Following the meeting of members of HR on 15th Feb. UNISON wrote to Jack Markiewicz raising several concerns. He has responded following a meeting of HRMT on 20th Feb and the correspondence is set out below for members:
15/02/2007 16:04
To: Jack Markiewiczcc
Subject: HR job description consultation deadline
Jack,
Following this morning's meeting, members have asked for an extra week to consider job descriptions on the grounds that H&S posts were only made available on 14th Feb and that next week is half term week with many people taking leave.
There is also a problem with the structure as presented this morning not being finalised (3 posts missing, who is to carry out the absence management work, lack of clarity about admin posts etc) and the effect this has on deciding whether the job descriptions accurately reflect the roles staff will be expected to carry out.
These two factors mean an extra week is needed for full and meaningful consultation, and this is based on the presumption that the issue about the missing posts etc are addressed this week before people break up for half term.
Members also wanted to know when they will know the indicative grades for the posts. You have explained in the briefings that the structure has been drawn up according to the budget available. Given that the budget includes staffing costs based on assumed grades for posts, please state when the indicative grades will be made available.
They also wanted to know when person specs would be made available. Whilst it is recognised that they are not needed for selecting who goes where in the enabling process, they are a significant factor in staff expressing preferences in the implementation stage of that process.
Comments on individual job descriptions will follow in due course.
Bob Watt
UNISON
From: Jack Markiewicz
Date: 22/02/2007 12:24
Bob,
I promised to respond to you when I had discussed these matters with colleagues at HRMT.
I have now had the discussion and I should like to respond to your points as follows.
1) HR Pay assistant posts being advertised on a permanent basis
As I described to you and colleagues at the event on the 15th Feb, the decision to fill the posts permanently was made following a case being made by Nigel Dowey connected with the need to engage motivated and high quality candidates, as we cannot afford to get payroll wrong. We were and still are not clear as to how many, if any, HR employees will be displaced at this level and, therefore, cannot predict how many posts will be needed.However, I have listened to the comments made by you and HR colleagues and I am mindful that the 188 process is about trying to mitigate the impact of any potential redundancies. Furthermore I recognise that these posts could be used as redeployment posts, and therefore, I have changed the decision to appoint permanently, but to only recruit on a temporary basis.I am also advising that we shall do this for the permanent HR team leader posts too, when they are advertised.
2) Consultation on job descriptions
I have agreed to extend this period from the 23rd to the 28th February. You will know that we have enabling meetings booked for the 5th, 6th and 7th March, which will need the job descriptions to be finalised before then.
3) three posts left in the structure - to be allocated
It was helpful to get the views of colleagues at the event on the 15th Feb and it is the intention of HRMT to allocate the resource to departmental HR teams so that they can deal with sickness absence casework. The revised structure charts will show this change.
4) Indicative grades
You will see from the project plan that we anticipate to have the indicative grades for posts by mid March. We are conscious that we need to put together some HAY statements that will take some time and the work will begin a soon as possible.
5) Person Specs
As you have correctly pointed out, it is not necessary to have person specs for the enabling process but we are currently working on these and they will be available when the outcomes of the enabling process are published.
I hope that this is helpful and please let me know if you would want to discuss further.
Jack Markiewicz
Service Director (HR)
Nottinghamshire County Council
The trade unions are meeting in the morning on 27th Feb as part of their preparation for the departmental JCNP, and UNISON & GMB are meeting with Jack in the afternoon to discuss the HR part of the restructuring. Any comments can be sent to me via the NCC e-mail system.
If you are not a member of UNISON, now is the time to join. You can download an application form from the Branch Website by clicking here
22 February 2007
12 February 2007
Press release: Would you pay 3p a week to stop increases in Home Care charges?
From: Notts UNISON
To: Local Media
For: Immediate use
UNISON, the biggest union at Nottinghamshire County Council, is calling on County Councillors to reconsider their plans to increase home care charges in the County.
