Minute
North Lanarkshire Council · 26 October 2022
Back to Joint Consultative Committee for Local Government Employees — 26 October 2022 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 - 26 OCTOBER 2022 24 26 October 2022 at 10 am. A Meeting of the JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PRESENT Councillor Boyd, Convener; Provost Duffy; Councillors Ballinger, Barclay, Currie and Jarvie. M. Quigley, Vice-Convener, Unison; A. Clark, J. Hannigan, W. Shearer, D. Watson, J. Watson, A. Whisker; D. Whelan and L. Stewart, GMB, and J. Rooney and V. Thomson, Unite (T & G). CHAIR Councillor Boyd (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE The Head of People and Organisational Development; HR Business Partnership Manager; Employee Service Centre Manager; Occupational Safety and Wellbeing Manager; Senior Employee Relations Advisor, and Committee Officer. APOLOGIES Councillors Brannan-McVey, M. Coyle, Logue, MacGregor, McDade and Thomas; B. Rankin and H. Smith, GMB, and J. Baxter and G. Bryson, Unison. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN TERMS OF THE ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 1. There were no declarations of interest. END OF YEAR ABSENCE STATISTICS 2021-22 2. There was submitted a report by the Head of People and Organisational Development (1) providing details of (a) the Council’s end of year absence position for 2021/22, excluding Covid-19 related absences, which were reported separately, and (b) Quarter 1 2022/23 – April to June 2022, and (2) detailing within the report, a summary of information and analysis regarding the year end outturn position at 2021/22; FTE days lost monthly performance and year end; top reasons for absence during 2021/22; Covid-19 sickness absence at year end 2021/22; year-to-date absence as at Quarter 1; FTE absence days lost as at Quarter 1, and actions taken to reduce sickness absence and improve health and wellbeing. Thereon, John Watson, Unison, intimated that a BBC Scotland report had advised that the uptake of the Covid and Flu booster from NHS and Social Care staff was very low, and currently stood at 18%, and enquired whether it would be possible to administer boosters in the workplace. The Senior Employee Relations Adviser advised that there was no capacity for the Council's occupational health provider to administer the boosters. The Head of People and Organisational Development intimated that she would raise the matter with Ross McGuffie, Chief Accountable Officer, Health and Social Care, and provide an update to the Trade
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 26 OCTOBER 2022 25 Union representatives. Victoria Thompson, Unite, (T & G) requested communication to school staff, particularly non-education staff, and asked if this could be done on an individual basis. The Head of People and Organisational Development intimated that future communications to schools would be in the form of All User e-mails, and, where applicable, information posters would be sent to each establishment. John Watson, Unison, advised that the Trade Union representatives would be happy to assist with the dissemination of this information. Donna Watson, Unison enquired whether the high absence statistics within the Enterprise and Communities Service were linked to hybrid working and smarter working applications. The Senior Employee Relations Adviser intimated that Employee Relations staff were currently looking at the data and once this had been completed, the Trade Union representatives would be notified accordingly. Decided: (1) that the sickness absence information for the year 2021/22, and for Quarter 1 2022/23 be noted; (2) that the Head of People and Organisational Development contact Ross McGuffie, Chief Accountable Officer, Health and Social Care to ascertain whether it would be possible to administer Covid and Flu boosters in the workplace; (3) that future communications to schools would be in the form of All User e-mails and, where applicable, information posters would be sent to each establishment, and (4) that the report be otherwise noted. COST OF LIVING CRISIS 3. With reference to paragraph 5 of the reconvened Policy and Strategy Committee held on 4 October 2022 when, inter alia, approval had been given (1) to increase the number of work locations available to all Council staff, and (2) for Council staff on the frontline, for these work locations to provide warm places for their break. The Employee Service Centre Manager advised that this support to Council staff would be introduced from 1 November 2022, and that there would be an interactive Google searchable map which would highlight the locations and the facilities, with some facilities having the provision of free tea and coffee. John Watson, Unison, advised there was an increasing number of employees with rent arrears and financial issues, and requested that the Financial Inclusion Team re-introduce face to face consultations. The Employee Service Centre Manager intimated that the Financial Inclusion Team currently undertook face to face consultations in various locations across the Council area. John Watson, Unison, enquired whether it would be possible for the Council to provide one hot meal to every school child per day. The Head of People and Organisational Development intimated that she would raise this matter with the Education Service, and an update would be provided to the Trade Union representatives.
