1. To submit the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) in response to a request from the Plaid Cymru Group to convene an Extraordinary County Council meeting to consider the impact of implementing Single Status and Equal Pay on some staff.
2. To submit the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) on legal issues in relation to Job Evaluation and Equal Pay implementation together with an advice note from our Legal Representatives.
Minutes:
· Submitted – the report of the Head of Profession – Human Resources in response to a request from the Plaid Cymru Group to convene an Extraordinary County Council meeting to consider the impact of implementing Single Status and Equal Pay on some staff.
The Chief Executive highlighted the main issue contained within the report to the Members of the County Council and the recommendations of the full County Council held on 14th May, 2015.
The Head of Profession – Human Resources gave an in-depth presentation to the County Council on Single Status and Equal Pay.
The Leader of the Plaid Cymru Group explained the reason why the Plaid Cymru Group had requested an Extraordinary Meeting of the County Council and the impact of the job evaluation process on staff.
Members were afforded a questions and answer session.
It was RESOLVED to accept the report.
• Submitted – the report of the Head of Profession – Human Resources on the legal issues in relation to Job Evaluation and Equal Pay implementation. An Advice Note by the County Council’s legal representatives was attached to the report.
The Chair invited Mrs. Kim Howells and Mrs. Lowri Phillips from Geldards LLP to the meeting. Mrs. Howells gave a comprehensive presentation to the County Council in respect of the implementation strategy in relation to the Single Status programme.
Following a question and answer session it was RESOLVED to :-
• That the Council takes the steps of proposing to compulsorily extend the application of the new Single Status terms and conditions and pay and grading structure to all employees who have not, as at the date of issuing the s.188 letter, agreed voluntarily to the changes, by terminating their existing contracts of employment and offering re-engagement on the new Single Status terms and conditions, provided that for any school-based staff this is limited to schools where the Governing Body has resolved to adopt the Single Status proposals;
• That the draft s.188 letter be finalised by the Implementation Team and issued to the three recognised Trade Unions as soon as possible confirming the commencement of the collective consultation period;
• That the Implementation Team continue to negotiate with any Governing Bodies who have not yet resolved to adopt the Single Status proposal with a view to encouraging them to adopt the proposals;
• That the Implementation Team be required to continue dialogue with the three Trade unions with a view to reaching agreement with the appropriate representatives on ways of :-
• avoiding the dismissals;
• reducing the number of employees to be dismissed; and
• mitigating the consequences of the dismissals.
• That the Implementation Team continues to make efforts to encourage affected employees to agree to the Single Status terms, on the same voluntary terms as approved previously by Council, in order to minimise the number of staff who may ultimately be provided with notice of dismissal;
• That the Chief Executive or his delegated representative be given delegated responsibility for managing any dismissal and re-engagement process including but not limited to determining whether and when any notices of dismissal should be served and whether or not any dismissal process should be carried out at the same time or on a phased basis;
• That the Pay and Grading Committee supports any additional capacity requirements for HR and Payroll for the period of implementation to ensure completion of the task without impact on other priorities;
• That Single Status be implemented as soon as is reasonably practicable following the appropriate collective consultation period. However, it is recognised that for employees where notice of dismissal will need to be served Single Status will not be implemented until February/March 2016 at the earlies. This is because the statutory collective consultation period requires a minimum of 45 days consultation and the notice period required to be served for dismissal purposes is 12 weeks. In addition, a dismissal process will need to be followed for School based staff;
• That the Chief Executive or his delegated representative be given delegated responsibility to determine whether Single Status should be implemented on one date across the Authority or at different dates, for example whether an earlier date be used for employees who have accepted the Single Status terms and conditions voluntarily and therefore do not require notice of dismissal to be served upon them.
Councillor Jeff Evans wished it to be recorded that he voted against acceptance of the above recommendation.
Councillor Nicola Roberts wished it to be recorded that she abstained from voting in respect of the above recommendation.