Minute of Meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee for Local Government Employees dated 21 March 2023
North Lanarkshire Council · 24 May 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 24 May 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 21 MARCH 2023 1 21 March 2023 at 2 pm. A Meeting of the JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PRESENT Councillor Boyd, Vice-Convener; Councillors Ballinger, Currie, Duffy, Jarvie, Logue, and Smith. M. Quigley, Unison, Convener; A. Clark and W. Shearer, Unison; D. Whelan, GMB and J. Rooney, Unite (T & G). CHAIR M. Quigley (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE The Chief Officer (People Resources); Development Officer (Equalities); Employment and Policy Officer and Principal Democratic Officer. ALSO IN ATTENDANCE J. Baxter, Unison and B. Rankin, GMB. APOLOGIES Councillors Barclay, Brannan-McVey, M. Coyle and MacGregor; J. Hannigan, Unison, and V. Thomson, Unite (T & G). DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN TERMS OF THE ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 1. There were no declarations of interest. ELECTION OF CONVENER AND VICE-CONVENER 2. In terms of the Constitution of the Joint Consultative Committee for Local Government Employees, nominations were sought for the Convener and Vice-Convener of the Committee. Decided: that Marie Quigley, Unison, be elected Convener, and Councillor Boyd be elected Vice-Convener of the Joint Consultative Committee for Local Government Employees for a 12 month period. NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL FAIR WORK FIRST STATEMENT 3. There was submitted a report by the Chief Officer (People Resources) (1) providing details of the contents of the Council's Fair Work First Statement, which required to be published in 2023 to enable
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 21 MARCH 2023 2 the Council to access future Scottish Government grants; (2) setting out the action taken by the Council to ensure that it meets the Fair Work First criteria; (3) advising that the Council was encouraging Fair Work practices across the North Lanarkshire business community via the North Lanarkshire Employer Charter, and (4) seeking endorsement of the Council’s Fair Work First Statement from the Joint Trade Unions. Decided: (1) that the Council's Fair Work First Statement be endorsed by the Joint Trade Unions; (2) that the Council's Fair Work First Statement be published on the Council's website, and (3) that the report be otherwise noted. ADVANCING RACE EQUALITY IN THE COUNCIL'S WORKFORCE 4. With reference to paragraph 21 of the Minute of the meeting of North Lanarkshire Council held on 13 August 2020, when inter alia, approval had been given to establish a cross party working group to look at how the Council and its partners could work to ensure that all residents were able to live their lives free from racism or discrimination of any form, there was submitted a report by the Chief Officer (People Resources) (1) providing details of the ongoing work and plans to advance race equality within the workforce; (2) detailing, within the report, the outcome of (a) an employment information gathering exercise which took place in 2021, and (b) the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employee survey; (3) intimating that the information gathered in the Advancing Race Equality and Workforce Action Plan set out a clear path for the advancement of equality for BAME employees in the work place; (4) setting out details of (a) the BAME Probationer Teacher Project; (b) the review of information on Myjobscotland and on the Council's website, and (c) the Plan for Change in the teaching workforce; (5) advising that the Action Plan for Advancing Equality in the Workforce, which had been the subject of a consultation with the Council's BAME employees, would continue to be monitored by the same group of employees and would also be reviewed by the Council’s Equality Board, and (6) informing that the Action Plan would be subject to an annual report to the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee. Decided: that the report be noted. EMPLOYMENT POLICY ISSUES - DISCIPLINE POLICY AND SMARTER WORKING POLICY 5. With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of the meeting of this Committee held on 26 October, there was submitted a report by the Chief Officer (People Resources) (1) highlighting measures set out to address issues previously raised by Trade Union representatives, with regard to (a) the Smarter Working Policy, and (b) the length of time that disciplinary investigations were taking to conclude; (2) outlining the background to the Smarter Working Policy including the appeals process; (3) intimating that there was a perception that some Services were not applying the Smarter Working Policy fairly and consistently; (4) advising (a) that, in respect of the Discipline Policy, every effort was being made to ensure that investigations were carried out timeously, but certain factors could prevent this including the availability of investigating officers, unforeseen sickness absence, annual leave of those involved and the accessibility of witnesses and Trade Unions representatives, and (b) that the Council would continue to work with Trade Union representatives to address these issues; (5) indicating that Trade Union representatives had asked that employees be supported throughout the period of their suspension and provided with regular updates on the progress of the investigation, and (6) informing that the Council would be reviewing the Discipline Policy and that the Trade Unions would be invited to be part of the review process.
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 21 MARCH 2023 3 Decided: that the report be noted.