Letter - Chief Minister to CSSP re Further Information Request - People and Culture Follow-up Review - 24 January 2024

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

Deputy Sam Mézec

Chair, Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel

BY EMAIL

24 January 2024

Dear Chair,

People & Culture Follow-up Review – Further Information Request

In response to your requests for more information that will allow the Panel to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current frameworks that impact employee welfare and organisational processes, I am able to provide the following information. Any further enquiries will naturally be a matter for the incoming Chef Minister, but I wanted to ensure that I provided this factual information to enable the Panel to progress with their review.

Occupational Health (OH)

Please  provide  documentation  on  the  current  procedures  and  their implementation.

Occupational Health services are provided by a contracted 3rd party supplier, Axa Health Services Ltd. They offer a range of products and services, some of which can be accessed directly by any employee on-line or by telephone; and some of which are by referral. The directly accessible services include ‘Help at Hand’ and ‘Be Supported’ which are helplines that are available 24/7 and 365 days of the year. The Thrive Mental Wellbeing app and the Axa Health App are available for all employees to download and use as they choose.

Occupational Health advice and assessments for any employee who may be unable to work due to long-term or short-term health problems, and advice on organisational wide steps to reduce sickness absence can be provided after a referral. The referral process is through an online portal with confidential information shared between the referrer, employee, and line manager if explicit consent is granted. This can include:

• carry out pre-employment or pre-placement health assessments

• carry out statutory health surveillance, for example for those employees who may be exposed to hazardous substances or noise in their roles

• assess fitness to work regarding ill-health, capability, dismissal, or ill-health retirement

• advise on compliance under the Equality Act 2010. Including temporary or permanent changes to the work or workplace

• develop health and wellbeing related strategy and policies

• provide health advice to employees

These services are specifically designed to support employees during periods of illness as well as maintaining the wellbeing of staff in the workplace.

Identify the accountable officer(s) for OH and how they are determined.

The Acting Chief People Officer has overall accountability for Occupational Health and reports to the Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Officer – People, Policy and Digital, who reports to the Chief Executive Officer and Head of the Public Service. The OH service is managed within People and Corporate Services, part of the Cabinet Office. The deputy Chief People Officer and Head of Organisation Development has responsibility for the management and delivery of the OH contract and its services. This is managed within the Organisation Development team who have lead responsibility for organisation Wellbeing.

Share any long-term strategies or developmental plans aimed at enhancing employee health and wellbeing, including OH specifics

From an operational perspective, over the next two years there was an aspiration to create a culture of positive wellbeing, focusing on education and awareness as well as providing a range of useful proactive resources for managers and employees, including to:

1. Introduce a Wellbeing for Managers workshop in 2024 that will help managers to understand and manage their own wellbeing; and to identify and support wellbeing issues within their team.
2. Introduce Resilience training for all colleagues across government in 2024 through the Learning and Skills team. Ongoing promotion of the training and reviewing of evaluation data to ensure an increase in learning.
3. Support a move to self-service absence reporting through the new Connect People system, supporting a culture shift in this area, and improving absence recording to ensure an accurate reflection of absence is present across government with the ability to properly address problem areas.
4. Develop a Wellbeing dashboard and support departments in identifying wellbeing actions through the provision of an updated wellbeing diagnostic tool. Proactively encourage departments to use the tool in assessing their overall wellbeing position with the ability to identify areas for improvement.

5. Complete a research project to establish what 'good' Occupational Health services look like and would be relevant for Jersey. The intention being that this will inform the approach for what needs to be contracted / commissioned for a future Occupational Health service when the current contract expires.
6. Scope out the requirements and specification for future Occupational Health service requirements and complete the commercial tender requirements and exercise to secure the right service provision for Q4 2024 and beyond.
7. Implement Major Incident Wellbeing guidelines which focuses on TRIM co- ordination across all departments, wellbeing data sharing protocols and a central Major incident wellbeing register being maintained so that future health monitoring for responders, third parties and the community are offered appropriately, ensuring qualified practitioner support is available if clinical input is needed.
8. Develop a preferred supplier list for therapy and counsellors supporting both routine counselling requests and major incident response wellbeing pathways.
9. Develop a wellbeing working group, ensuring representation from all departments with a view to sharing initiatives and experience, aligning strategies, raising awareness, and increasing engagement. The group will also input into the development of events and communications for wellbeing.
10. Complete a review of Colleague Supporters (previously named Mental Health First Aiders) to assess usage and benefits gained, making recommendations on future provision, and addressing any training and development needs.