Jill Turner, Branch Secretary for UNISON, said “The Council has proposed to increase hourly charges from £7 per hour to £8.50 per hour; this is an increase of 21%. The maximum charge will increase from £56 to £75 per week; this is an increase of 34%. These charges will generate around £500,000. It is extremely worrying that the most vulnerable in our society are being targeting for higher increases than everyone else. How can the Council make these increases of up to 34% when keeping council tax increases to 4%?”
UNISON has calculated that increasing the Council Tax by 4.2% rather than the 4% proposed would generate an additional £540000, more than enough to cover the increases in home care charges, and it would only cost an extra 3p a week at Band B which covers the majority of homes in Notts.
“We believe that the people of Notts would be willing to pay a few pence extra to stop these increases in charges on the elderly and disabled who rely on this service. We are asking the people of Notts to ring their County Council on 0845 330 4219 to say so before the Councillors make up their minds on 21st Feb” said Ms Turner.
The increases in Home care charges are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to budget cuts in Notts. Other areas under threat include support for sheltered employment, reducing staff in Trading Standards, delaying library refurbishments as well as cutting nearly 130 jobs across the County Council.
“These job cuts come on top of those announced last year. If this many jobs were at risk in a hospital, people would rightly be up in arms. If they were at risk in a firm in Notts, local Councillors would want the Economic Development Team to step in to see what help could be given. The irony is that these are the people who were cut last year!” explained Ms Turner.
“An increase of 4.75% on the Council Tax would mean 12p a week extra on band B but would nearly halve the cuts in services and safeguard the jobs at risk. So please ring your Council on 0845 330 4219 to say that you are willing to pay a few pence extra week to save jobs and services in your community.
“UNISON is taking out adverts in the local press asking people to ring the County Council. We think that it is important that people let their Councillors know that a few pence extra a week is a price worth paying for our public services”
ENDS
For more information, ring the Branch Office on 0115 981 0405 or e-mail us
To: Local Media
For: Immediate use
UNISON, the biggest union at Nottinghamshire County Council, is calling on County Councillors to reconsider their plans to increase home care charges in the County.
Jill Turner, Branch Secretary for UNISON, said “The Council has proposed to increase hourly charges from £7 per hour to £8.50 per hour; this is an increase of 21%. The maximum charge will increase from £56 to £75 per week; this is an increase of 34%. These charges will generate around £500,000. It is extremely worrying that the most vulnerable in our society are being targeting for higher increases than everyone else. How can the Council make these increases of up to 34% when keeping council tax increases to 4%?”
UNISON has calculated that increasing the Council Tax by 4.2% rather than the 4% proposed would generate an additional £540000, more than enough to cover the increases in home care charges, and it would only cost an extra 3p a week at Band B which covers the majority of homes in Notts.
“We believe that the people of Notts would be willing to pay a few pence extra to stop these increases in charges on the elderly and disabled who rely on this service. We are asking the people of Notts to ring their County Council on 0845 330 4219 to say so before the Councillors make up their minds on 21st Feb” said Ms Turner.
The increases in Home care charges are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to budget cuts in Notts. Other areas under threat include support for sheltered employment, reducing staff in Trading Standards, delaying library refurbishments as well as cutting nearly 130 jobs across the County Council.
“These job cuts come on top of those announced last year. If this many jobs were at risk in a hospital, people would rightly be up in arms. If they were at risk in a firm in Notts, local Councillors would want the Economic Development Team to step in to see what help could be given. The irony is that these are the people who were cut last year!” explained Ms Turner.
“An increase of 4.75% on the Council Tax would mean 12p a week extra on band B but would nearly halve the cuts in services and safeguard the jobs at risk. So please ring your Council on 0845 330 4219 to say that you are willing to pay a few pence extra week to save jobs and services in your community.
“UNISON is taking out adverts in the local press asking people to ring the County Council. We think that it is important that people let their Councillors know that a few pence extra a week is a price worth paying for our public services”
ENDS
For more information, ring the Branch Office on 0115 981 0405 or e-mail us
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