Agenda

RECOMMENDED that the minutes of the meetings held on 4 December 2018 and 13 February 2019 each be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Purpose of the report

The Council is required by section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011 (openess and accountability in local pay) to prepare a Pay Policy Statement. 

The Local Government Transparency Code 2014 further clarifies and describes the information and data local authorities are required to publish to increase democratic accountability.

A Pay Policy Statement must articulate the Council's policies towards a range of issues relating to the pay of its workforce, particularly its senior staff, Chief Officers and its lowest paid employees.

A Pay Policy Statement must be prepared for each financial year. It should be approved by Full Council no later than 31^st March of each year, prior to the financial year to which it relates and be published on the council's website. 

Members have previously approved a draft of this statement, and must now approve it before final approval by Full Council.  Members should note that the policy does not take account of the current senior management restructuring proposals. 

RECOMMENDED that the Employment Committee

(1)  Approves the Pay Policy Statement attached as Appendix 1, to go forward for approval by the Full Council prior to 31 March 2019.

(2)  Notes  the following revisionsto the statement contained in Appendix 1

·         reporting dates which have been amended from 2018/19 to 2019/20

·         revision to section 2.1 to clearly define the living wage rate as set by the Living Wage Foundation

·         the annual salaries have been updated to reflect the 2019 pay award. However the data used for the pay multiples is based on 31 March 2018 so remains the same as the pay multiple contained in the previous report submitted in December 2018.

The purpose of this report is to update Employment Committee about levels of

sickness absence across the council and actions being taken to manage absence.

RECOMMENDED that Members

(1)  Continue to monitor sickness absence

(2)  Ensure appropriate management action is taken to address absenteeism.

Purpose:

At Employment Committee on 4^th December 2018, Members requested that additional data on the age breakdown be included in the Gender Pay Gap Report 2018. This report has been produced in response to that. The Gender Pay Gap report now includes a breakdown of the workforce profile by age, gender and whether full time or part time. Appendix 1 has been updated and now includes this additional information, as well as the statutory data that the Council is required to publish in accordance with the Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations.

RECOMMENDED that the Committee

(1)  Notes the additional information requested by Employment Committee

(2)  Agrees the revised Gender Pay Gap report for publication.

Purpose.

This report is provided in response to a request from employment committee to inform members of the Foundation Living Wage (FLW) rate increase from 1^st April 2019, to £9.00 per hour and to advise members of the impact of the 2019/20 national pay award on the FLW rate.

RECOMMENDED that:

(i)            Members note that the Foundation Living Wage for 2019 has been set at £9.00 per hour.

(ii)          The effect of the 2019/20 national pay award is that the lowest point of the pay scale is equal to the Foundation Living Wage

(iii)         Officers report to members, on an annual basis, the revised FLW rate and the implications of this on the council's pay structure

(iv)         Payment of the FLW is extended to temporary staff engaged as workers through the council's in-house temporary staffing agency 

(The report originally marked "to follow" was published on 21 February.)

The purpose of this report is to advise members of the results of the 2018 Employee Opinion Survey, and the actions being taken to address issues raised in the survey

RECOMMENDED that Members

(1)  Note the results of the 2018 Employee Opinion Survey as set out in Appendix 1

(2)  Note and, where appropriate, agree the actions set out in section 4 below