Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive introduced the report as Head of Paid Service, emphasising the council’s commitment to supporting the wellbeing of its employees. There were rare occasions where injury or illness occurred while at work, and this report related to discretionary awards in these cases. There was a statutory requirement to have a policy in place to assist with the determination of these cases when they arise.

The following responses were given to Member questions by the Legal Officer /Chief Executive:

• It was good practice and now a statutory requirement to have a policy in place
• It related to both mental wellbeing and physical injury
• The trade unions had been consulted on the draft policy and had not raised any particular concerns
• The regulations worked independently and if allowances were paid they were on a no fault basis The allowance was limited to employees of the local government pension scheme-Members were excluded
• The report aimed to put a fair process in place, with the priority being the health and wellbeing of employees

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

1.      authority be delegated to Directors (in consultation with Human Resources) to determine applications (including any review of the amount payable) under the 1996 Regulations and/or 2011 Regulations (or subsequent regulations) made by those employees on NJC terms and conditions

2.      authority be delegated to Executive Directors and/or the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Section 151 Officer (in consultation with Human Resources) to determine internal appeals under the 2011 Regulations (or subsequent regulations) made by employees on the NJC terms and conditions

3.      authority be delegated to Executive Directors and/or the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Section 151 Officer (in consultation with Human Resources) to determine applications (including any review of the amount payable) under the 1996 Regulations and/or 2011 Regulations (or subsequent regulations) made by employees on JNC terms and conditions

4.      authority be delegated to Executive Directors and/or the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Section 151 Officer (in consultation with Human Resources) to determine internal appeals under the 2011 Regulations (or subsequent regulations) made by employees on the JNC terms and conditions

5.      In the case of an internal appeal under the 2011 Regulations (or subsequent regulations) where there is no officer who is able to determine an internal appeal, the Appeals Committee determine the internal appeal

6.      the Policy Statement as set out in Appendix 1 be approved and the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, be authorised to make any minor amendments to the Policy Statement