fixed term contracts, zero hour agreements and agency staff

WQ.239/2018

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2018

Question

Further to the response to Written Question 224/2018, in which the Chairman provided information in respect of the use of fixed-term contracts, zero-hour agreements and agency staff, will the Chairman –

1. inform members of the departments in which these three categories of engagement are used, along with a brief description of job title;
2. state the length of the fixed-term contracts used, whether these contracts were renewable and the length of service of those people working on such contracts;
3. state whether the zero-hour agreements used meet the 2016 guidelines for such agreements issued by the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service; and
4. state whether the agency staff in question were also engaged on the basis of zero-hour agreements?

Answer

1. the table below shows, by department, the three types of engagement requested in the Written Question 224/2018:

Roles covered from the above agreements vary greatly and are roles across all pay groups within the States of Jersey, examples include:

Administration   /  Civil  Service  Specialist  Roles  (IT,  Project  Management,  HR,  Tax, Accounting)

Nurses & Midwives

Teachers

Lunch supervisors

Allied Health Professionals

Manual Workers

Residential child care officers

Doctors & Consultants

In general fixed terms contracts include a full spectrum of posts, agency workers in the main work across administrative and management positons, lunch supervision.

The majority of zero hours workers are made up of retained fire fighters, sessional youth workers, bank nurses, allied health professionals, health care assistants, teachers, teaching assistants and casual sports workers. In some cases these contracts are akin to a variable hours contracts and may incur additional benefits where work is more frequent or the individual is paid a retainer (i.e. retained fire fighter)

2. The length of fixed term contracts range from 3 months – 7 years, with the average length of the fixed terms contract being 2.1 years.
   1. Of the 375 staff on fixed term contracts, 88 have had their contracts extended. All contracts can be renewed or extended with appropriate permissions if the reason for the contract continues.
   2. The average length of service for staff on fixed term contracts is 5.5 Years (excluding individuals employed through supported work scheme schemes)
3. All zero hours contracts issued by the States of Jersey are aligned to good practice.
4. Agency staff are employed directly by the agency and their contractual terms will vary. When such staff are employed by the SOJ, they will normally be working a specified number of hours.