Terms and conditions

Update on terms and conditions - 29 January 2010

Proposals to change County Council employees’ terms and conditions to help balance the Council’s budget have been backed, subject to the call in period, by Councillors at Personnel Committee (29 January 2010).

The changes will be phased in over the next six months and will help to save £1.2m in 2010/11 which will be reinvested to meet the rising demand for Council services.

Negotiations between the Council and the trade unions led to a number of changes to the original proposals. These changes include:

• paying all car mileage at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recommended rate of 40p per mile up to 10,000 miles, rather than 8,500 miles as originally suggested

• increasing the maximum compensation payment for early retirement and redundancy from the original proposal of 45 weeks pay to a revised maximum of 50 weeks pay, dependent upon age and length of service

• salary protection policy will remain in force for existing staff who are currently in protection and those who enter salary protection as part of phase one of NJE, including school support staff. Any other new claimants will be offered a maximum of two years’ pay protection with no incremental progression or pay award

• social care and other staff who are already in a post which has a specific additional leave entitlement of five or six days will retain that additional leave, even if they take up an alternative post in these service areas which attracts the additional leave. The additional leave entitlement will not apply to new starters

• an agreement that there will be no further changes to terms and conditions for two years, excluding any changes which may emerge as part of a wider review of ways of working.

All other proposals contained in the original package remain.

Consultation between trade unions and their members on these changes is ongoing. 

The Changes to terms and conditions table lists the full and final benefits available to employees.

More information on when and how these changes will be implemented will follow shortly.

Update on terms and conditions - 14 January 2010

Since the original proposals were published for consultation, we have had regular negotiation meetings with the recognised trade unions.  As a result a revised package of proposals has now been offered to the trade unions for consideration.  The proposed changes to the original proposals include:

• Raising the 40 pence a mile cap from 8,500 to 10,000 miles per year as recommended by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

• An increase in the maximum compensation payment for early retirement and redundancy from the original proposal of 45 weeks pay to a revised maximum of 50 weeks pay, dependent upon age and length of service.

• Confirmation that the proposed changes to salary protection will not be applied to staff entering salary protection as part of the implementation of phase one of NJE, including school based staff.  The revised proposal will only be applied to all other new cases of salary protection.

• Social care and other staff who are already in a post which has a specific additional leave entitlement of 5 or 6 days will retain that additional leave.  The proposal to remove this additional leave entitlement will only apply to new starters or existing staff who are moving to a post which does not attract the additional leave entitlement.  The proposal to remove the additional leave entitlement for all staff completing 10 years service will remain

• An agreement that there will be no further changes to terms and conditions for two years, excluding any changes which may emerge as part of a wider review of ways of working.

All other proposals contained in the original package remain as originally proposed.

Changes to terms and conditions for County Council employees

Like all councils, we’re facing a major challenge to sort out our finances. We need to find savings to make sure we can balance our budget. One step towards this is by changing some of your terms and conditions to bring them in line with other local councils. This will help to save £2.9 million each year.

These proposals were sent to the trades unions on 15 October 2009 to start our formal consultation.

The table of proposed changes includes more information to explain the proposals.

In brief, the specific changes include:

• withdrawing the essential car user allowance. Instead you will be able to claim mileage at an increased rate of 40p per mile
• all mileage allowances will be streamlined to a single payment of 40p per mile, in line with recommendations from HM Revenue and Customs
• subsistence payments for expenses like food and drink will only be paid in exceptional circumstances, such as an overnight stay
• disturbance allowance, available if your office location is changed, will only be paid for two years. Excess travel time will no longer be accounted for as part of your normal working day
• salary protection policy will remain in force for existing staff who are currently in protection. Any new claimants will be offered a maximum of two years’ pay protection with no incremental progression or pay award
  
• early retirement and redundancy policy - we are discussing proposals for a revised early retirement and redundancy package that will remove provision for additional years, provide for a maximum of 45 weeks compensation and remove personal circumstances provisions
• removing the entitlement for additional annual leave for employees with more than ten years service from April 2010
• additional leave for social care and associated staff groups will be maintained for existing employees until they change post. However, new employees will not be offered this extra leave entitlement.