the policy be approved subject to the following changes being delegated through the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Portfolio Holder with responsibility with Human Resources and Strategic Director for Resources:-

-       To reintroduce the offer of a career break within the policy.

-       To insert the missing text within paragraph 9.2 of the policy.

To review the wording around Section 4 within the policy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility with Human Resources, Strategic Director of Resources and Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development.

This was seconded and upon being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

It was proposed by Cllr G Waller and seconded that the updated recommendations of Report No.54/2024 be approved. Upon being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

RESOLVED

That Committee:-

a)    APPROVED the revised policy subject to the following changes:-

-       To reintroduce the offer of a career break within the policy.

-       To insert the missing text within paragraph 9.2 of the policy.

-       To review the wording around Section 4 within the policy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder with responsibility with Human Resources, Strategic Director of Resources and Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development.

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

The Committee requested for a report to come at the last meeting on a piece of work on the level of vacancies and future staff retention within the Council. The Chair requested for it to be brought to Committee as soon as possible. The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development agreed to bring this to the Committee at the earliest opportunity.