AGENDA ITEM 8
BOROUGH OF POOLE
COUNCIL EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITEE
15 MAY 2014
EMPLOYMENT OF INTERNS, APPRENTICES, TRAINEES, CASUAL STAFF AND AGENCY WORKERS
1. Purpose of this Report
1.1 The report seeks to explain to Members a variety of forms of temporary and short-term employment currently in place within Borough of Poole. It was requested by Members at the previous meeting of this Committee, and is in line with the Committee’s agreed Forward Plan.
1.2 Members are asked to comment and note the report. In particular, the Committee is asked to provide guidance on the proposed continued employment of interns on the basis of paying expenses rather than a salary.
2. Internships
2.1 It has come to light in the recent past that a number of the Council’s service units are employing interns, outside of the provisions of any formally adopted or agreed Council policy for doing so. This has led to queries from elected Members, in particular on the remuneration of such employees.
2.2 The concept of an internship is relatively recent in comparison to more established forms of employment. Some internships have been set up as a result of service units receiving unsolicited approaches from individuals, or from charitable or other organisations on behalf of individuals. Others have been opportunities specifically set up and advertised as internships, for which individuals have then applied.
2.3 In recent years, it has been increasingly frequent for the Council to receive unsolicited approaches from prospective interns, applying for employment opportunities with the Council, even if the ‘job’ is unpaid. In an employment market which has become ever more competitive, younger people in particular see the value of being able to gain relevant experience to make their c.v. more attractive in the longer term to potential future employers. Clearly, it is likely that only those younger or other people from more economically advantaged backgrounds will be able to entertain the option of work for which there is no pay on offer via a salary.
2.4 Several internships have therefore been entered into, based on there being no salary in the normal sense. In various cases, the service unit has agreed to pay expenses to the person concerned, and no more. Some service units have fairly long-established approaches to this, for example in Legal Services.
2.5 Anecdotally, it is known that at least one intern taken on by the Council along the above lines has later secured paid employment with the Council, having had the opportunity to prove their worth. As stated above, as things stand the Council has no formally adopted policy on the employment of interns. The Head of HR intends to remedy this and to develop policy to cover this type of relationship, and this report provides the first opportunity for elected Members to influence the direction of such work.
2.6 The relevant SUHs have argued that recruiting via internships is a pragmatic and effective way of drawing talented and ambitious people into the organisation, at a time when resources have been cut right back and capacity is otherwise thin. If this aligns with the development aims of individuals seeking work within the organisation, they argue it represents an opportunity benefiting both parties.
2.7 On the other hand, there is some notional risk that, even where an internship has been entered into on an entirely voluntary basis, the person in such a role could at a later point mount a legal challenge citing the National Minimum Wage legislation. Any such challenge would be likely to turn on the nature of what was agreed up front, in terms of the work to be done, and the actual work then undertaken.
3. Apprentices
3.1 Members made a commitment during 2011/12 to boost the numbers of apprentices the Council employs, in response to nationally rising youth unemployment levels. The number employed consequently increased from just 4 in early 2011 to 27 within the following 18 months, an increase of nearly 700%.
3.2 As a by-product of this, the Council adopted a corporate policy on the employment of Apprentices in 2013, agreed through the JICC. Budget restrictions meant the Council was unable to sustain its investment in apprenticeships at quite the same level in 2012/13, and the number employed in Borough of Poole is now 17.
3.3 Apprenticeships are normally set up for a period of 1 year, though completion is largely determined by the capabilities and input of the individual apprentice. Those who are really keen and learn fast can complete an apprenticeship in less than a full year, whilst others take longer. Higher-level apprenticeships are usually longer in duration, at least 2 years, though as with ordinary apprenticeships they can be completed early. Several apprentices taken on in Poole in recent years have secured longer-term or permanent job roles within the Council, whilst others have gained employment elsewhere.
3.4 As the Committee will be aware, a renewed investment has been agreed by the Council for 2013/14 to reinvigorate the corporate commitment to apprenticeships. An officer team has been set up to take this forward.
4. Trainees and Work Experience
4.1 National Government is encouraging employers to pursue structured Traineeships in addition to apprenticeships. These are expected to be a minimum of six weeks to a maximum of 6 months in duration, and are specifically aimed at young people who:
· Are not currently in a job and have little work experience, but who are focused on work or the prospect of it.
· Are aged 16-18, have not yet achieved a full Level 3 qualification, or aged 19-24 and have not yet achieved a full Level 2.
· Are up to academic age 25 and in receipt of a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA).
· Are someone whom providers and employers believe has a reasonable chance of being ready for employment, or for an apprenticeship, within six months of engaging in a traineeship.
In Poole the officer team mentioned above is intending to use traineeships of this kind to help young people and other priority groups (e.g. linked to the ‘Families with Futures’ project), but who would be unlikely to thrive if placed straight away into an apprenticeship.
4.2 In addition to this new type of Traineeship being promoted by Government, employees are occasionally taken on by normal processes of appointment into other more conventional forms of Trainee role. These are often part of career grading structures within service units, for example in Social Work, Engineering, Planning and other disciplines.
4.3 Also, a relatively small number of work experience placements are agreed with local schools each year, once again adhering to a long-established model. These are arranged between individual service units and the school concerned.