However, this will be a matter for the new Chief Minister and the States Employment Board to consider.

Detail the support programs available for employees, especially those designed for complex and distressing cases.

All employees are supported confidentially and where there are complex and/or distressing cases, the recommended support is designed to best meet the respective individual circumstances. This can involve the employee choosing to access services themselves or requesting a referral.

The Listening Lounge and Jersey Talking Therapies are available for in person support in Jersey. If more specialist support is needed such as for PTSD, CBT or specialist trauma counselling we can make referrals to several qualified counsellors on our preferred supplier list. In addition, the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which is provided by our supplier offers support to colleagues 24 hours per day, 365 days per year and includes:

• expert guidance on everyday matters

• information and support with more serious problems

• guidance on medical issue

• support if employees need to talk about something more personal. For example, if they are feeling upset, worried, or stressed

It is a free, confidential, and impartial service. Following an assessment with a qualified counsellor, employees can discuss what support is more suitable for their needs. This can include up to 12 counselling sessions offered online, over the phone or face-to- face. We have strong working relationships with external psychological therapy providers who will be provisioned should a need be identified.

Whistleblowing

Detail the protective measures in place for individuals who whistle blow against Senior Officers and Ministers.

Individuals that raise concerns under the Whistleblowing Policy have the option of raising concerns confidentially under the Policy. Where raising a concern under the Speak Up service, individuals are allocated a case number. Every effort is made to maintain confidentiality where an individual discloses their name and, information is only shared with relevant and appropriate individuals under the Policy to manage the reported concern.

Those involved in the Whistleblowing process are required to ensure confidentiality and discretion and safeguard the identity of the individual should they wish to remain anonymous. We will reassure civil servants and employees that in the event they raise a concern under the Policy that is in the public interest and reasonably believe it to be true, the organisation will not tolerate any reprisal against them for doing so and will treat such reprisal as a disciplinary matter.

Individuals have the right to be represented by a trade union representative or workplace colleague should they need to attend any formal meetings and, are offered wellbeing support and allocated a dedicated HR support person they can confidentially discuss matters with.

Additionally, what protective measures are in place for those who whistle blow discriminatory behaviour that makes them easy to identify.

As above, individuals that raise concerns under the Whistleblowing Policy, including those relating to discriminatory behaviour, have the option of raising concerns confidentially under the Policy. Every effort is made to maintain confidentiality where an individual discloses their name and information is only shared with relevant and appropriate individuals under the Policy to manage the reported concern. In any event, discriminatory behaviour is not ordinarily addressed under the Whistleblowing Policy as individuals have recourse under the Dignity and Respect at Work Policy and Discrimination (Jersey) Law to address such behaviour.

Those involved in the Whistleblowing process are required to ensure confidentiality and discretion and safeguard the identity of the individual should they wish to remain anonymous.

Individuals are offered wellbeing support and allocated a dedicated HR support person they can confidentially discuss matters with.

Recruitment and Retention

Provide the dispute negotiation process/framework currently utilised Attached to this response is the Trade Union Framework currently utilised.

Explain the targeted approach for recruiting individuals to senior roles, including details of the application process.

Governance

For all Tier 1 and 2 roles a Jersey Appointments Commission (JAC) member is appointed, and the appointment is in line with JAC protocols. All roles that are over £100k which may now include Tier 3 roles, follow the same process. An independent panel is always appointed with a background that is relevant to the appointment.

Executive Hire Attraction

When a senior role is identified, the target audience is discussed with key stakeholders and an attraction strategy is devised. The approach will be tailored to the role and could include a targeted, sponsored social media campaign combined with local press - this was the approach taken with the five senior Modernisation and Digital roles (in 2023). Appropriate head-hunters are often utilised and will be selected based on area of expertise and a tender process will be undertaken between a small number to establish those with the most appropriate offering. This will include price and reach (of the head-hunters) where there is more than one operator in the market. It is always ensured that any appointed head-hunter covers the local market.

