Council and councillors

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.         To approve the Relocation Scheme Policy subject to amendments being made by the Head of Human Resources to provide greater clarity to the content and correct any grammatical errors;

2.         To approve the Social Media Policy subject to amendments being made by the Head of Human Resources to provide greater clarity to the content and correct any grammatical errors;

3.         To request that the Head of Human Resources circulates the amendments to Members of the committee; and

4.       To review the Social Media Policy in 12 months’ time.