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 item

HR POLICIES

To receive Report No.27/2020 from the Strategic Director for Resources.

Minutes:

Report No.27/2020 was received from the Strategic Director for Resources. Carol Snell, Head of Human Resources introduced the report the purpose of which was to seek approval for updated Standby and Relocation Policies – primarily to reflect uplift in rates.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

Standby Policy

 

·         The standby policy was for staff who were on call over the weekend or when the offices were closed. RCC did not have a large number of staff on call but for those who were, it was appropriate that they should be properly and fairly compensated.

·         A significant overhaul of the Standby Policy had been carried out in 2016 and it continued to meet operational needs. The paper before the Committee was not to alter the policy but to review rates, with a proposal to raise them by 10%. Based on the number of staff on standby, the uplift was not a financial pressure.

·         Members agreed with a proposal put forward by the Chair that the rates should be adjusted annually and linked to the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Officers’ pay award.

·         Councillor Waller queried whether administrative costs would be too high to review annually but was reassured that it would not be a complex process to adjust rates or benchmark against other local councils.

·         Adult Social Care staff were not included in this standby policy as they remained aligned to the rate within the NJC Green Book and in line with most other Councils’ practice.

·         Standby was written into employees’ contracts if they were required to be on standby.

 

RESOLVED:

The Employment and Appeals Committee considered and APPROVED the updated Standby Policy subject to

 

i.      the pay rates being reviewed on an annual basis and

ii.    the Policy being bought back to the committee every three years

 

 

Relocation Policy

 

·           The relocation policy had been aligned with HMRC thresholds for Tax and National Insurance recommendations.

·           Although it was not a policy that was drawn on a great deal it was important that the Relocation Policy was reviewed and kept up to date especially as the Council was currently recruiting for its Chief Executive position.

·           In line with HMRC rates the maximum contribution that could be given was now £8000 which was below the threshold for tax and national insurance. 

·           The scheme did not apply to all positions and was only offered where it was considered essential to secure an appointment.

·           The decision to award a relocation grant would be made by a senior manager and the Head of HR and in the case of the Chief Executive position would be delegated upwards and made in conjunction with the Executive.

·           Councillor Harvey queried the discrepancy between the allowances given for buying a property and for those renting a property. The cap of £4000 for those renting seemed quite low once you took into account removal costs, lodging whilst looking for a property, and upfront rental fees.

·           Miss Snell, Head of Human Resources, clarified that the sum was a contribution towards costs and was not intended to cover total costs. The larger figure for those buying a property was to go towards stamp duty.

·           Councillor A Brown felt that it was inappropriate that the Council was, in effect, using taxpayers money to pay a tax ie. stamp duty.

·           Although the relocation allowance could be spent on stamp duty the Policy did not implicitly state this.

·           Councillor Ainsley felt that is was inappropriate to be discriminating between a renter and an owner occupier, especially as prices in Rutland were high and it was expensive to buy a property.

·           Miss Snell advised Members that she would do some research on the owner/renter issue and report back to the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:

The Employment and Appeals Committee considered the updated Relocation Policy and RECOMMENDED that it should come back to the Committee following further research by the Head of Human Resources into the differing rates offered to those renting a property compared to those buying a property.

 

Supporting documents: