States Employment Board: Annual Report 2017

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD: ANNUAL REPORT 2017

Presented to the States on 1st May 2018 by the States Employment Board

STATES GREFFE

2018  R.65

REPORT

1. The Constitution of the Board

1. The  Board from  1st January  2017 until  16th June  2017 consisted  of  the following members –

1. Senator I.J. Gorst , Chief Minister, (Chairman)
2. Senator A.K.F. Green, M.B.E.
3. Senator A.J.H. Maclean
4. Connétable J. Gallichan of St. Mary
5. Connétable M.P.S. Le Troquer of St. Martin

2. With effect from 16th June 2017 in accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005, Deputy A.E. Pryke  of   Trinity  was  appointed  to the  Board.  Senator  A.K.F.  Green  was appointed to succeed Senator I.J. Gorst as Chairman. Senator A.J.H. Maclean was appointed vice-chair.
3. Mrs. Beverley Shears acted as independent adviser to the Board.
4. The States Greffe provides administrative support to the Board.

2. The number of meetings held during the year

2.1  In 2017, there were 33 meetings of the Board. Of these, 5 were conducted by electronic mail.

3. A summary of key matters considered by the Board in 2017

1. Sub-Committee for Organisational Change

1. The Board established a Sub-Committee in 2016 for organisational change recognising the unprecedented level of change occurring within the States of Jersey. This Sub-Committee has met on 2 occasions in 2017 to consider organisational change proposals and to ensure that appropriate support was put in place for affected staff.
2. The  Sub-Committee  membership  comprised  the  current  non- Ministerial members of the Board ( Connétable J. Gallichan, Chair, and Connétable M.P.S. Le Troquer) plus 2 non-Ministerial States Members, Deputies T.A. Vallois and R. Labey , nominated by the Chief Minister.

2. Public Sector Reform and Workforce Modernisation

The Board gave continued attention to the employment considerations arising from  the  Reform  of  the  Public  Sector  and  the  Workforce  Modernisation programme.

1. The  Board  acknowledged  the  continued  engagement  and professionalism of the contribution made by the Trades Unions and Staff  Associations  with  regard  to  the  Workforce  Modernisation programme. They were appreciative of the way in which they worked constructively  with  the  Employer.  The  Board  acknowledged  the progress made through partnership working established through the Collective Bargaining Framework, and the Joint Council for Public Sector Unions and Associations.
2. The  Board  received  regular  update  reports  regarding  Workforce Modernisation including proposals for both the Executive Workforce and  the  general  workforce  modernisation  affecting  Civil  Servants, Manual Workers, Nurses and other related pay groups. The Board were pleased to note that principles of fairness and equity were key factors in the development of the new Reward Framework.
3. The Board also agreed and recommended to the Council of Ministers a revised mandate for Workforce Modernisation.
4. The Board authorised the offer made to employees on 3rd November 2017.

3. Pay

The Board gave consideration to a number of issues regarding pay.

1. With regard to the 2015/2016 Pay Negotiations (which continued to be a matter for discussion in 2017), the Board agreed that this should be implemented by the Employer with an accompanied rationale. The Board acknowledged that the funding arrangements for pay awards were set by the Medium Term Financial Plan and that these remained unchanged.
2. The  Board  received  updates  on  pay  negotiations,  which  further included discussion on pay for 2017. The Board sought to communicate the position on pay with all with all employees.
3. The Board received reports and gave consideration to matters relating to the pay of Uniformed Services.

4. Pensions

i  The Board received reports on and considered a number of matters in

relation  to  Pensions,  Public  Employees  Contributory  Retirement Scheme  ("PECRS"),  the  Jersey  Teachers  Superannuation  Fund ("JTSF") and the Public Employees' Pension Scheme ("PEPS") –

• General pension provisions

• Amendments to Regulations and Orders

• States of Jersey Police – Widows pensions.

ii.  In considering pension proposals, the Board received regular updates from the Treasurer of the States, the Pensions Project Director and the Negotiator for pensions provisions on behalf of the Joint Negotiating Group.

5. Pay and Remuneration over £100,000 (P.59/2011)

Following presentation and endorsement by the States Assembly of P.59/2011 entitled "Salaries over £100,000: process for review and scrutiny", the Board received a number of applications for appointments to be made where the remuneration for the post attracted a salary of over £100,000. (The report on P.59 applications is appended to this document).

6. Public Sector Salaries

The Board endorsed a report for presentation to the States Assembly entitled Remuneration of States Employees: 2016', which was incorporated into the States of Jersey Financial Report and Accounts 2017.

7. Jersey Appointments Commission

1. The Board received the Annual Report of the Commission and agreed that the Chief Minister should present the finalised report to the States Assembly.
2. The Board endorsed the re-appointment of Professor E. Sallis as a Commissioner until October 2019.

