Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business to be considered at the meeting.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 17^th September 2020.

Moved by Chris McKinney and seconded by Councillor Mary Dolley          

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of the Union / Employee Consultation Committee held on 17^th September 2020 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Human Resources & OD Manager presented the Sickness Absence Report for Quarter 3 (October 2020 – December 2020) and advised that the average number of days lost per employee in this quarter was 1.14. This resulted in the projected outturn figure for the average number of days lost per employee to be 5.32 days for the full year.

Table four in the report detailed the top three service areas per quarter for absence and table five detailed the service areas with the lowest sickness absence for the quarter in comparison to previous years. The main three reasons for absence were shown in table six with Covid-19 symptoms being the third most common reason having not made the top three in previous quarters.

Quarter three is the lowest quarter for sickness absence reported over the last 4 financial years, possible factors for the reduction in average days lost could be the increased capacity and availability for employees to work from home and also limited interaction with others both inside and out of work due to lockdown and associated restrictions.

Members noted that it had been a particularly challenging time for employees yet they had risen to all challenges thrown at them and continued to work effectively and keep all essential services operating.

A question was raised surrounding the take up of the mental health awareness training. The HR and Organisational Development Manager advised that over 100 employees had signed up to attend the training and it would be run quarterly for any new starters and as a refresher for any other employees who wished to attend.

Due to the lockdown restrictions there was limited social interaction between staff so frequent team meetings and 121’s were essential to check in on employees and address any concerns with managers / senior members of the team.

Moved by Councillor Maxine Dixon and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The HR and Organisational Development Manager presented the Gender Pay Gap report for 2019/20. It was noted that the gender pay gap does not indicate any pay equity issue or an imbalance in the Council’s pay structures and policies it only looks at the average earnings between male and females.

Table four of the report illustrated the proportion of men and women in the four different quartile bands and the key trends show that the Council has a higher proportion of men in the upper pay quartile and upper middle pay quartile however, the Council’s pay gap was well below the National Pay Gap average of 15.5%. The report also compared the data with other Local Authorities mean and median hourly rates.

Members discussed the factors that influence the gender pay gap such as women being more likely to take on family responsibilities, career breaks and also stereotypes, culture and societal norms influence the types of roles men and women are attracted to undertake.

A question was raised regarding the number of employees employed by the Council and what the percentage split was between male and female. It was confirmed there was 508 employed staff, 251 male and 257 female so almost a 50% split.

Councillor Tom Kirkham left the meeting.

Members thanked the HR and Organisational Development Manager for the detail and breakdowns included in the report and the way in which employees are supported by the HR team.

The HR and Organisation Development Manager was to work with the Communications team to ensure that all information was up to date on the website and no information was missing.

Moved by Chris McKinney and seconded by Councillor Derek Adams

RESOLVED that the report be noted.