Issue - meetings

To receive a report providing an update on the 2022 National Pay Award, seeking approval on the introduction of a new Recruitment and Retention allowance and to seek approval to amend the Council’s Sickness Absence policy where an employee is injured while on duty.

The Employment in Hampshire County Council (EHCC) Committee considered a report of the Director of HR, Organisational Development and Communications & Engagement regarding a Pay, Policy and Legislation Update.

It was noted that this report provided an overview of three areas. These were the progress of the 2022 National Pay Award, the introduction of a Recruitment and Retention allowance and an amendment to the Council’s Sickness Absence policy to reflect current practice in relation to employees injured while on duty.

Officer’s set out the significant challenges in recruiting and retaining members of staff in several of the Council’s core service areas alongside the proposed policy to address this issue. It was noted that any payment would be a small percentage of the individual’s salary and would require Director agreement.

Members heard that when sickness absence arises as a result of an accident at work, the existing terms and conditions provided for sick pay separate to an employee’s normal sickness pay. The current methodology has been in place for a number of years, however it has not been formally recorded in a policy, which this report sought to rectify.

In response to questions members found that:

·         Hampshire employees already received more leave than the National Pay Award was proposing and so this would not lead to an increase in allocation for staff.

·         Salaries in all areas are continuously reviewed to ensure they are broadly in line with the market.

·         Any recruitment or retention payment would be a one off payment, applicable to an individual or group of roles for a fixed period. A minimum period of employment would be required ahead of payment.

·         There was evidence of the effectiveness of recruitment and retention payments from other sectors as well as from the authority’s Children’s Services department which had already used them to a degree. Their effectiveness would also be reported on through the Annual Workforce Report.

·         Coronavirus would not qualify as ‘Industrial Sickness’ as it was not possible to confirm where it had been contracted from.

RESOLVED:

·         That EHCC note the current position on the National Pay Award for 2022.

·         That EHCC agree to amend the Council’s salary policy to include the provision to pay a Recruitment and Retention allowance to new or existing employees where appropriate to do so.

·         It is further recommended that EHCC delegates, to the Director of Human Resources, Organisational Development and Communications and Engagement, the authority to make any final amendments to the salary policy wording prior to its implementation following the conclusion of the consultation with Trade Union representatives and departmental management teams.

·         That EHCC approve the proposed Sickness Absence policy amendments in Appendix 2. This means the current arrangements for payments to employees that are injured on duty will continue.