Issue - meetings

The Committee will consider the shared service Employment Protocols developed jointly with the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the unions to provide a framework for managing the employment issues that will arise from providing services jointly by two or more  London boroughs.

 Attached to the report, for ease of reference, are the Employeeside  comments  on the  Shared services report . Legal services have responded to the points raised about the secondment agreements and these are also attached  to this paper.

The committee were asked to consider the set of shared service Employment protocols developed jointly with the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the unions to provide a framework for managing the employment issues that will arise from providing services jointly by two or more London boroughs.

Sean Fox, Employeeside Secretary, addressed the meeting and explained that the dialogue between the council and the unions about the employment protocols had been helpful and constructive. There were concerns about the proposed secondment agreement by the unions and these were detailed at appendix D (page 187-189 of the report pack). In summary these were:

• The language and format of the secondment agreement which would not be accessible to a majority of employees.

• The length of the secondment agreement of 10 months as often arrangements would last longer than this period. The union’s proposed their involvement in deciding future arrangements once the secondment period was nearing completion.

• If there was a termination of the secondment agreement, concern about the safeguards in place for the post holders i.e. if they cannot return to their original post because it had been deleted.

• That if there were a change from service to service provider an options appraisal should be completed and agreement to this sought from the Corporate Committee.

The Assistant Chief Executive responded to the concerns raised and agreed that they would be considered and taken forward by Human Resources.  Although a legally compiled document maybe required   for signing by the employee when agreeing to the secondment arrangement,   this did not preclude attaching an additional document for the employee to read which set out in plain English its terms and implications.

In relation to the concern raised about the timescales around the secondment agreement, it was expected that over time and as the number of shared service agreements increased the council would inevitably consider the model for employing staff in a shared service. Therefore this was an evolving area subject to change.  In terms of recent secondment agreements which were expected to last 12 months or more the ACE agreed to consider these cases, seek legal advice and complete a risk assessment on their current position.

Although the secondment agreement was an industry standard document, the committee commented that this should not preclude it from being understandable and more openly written.

RESOLVED

1. That the attached Employment Protocols framework included at appendix A be approved.

2. That the framework and operating principles be agreed by all parties.

3. That the Head of Human Resources be delegated  authority to  make any further changes to the terms of the secondment agreement template following discussion with Legal and union colleagues from both boroughs.

4. That the points of concern made by the Employeeside Secretary and members of the committee be taken into account by the Head of HR when finalising the secondment agreement and that the committee receive a progress report on this at a later meeting.