Agenda item

Report of Unison

The Forum received a report from Unison, together with the management response, on issues arising from changes to the Council’s redundancy scheme due for implementation on 1 April 2014, and the consistent application of redundancy procedures to employees at all grades.

The Vice-Chair introduced the Unison report, and reiterated the request that section 7.3.2 (Redundancy Payments) of the Collective Agreement be suspended and re-negotiated.  He cited examples which he believed demonstrated inconsistency in how redundancy procedures were being applied across staff grades, with apparent preferential treatment being given to staff on senior grades.  He added that his members had little faith in the redeployment process, and reminded the Forum of the Council’s written commitment to fairness for all staff. 

He stated that restructures in the Residential Day Service and Meals on Wheels Service had been agreed in 2013, and many lower grade staff would be losing their jobs but would receive less in redundancy payments as implementation had been delayed until after 1 April 2014.

The Divisional Director, HR and Shared Services, stated that while redundancy was a corporate matter, an organisational restructure affecting staff was a matter for departmental directorates to determine.  Prior to the introduction of the Collective Agreement, it had been obvious that redundancies would occur both before and after, and that, inevitably, staff would be treated differently according to when a redundancy took place.  In respect of voluntary redundancy, staff at risk were given the necessary information to make an informed decision, but ultimately agreement was at the discretion of the Council.  He did not consider that Unison’s case provided valid grounds for varying the Collective Agreement, but did acknowledge that support for redeployment might not be consistent across all Council departments.  Over 50% of those at risk of redundancy had been redeployed in 2012/13, which was a considerable achievement, but it should be recognised that lower grade staff often had fewer transferable skills, and were therefore more difficult to place.

He advised the Forum that agency staff were used to fill a number of vacant posts until decisions were made about budgets and staffing levels.

Members considered whether the application of redundancy procedures was consistent across the Council, and whether it was advisable or desirable to vary any part of the Collective Agreement.  They agreed that the agreement should not be re-visited, either wholly or in part, but were concerned that staff should be treated fairly and consistently across the organisation, and suggested that individual cases could be looked at to establish whether disadvantage had occurred.

The Chair stated that as a formal request had been received from the Employees’ Side, the matter should be put to the vote.  He reminded Members that, in order for a recommendation to be made to Cabinet, a majority of elected members would have to agree the motion.

The Chair read out the Employees’ Side statement, namely:

“Unison formally requests that, in accordance with section 6 (Variations to this Agreement), paragraphs 3 and 4 are suspended immediately, and re?negotiated until such time that no staff are disadvantaged or are treated unfavourably within redundancy and change processes.

This was put to the vote, and it was

RESOLVED:   That the motion be not carried, and that no recommendation be made to Cabinet to suspend any part of the Collective Agreement.

Members then discussed how best to convey their concerns that staff should be treated fairly and consistently, and in line with Equalities requirements, within redundancy and change procedures, and it was

RESOLVED:  To note that the Forum believes that procedures should be applied consistently across the organisation at all grades, and that Corporate Directors should be mindful of the potential impact that changes to the redundancy scheme after 1 April 2014 may have on staff, given the Council’s duty of care to its employees.