Selection process

If a head-hunter has been appointed, a comprehensive pack is provided about the search, the methodology undertaken and the results. This will often include a dashboard that details the number of approaches etc. It will also include extensive candidate summaries where candidates have been assessed against pre agreed criteria and a recommended short list is detailed. The panel will consider all information and will independently choose a short list.

When appointments are direct (not through a head-hunter), all candidate information is given to the panel, a short list criterion is devised upon the requirements of the role and candidates are assessed against this.

At this point in time, all panel members are required to declare whether there is a conflict or potential conflict of interest with any of the applicants.

During this stage, there are several different assessments that may be utilised dependent on the role. These could include but are not limited to psychometric tests, fireside discussions, in-tray exercises, technical assessments, and report preparation prior to final interview.

Final interview is always a panel interview and may include a presentation. The final interview is scored, and the appointment decision is taken on this basis.

Role of Chief People and Transformation Officer

Clarify the statutory protection considerations within this role.

The States Employment Board have been undertaking a review of this role and it will be a matter for consideration by the next States Employment Board.

Data / Minutes

Outline the procedure for regular reporting on suspension, health, safety measures

Suspensions

The States Employment Board receive a monthly report regarding current suspensions as part of a standing item on their agenda. There is also a monthly suspension review panel which takes place. A copy of the Suspensions policy can be found here

Health and Safety

There are a number of procedures which cover the regular reporting of health and safety measures across the Jersey Public Service.

The States Employment Board receive an in-person monthly report by the corporate health and safety team. This is a standing item on their agenda.

Accountable Officers are required to report on Health & Safety measures annually as part of their Governance return.

Service Performance Measures for Health & Safety are published by Statistics Jersey

Provide the dashboard metrics related to employee wellbeing and disciplinary actions

Whilst there is a people dashboard available that captures wider sickness absence details, there is not currently a specific dashboard for Wellbeing. Insight and intelligence is currently gathered through department surveys and reviewing the specialist counselling referrals made. It was intended that a wellbeing dashboard is developed to support a Wellbeing strategy in 2024. However, this will be a matter for the new Chief Minister and the States Employment Board to consider.

Please also see the appendix.

Present data related to the Freedom to Speak up Guardian, including information on open cases and the duration these cases have been active

From end of February 2023 to 23rd November 2023, the Freedom To Speak Up Guardian (FTSUG) has been contacted by 63 individuals across the organisation.

There are 25 cases active and open. As some of the cases reported have numerous aspects to them, they have remained open for extended periods of time. The longest case open dates to initial contact being made with the FTSUG in April 2023.

Supply a complete list of Unions the Government engages with and the minutes from these meetings

A complete list of Unions the Government engages with can be found below. However, the provision of minutes will be a matter for consideration by the next States Employment Board.

Lastly, we again request the minutes from the States Employment Board meetings.

This will be a matter for consideration by the next States Employment Board. Yours sincerely

Deputy Kristina Moore Chief Minister

Appendix

Case Management Activity 2022

		Bullying & Harassment		Capability		Disciplinary		Formal Managing Attendance		Serious Concerns		Ill Health Retirement		Grievance	Tribunal			Total
CO				1				1				1			3			6
CYPES		2				18		6				5		3	7			41
CLS		2		4		4		1										11
HCS		7		1		29		5				15		10	5			72
IE		1		1				1				5		4	7			19
OCE
JHA		4				12		4				5		4	5			34
SPPP		2													2			4
T&E		2		3		5		2				1		1	2			16
NMSF		1										1						2
21	10		68		20				33		22		31			205

2023

	Bullying & Harassment		Capability		Disciplinary		Formal Managing Attendance		Serious Concerns		Ill Health Retirement		Grievance		Tribunal		Total
CO			1		2		2		1		1						7
CYPES	1		5		12		4		3		3		6		5		39
CLS	1				1												2
HCS	6		2		14		9		1		3		8		7		50
IE	1		1		3		2				3		1				11
OCE															1		1
JHA	1				4		6				4		3		1		19
SPPP													1				1
T&E	2						1						1		2		6
NMSF					2												2
		12		9		38		24		5		14		20		16		138