Agenda and minutes

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the previous meeting of the Employment and Appeals Committee held on 11 July 2022.

The minutes of the Employment and Appeals Committee meeting held on 11 July 2022 were confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Human Resources Manager to present to the Employment and Appeals Committee additions and amendments to Human Resource Policies.

The Human Resources Manager and Deputy Monitoring Officer, Jane Collier, submitted a report presenting nine policies and procedures that had been amended.

Jane Collier introduced the report and provided Elected Members with a brief overview of the policies.

Jane Collier updated members that the policy had been amended to remove references to the Covid-19 Pandemic, which were no longer relevant. However, the provision for electronic meetings remained in the policy.

She highlighted that the policy included reference to the conduct of staff wearing a council uniform or lanyard outside of work. In addition, the policy included clarification regarding conduct during live warning periods.

Jane Collier explained that the policy had been reviewed with no updates or amendments.

In addition to the Flexible Retirement Policy and Procedure, this policy had been reviewed with no updates or amendments.

Jane Collier updated members that this policy had been reviewed in July 2022, following this, the unions had requested the ability to claim mileage expense for the use of a bicycle for work activities to be included in the Driving Policy. The policy had been updated to reflect the union’s request.

Following questions from members, Jane reassured members that the policy explained a number of measures staff must observe if they were using a bicycle for business travel. She also explained that full details for every journey must be recorded in the log book.

In response to a question regarding the training of Wyre Borough Council staff on the Highway Code, Jane explained that the updated code was part of driver checks for those who work with council vehicles; however, it was the responsibility of individual staff members to update themselves on the Highway Code.

Jane Collier confirmed that the use of dash cameras on vehicles used for business travel was not a requirement of the council.

Councillor Baxter suggested that the policy might benefit from an inclusion of a definition for the word “vehicles” to include a reference to bicycles, which the committee supported.

Jane Collier updated the committee that there were a number of staff members approaching 50 years of service. Therefore, the policy had been updated to include an award of £150 to recognise this length of service.

In response to a question, Jane explained that the award could be in the form of an appropriate gift or redeemable voucher.

Jane also explained to members that the value of the long service award was set following comparative research of local councils in and around Lancashire.

Jane Collier clarified that the policy had been reviewed and minor amendments were made throughout, including that the European Economic Area (EEA) Countries had been updated to add Croatia.

Councillor Paul Ellison highlighted that there had been a typographical error at 2.1 of the policy as “Hungary” had been spelt incorrectly.

Jane Collier highlighted that there had been minor changes such as updated job titles made throughout this policy.

Jane Collier stated that the policy had received minor amendments. She explained that there had been additions to sections 6.2, 6.4 and 6.5 that covered the recruitment process.

In response to a question, Jane explained that, during the recruitment process, Human Resources were the only officers who had access to monitoring information such as a prospective candidate’s age. She also added that disclosure of a disability occurred if the prospective candidate was shortlisted for an interview. Human Resources would then contact the candidate if they required reasonable adjustments when attending an interview.

Jane Collier updated members that this policy had been amended including additions to section three and the list of professional help in an appendix.

Cllr Paul Ellison questioned whether training regarding domestic abuse was available for managers of the council. Jane explained that there was a domestic abuse module in Learning Pool, the council’s online training portal. She stressed the importance of managers getting to know their staff and making them feel as comfortable as possible to share issues.

In response to a question, Jane added that paid leave was granted for staff attending court as a witness.

The Chair concluded the meeting by thanking Jane for her attendance and contributions.

Following discussions, the committee approved each of the following Human Resources policies and arrangements:

-       Disciplinary Policy and Procedure

-       Flexible Retirement Policy and Procedure

-       Retirement Policy and Procedure

-       Driving Policy

-       Long Service Award

-       Preventing Illegal Working Policy

-       Extended Authorised Absence Policy

-       Equal Opportunities Policy

-       The Domestic Abuse and the Implications in the Workplace Policy