Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Dumont and Debbie Thomas (Unison).

The Chairman welcomed everybody to the meeting, specifically Councillor Bolton, who was attending the meeting as an observer in her capacity as Chairman of the Human Resources Committee.

The Chairman said that while last meeting of the Committee was held some time ago, in June 2019, meetings would only be held if there was a strategic reason to do so.

The Chairman conveyed her thanks to Simon O’Hear, Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development, for his co-operation and contribution to the good working relationship which existed between the Staff Side and the Employer Side.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

In response to Councillor Buckmaster who enquired if he should declare an interest on any agenda item as his son had recently been appointed as an EHC employee, the Chairman said that this was not necessary.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2019.

It was moved by Councillor Buckmaster and seconded by Councillor Stevenson that the Minutes of the previous meeting be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

With reference to the Acceptable Use Policy, the Chairman said that certain arrangements, such as the use of Drop Box, had not yet been practically introduced. The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that while the Acceptable Use Policy had been implemented, there were some practical issues, mainly where the Council did not fully control the application of certain systems, but these were being reviewed. The preference was to use applications which were fully controlled by the Council.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development presented a report on the Updated General Leave Policy and the removal of the Carers Policy. He said that a review of the General Leave Policy, the Carers Policy and the Family Friendly Policy had identified that there was duplication between the Carers Policy and the other two policies.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the main issue identified related to a misalignment, in that the Carers Policy had a clear provision for eligible staff for five days paid dependency leave (further such leave would be unpaid), whereas the General Leave Policy only referred to dependency leave in the unpaid section, but did refer elsewhere to five days paid discretionary leave, with the main reason being for emergencies relating to dependents.

The Committee briefly discussed how and when dependency leave was used and the Chairman said that the UNISON had worked closely with the Human Resources team on the exact definition of a dependant, which was now in line with statutory guidance. The aim was to ensure a consistent and fair approach across all departments.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the General Leave Policy had been updated with more detail on dependency leave, and that the policy now made it clear that line managers should consult with HR on the use of the policy.  He provided examples of when dependency leave could be used, such as to support unplanned/emergency events.  He emphasised that dependency leave should not be used for planned events, which should be managed through planned leave.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that once the amendments had been made and tested on MyView, the Union were fully consulted, and the policy was agreed to with a few minor amendments. The revised policy had then been published and line managers were fully briefed on the changes.  To date, some requests for dependency leave had been approved, while some had been declined; managers and staff would be consistently educated on the use of dependency leave.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provided an update on the East Herts Together Development and said that a group had now been established, with representatives from all services being invited to the first full meeting.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development explained why the group had been formed and what matters which they would consider.  Some initial “quick-wins” were identified, which included supporting staff to use the MiCollab telephone system; consistent use of the Outlook calendar; the use of a standard e-mail signature; and the uploading of officer photographs to corporate systems.

Councillor E Buckmaster said that consistency was very important and referred to standardised voicemail messages as an example.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said there was still some frustration that not all staff were consistent when using Outlook.  Details of policies would be rolled-out to all staff and any amendments would be submitted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.