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 26 OCTOBER 2022 26 Decided: (1) that the Head of People and Organisational Development would ascertain from the Education Service whether it would be possible for the Council to provide one hot meal to every school child per day, and an update on the discussion would be provided to the Trade Union representatives in due course, and (2) that the update be noted. EMPLOYEE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING UPDATE 4. There was submitted a report by the Head of People and Organisational Development (1) informing on proposals to further progress the Council’s Mental Health Strategy; (2) advising that it was the Council's intention to create (a) Service based groups to lead on mental health, and (b) a Council based group to progress the Council plans for mental health, and (3) highlighting within the report an up-to-date picture on activity being carried out on Employee Wellbeing. John Watson, Unison, enquired whether the high levels of absences in the Early Years Service were linked to work related stress, and as a result, leading to staff shortages. The Senior Employee Relations Adviser intimated that (1) discussions were ongoing with the Early Years Service and it was recognised that the model was still being integrated, and (2) there were retention issues with that particular service, and the Employee Relations Team would be providing support to Senior Managers where required. Thereon, Victoria Thompson, Unite (T & G) praised the positive recognition of the World Menopause Day, and requested that future events be extended to other locations across the Council area to enable more staff to attend. Decided: (1) that it was the intention to create (a) Service based groups to lead on mental health, and (b) a Council based group to progress the Council plans for Mental Health; (2) that options be explored to extend events linked to the World Menopause Day to other locations across the Council area to enable more staff to attend, and (3) that the report be otherwise noted. DISCIPLINARY, GRIEVANCE AND SUPPORTING ATTENDANCE POLICIES 5. The Senior Employee Relations Manager provided an overview and an update in respect of the Disciplinary, Grievance and Supporting Attendance policies and advised that (1) the Supporting Attendance Policy had been updated to include early intervention measures to ensure a tool kit, which included sample letters allowed a consistency of approach, and (2) Trade Union representatives had requested that bereavement leave and industrial injuries would not count towards the points trigger contained in the policy, and that it was her intention to discuss the request with Trade Union representatives in the coming weeks. The Senior Employee Relations Adviser acknowledged, in respect of the Disciplinary and Grievance policies, that there had been protracted delays with some investigations, which was due to a number of factors, including staffing issues, and the availability of Managers to undertake investigations. Donna Watson, Unison, advised that a number of cases could, and should, be dealt with in-house, which was acknowledged.
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JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - 26 OCTOBER 2022 27 John Watson, Unison, intimated that protracted investigations had an impact on Social Work staff and as the Scottish Social Services Council carried out an investigation at the same time, he requested that in circumstances where an employee was suspended that this be reviewed, and that for all disciplinary and grievance meetings, employees be offered face to face meetings. The Senior Employee Relations Adviser agreed employees were offered face to face meetings in relation to disciplinary and grievance matters, and whilst the Employee Relations Team did not encourage the suspension of staff, this was at the discretion of each individual Service. She also advised that at the first investigation meeting, all Managers were encouraged to discuss and review the nature of the suspension whilst the investigation was ongoing. Willie Shearer, Unison suggested that it should be mandatory to review the suspension at the first interview stage, and that this discussion should also involve the Trade Union representatives, the Senior Employee Relations Adviser agreed that this would be looked at as part of the review. Decided: that the update be noted. I-TRENT OUTAGE 6. The Employee Service Centre Manager intimated that there had been a significant outage of the iTrent system on Friday, 11 September 2022 for a 36 hour period, and that there had been no access for Council staff during this period. She advised that in terms of contingency planning, staff had worked over that weekend to make sure that processes were in place to ensure that the payruns were on time. She further advised that the iTrent provider, Midland HR had carried out a review of the outage and were taking steps to mitigate further outages. Marie Quigley, Vice-Convener, enquired whether the iTrent system provided the Council with value for money. The Employee Service Centre Manager intimated that in terms of its functionality, the iTrent system did provide the Council with value for money. The Head of People and Organisational Development advised it was the intention to provide the Trade Union representatives with a copy of the report submitted to the Corporate Management Team on the Service Now system enhancements. Decided: (1) that Trade Union representatives would be provided with a copy of the report submitted to the Corporate Management Team on the Service Now system enhancements, and (2) that the update be noted.