5. Casual Employment and ‘Zero Hours’ Contracts
5.1 Borough of Poole does not use, and has not previously used, zero hours contracts of the sort that have attracted much adverse comment in UK news media in recent years. This refers to cases whereby the employee has no guarantee of any work but is contractually obliged to report for work at short notice as and when the employer requires their attendance.
5.2 The nearest comparator to this form of employment relationship within the Council is perhaps provided by Tutors working for Skills and Learning. These employees have a form of contract which could be described as ‘zero hours,’ in circumstances whereby the adult learning course they hope to teach does not run because of insufficient enrolment. The worker may continue to have his or her details held in the Borough’s HR system, on the basis that future course advertisement is more successful, but, crucially, there is no contractual obligation to report for work at short notice.
5.3 The Council does, however, employ significant numbers of Casual employees. The Council’s in-house employment agency, the Civic Temps and Professional Register schemes, employs people (mostly in office administration roles) via casual employment contracts, for example.
5.4 The Civic Temps scheme has a proven record of bringing new people into the organisation, especially younger recruits. The scheme carefully vets those recruited into it. Many high quality temps have come in, intending to work for the Borough for just a few months (undergraduate students, for example, during holiday periods), and have then found the organisation to their liking and stayed longer than they originally intended. Anecdotally, there are many examples of people working for Borough of Poole in permanent roles, several of them in higher-level roles, who began as Civic Temps.
5.5 Other Casuals are employed, for example in seasonal work such as the Beach Warden service, and to cover absence at short notice, an example of this being in the Council’s day nursery. Unlike zero hours contracts, staff retained on these contracts are not obliged to attend when required, and do so only by choice when they wish to have the work. Consequently, the numbers of Casual staff who claim payments in any single month does tend to vary significantly, as this is a very mobile and constantly changing part of the workforce.
5.6 Volumes of Casual workers employed have generally reduced over the past 5 years, broadly in line with contraction of the wider Borough of Poole workforce, thus:
Year Casuals FTE Service Unit FTE % Casual
2009/10 108.9 2018.4 5.4
2010/11 100.5 1889 5.3
2011/12 93.8 1871.9 5.0
2012/13 86.6 1791.3 4.8
2013/14 99.2 1811.3 5.5
It can therefore be seen that, on average, a number equivalent to just over 5% of all employees in service units, at any time, are on Casual contracts. The increase in that percentage seen in 2013/14 reflects the acquisition of Casual employees working for Dorset Adult Learning.
5.7 HR liaises regularly with managers in service units to check that casual contracts are the most appropriate terms and conditions for relevant employees as circumstances change throughout the business year. As a rule of thumb, casual contracts should only be used for short-term, infrequent or unusual / disrupted patterns of work. Where an employee recruited on a casual contract has remained in post beyond, say, 6 months, and the work seems likely to continue, HR will press the service unit to convert the contract into a more legally appropriate shape, such as a fixed-term or other temporary contract.
6 Agency Workers
6.1 In addition to Casual employees being employed to cover short-term gaps in the workforce, managers can also employ workers through agencies where necessary. As mentioned above, the Civic Temps scheme mainly provides temporary employees in office administration and similar roles. Therefore, managers in social care, for example, need to go elsewhere when they have gaps to fill as a result of sickness and other absences, and they often secure the resources they need through external employment agencies.
6.2 The HR Service does not monitor overall usage of agency workers, who technically are employed by their agency and not by Borough of Poole. HR does, however, manage the neutral vend agency contract, which is the corporate contract for hiring through agencies, and is the ‘default’ provider of this type of worker. This contract is currently let to an external company called Comensura. It was entered into in 2011 as a 3-year contract with potential extension to 4 years, and the decision was taken in the past few months to lengthen the contract into the 4th and final year.
6.3 Comensura have proven unreliable in sourcing certain types of agency worker, however, such as refuse loaders and social care staff. Where the corporate contract cannot provide the type of worker required, individual service units can obtain waivers under the Council’s Financial Regulations to obtain agency workers directly from other specialist agencies.
6.4 With agency workers obtained through Comensura, HR monitors contract length and works with service units to convert employment contracts to more appropriate forms when assignments lengthen beyond the originally intended term. HR has no sight of other agency workers obtained by units outside of the corporate contract, however.
7. Financial Implications
7.1 There are financial implications arising from this report, inasmuch as opportunities for interns will be reduced or removed altogether if members decide that all interns in the Council should be paid the National Minimum Wage. This arises simply from the squeeze that has been placed on staffing budgets over recent years.
7.2 HR advises service units on the various different types of arrangements for utilising temporary and short-term workers that are set out in this report. The advice provided always aims to identify the most cost-effective solution appropriate to specific circumstances.
8. Legal Implications
8.1 HR advises service units on the Legal frameworks affecting these various different types of temporary and short-term workers. The advice aims to minimise any potential exposure to claims of unfair treatment. Agency workers and employees on fixed-term contracts are specifically protected against adverse treatment under recently enacted legislation, and the Council’s policies are fully compliant with those protections.
9. Risk Management Implications
9.1 As mentioned in paragraph 2.7, there is some notional risk of legal challenge under the National Minimum Wage legislation from taking on interns without a salary, though there have been few such cases up to this point in time.