The Assistant Director of HR and Organisational Development submitted a report, presenting two Employment Policies which had been reviewed jointly and agreed with the Joint Trade Unions.  The following documents were attached to the report:

The report explained that the Employment Stability Agreement had not been reviewed since 2011 and had been updated to reflect current best practice and process.  The Trade Union Facilities Agreement had not been reviewed since 2009 and the updated document include current job titles and amendments to the corporate policy template.  The Annual Leave Policy had been amended following the national agreement for Local Government Services staff which had been confirmed on 2 November 2022.  This included one additional day’s annual leave, regardless of current entitlement or length of service for all relevant staff from April 2023.  The current policy would continue to apply until 31 March 2023.

The report explained that all employment policies had now been reviewed by the HR and Organisational Development team, following consultation and negotiation with the Joint Trade Unions.  A communications plan was in place to communicate the revised policies to managers and employees.

Resolved:

(1)        That the following revised HR policies, as set out in in Appendices A, B and C to the report, be approved:

·       Employment Stability Agreement;

·       Trade Union Facilities Agreement;

·       Annual Leave Policy;

(2)        That the Equality Impact Assessment of the policy reviews be noted, as set out in Appendix D to the report.