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WQ.394/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIR OF THE STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD
BY DEPUTY R.J WARD OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 8th OCTOBER 2019
Question
Will the Chair advise –
- what outcomes, if any, have been achieved in addressing the recommendations of The HR Lounge report on bullying and harassment and how have these outcomes been measured;
- whether the States Employment Board will commit to an urgent review of progress from those who produced the report; and
- how the Board is ensuring that staff are protected from bullying and harassment during this period of significant change?
Answer
The Deputy will recall that the SEB accepted all of the recommendations contained within the HR Lounge Report. Subsequently with effect from 21 January 2019 the Government of Jersey published a new bullying and harassment policy.
This policy coupled with the work already begun by Team Jersey around our values has meant that there have been a number of positive improvements, not only to the way the organisation responds to issues of bullying and harassment but also raising an awareness of what is and isn't acceptable behaviour in the workplace.
Measures within the policy, such as the emphasis on swift informal resolution, the use of mediation and the introduction of the independent speak-up line, provided independently by ExpoLink, are examples of positive improvement. Since January when the new policy was implemented, 22 issues of bullying and harassment have been lodged with Expolink and we are seeing successful resolution through information measures, with only two cases requiring referral to the formal process.
The use and outcomes of the current reporting channels are monitored regularly by senior management.
The above measures provide a high degree of comfort to the board that a robust process exists to protect employees from bullying and harassment during a period of significant change
The impact of the policy and the new measures adopted are scheduled for the SEB to receive an annual report about the effectiveness of the policies in December 2019. At this stage the board will review the necessity and benefits of further engagement with HR Lounge.
The Government of Jersey is committed to taking all issues of bullying and harassment seriously and dealing with them swiftly. The robust procedure outlined in the new bullying and harassment policy reinforces this commitment and fully supports any employee effected by issues of this nature
Cost of Producing Answer
As a means of giving an approximate indication to the time and cost of producing an answer to a written question, it has been decided that answers shall include a cost, broken down by civil service grade:
Civil Servant Grade 12 x 15 mins: £9 Group Director x 5 mins: £7
TOTAL £16