8. Health, Safety and Wellbeing

1. The Board received and noted the 2017 Annual Health and Safety report.
2. The Board received and endorsed the Wellbeing Strategy for States of Jersey Employees.
3. The Board received a report on an investigation into an accidental death in Health and Social Services, which led to a prosecution and fine. The Board endorsed the action that had been taken to ensure that similar incidents did not re-occur and offered a formal apology to the patient's family.
4. The Board was briefed on an improvement notice which was issued by the Health and Safety Inspectorate in respect of violence and aggression training for staff. They endorsed the corrective action being taken to resolve the matter.

9. Bullying and Harassment of Staff

The  Board  commissioned  an  external  report  to  investigate  bullying  and harassment of staff to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures were put in place to effectively manage inappropriate behaviours in the workplace.

10. Independent Care Inquiry

The Board remained mindful of its obligations, as Employer of all States of Jersey Employees, that any employee affected by the report should be fully supported.

11. Suspensions

Connétable J. Gallichan, on behalf of the Board, monitored suspensions of States employees.

4. Miscellaneous Matters

4.1  The  Board  considered  a  number  of  miscellaneous  matters,  including  the following –

1. Recruitment for the post of Head of the Public Service: Chief Executive Officer
2. Amendments to the States of jersey Employees Regulations
3. States Complaints Board reports (2) on employment complaints
4. Various employment matters

5. Key Manpower Statistics

5.1  Attached at Appendix 1 are key Manpower Statistics for 2017.

APPENDIX 1

Key Manpower Statistics

Headcount (the number of people actually in post as at 31st December 2017) (Statistics for 2016 are shown for comparison).

Changes to internal HR Reporting parameters will now include staff covering periods of absence, as well as the following departments –

Jersey Car Parks

Jersey Fleet Management

Non Min SFB-Overseas Aid

States Assembly

"Licensed" category employees (the number of employees, as at 31st December 2017, with a licensed' category housing license (previously "JJ")) –

Non-locally qualified registered employees (the number of employees as at 31st December 2017, non-locally qualified under the Control of Housing and Work (Jersey) Law 2012

Sickness Absence

Attrition (Turnover)

(The movement out of established posts)

APPENDIX 2

STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD P.59/2011: REPORT FOR STATES MEMBERS

Background

The P.59/2011 process has now been in place since June 2011 following the adoption by the States, on 8th June 2011, of Proposition  P.59/2011, entitled "Salaries over £100,000: process for review and scrutiny". This resulted in the approval and reporting of all posts at Civil Service Grade 15 equivalent and above which are being replaced, or where there is a significant change to an existing senior post that fits into this category.

Formal approval for P.59/2011 requests from departments must be granted by the SEB or by delegated authority from the Chief Executive (from 6th November 2017 to year- end, the Head of the Public Service). Where recruitment to a post is necessary this cannot be undertaken until approval is given.

Once approval to recruit has been given and where appropriate, the Jersey Appointments Commission is involved in the recruitment to these posts. The SEB is mindful of the need  to  ensure  adequate  provision  is  made  for  succession  planning  when  giving approval to applications.

A full job description is required to support each P.59/2011 submission together with a person  specification,  organisation  chart  and  a  current  job  evaluation.  Salary  data including any benchmarking data is provided to ensure informed approval is made by the SEB.

The SEB has been keen to ensure that wherever possible recruitment to posts is from the local market.

Activity Report: January – December 2017

During this period, 37 applications under P.59/2011 were submitted to the SEB for their consideration. (See attached table for reference and detail). All applications were approved and none were refused. Seventeen applications were approved by the SEB, the Chief Executive Officer under delegated authority approved 14 applications, and 6 applications were approved by the Head of the Public Service (during the period 7th November – 31st December 2017) under delegated authority from the SEB. Sixteen applications were for new posts and 21 for existing posts. Thirteen posts were for temporary posts and 24 were for permanent posts. There were 2 applications for the same post – Deputy Chief of Police – the initial application was for a temporary post and the second for the permanent replacement to this post. A comparison table of applications made in in previous years (2011–2017) is included for comparison. There was an increase in applications from 10 in 2016 to 37 in 2017.

All posts were appointed to within the approved salary range. Thirty-three individuals were recruited internally to fill the posts.

There were 9 applications for consultant medical staff in Health and Social Services. All of these were for permanent posts. Five of these posts were for replacement of existing posts and 4 were for new posts.

The rationale for payment in all cases was based on current job evaluation, relevant benchmarking information and prevailing market forces.

An analysis of all applications made under the P.59/2011 is used to inform work on succession planning, senior manager compensation, performance  management and retention and recruitment planning.