Minutes:
The Human Resources & OD Manager introduced the discussion and gave some reassurance of the arrangements that had been put in place during the last few months to accommodate the different circumstances and scenarios that the pandemic had created, as well as to receive any feedback on those arrangements. She noted that it had been challenging to keep on top of the government guidance which changed very quickly and to respond to the situations the staff and services were experiencing. She said overall there had been very positive feedback from managers and staff members. She highlighted that the workplace measures that had been introduced in March (and updated in June, July and August) had initially been for the short term but now officers were looking at reviewing these to make sure they were suitable for the medium to longer term and that they worked on a practical basis. She also noted that all staff had been offered vouchers to have a flu jab, to help with wellbeing and attendance at work.
Union Representative, Kevin Shillitto thanked officers for all that had been done the past few months to support staff and noted that it had been really positive and well received, and that he was grateful that he had clear reasons and explanations to share with his members. He raised a number of issues, including that there had been two surveys on homeworking, the outcomes of which had not been shared with staff; that greater guidance was needed in terms of holding informal/team meetings as there was inconsistency about how these were being managed, and finally the lack of clarity on annual leave for those who had been through periods away from work or self-isolating.
In relation to the effects on annual leave, the Head of Paid Service acknowledged that it had been a difficult situation to manage and any impacts on annual leave were currently on hold until the varying factors could be balanced. He noted that the intention was that when people were choosing to be at home for prolonged periods then that would be offset by a reduced period of annual leave but that this had yet to be refined. He confirmed that communications had been sent out to staff the previous day.
In relation to the homeworking surveys, theHuman Resources & OD Manager noted that the results of the initial survey regarding employee set up and display screen equipment had been shared with managers who had been asked to discuss this with employees and that she would send out a message to managers to remind them that this conversation should have taken place. The second survey was part of the recovery work plan and was to establish how productive employees had been and any issues they may have had and the results of that survey would be fed into the Homeworking sub-group. Officers noted that they would send out best practice guidance on the format for informal meetings.
The Head of Paid Service extended an offer to the union representatives to join another sub-group which was looking at improvements to the Job Evaluation Scheme (including addressing concerns and issues), and confirmed that Members would also be involved with this process.