Conditions of Service Handbook
C O N T E N T S / PAGEIntroduction / 4
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8 / Section 1 – General provisions
Appointment to London Borough of Hillingdon posts
Relatives of Members of the Authority or Officers
Canvassing of Councillors of the Authority
Mobility between Groups and Services
Probation
Official Conduct
Equalities
Termination of employment / 6
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15 / Section 2 – Performance, learning and development
Performance, Learning and Development Plans
Part time employees
Time recording during training
Payment of salary and travelling expenses
Paid leave for post entry training
Payment of fees and provision of equipment
Conditions relating to post entry training / 9
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30 / Section 3 – Pay provisions
Gradings
Method of payment
Pay rates and allowances
Pay enhancements to recognise performance or additional duties undertaken
Increments
First aid
Standby payments
Eye tests for employees
Apportionment of salaries
Part time employees
Value of accommodation and services / 13
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38 / Section 4 – Hours of work
Normal working week
Working time arrangements / 18
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51 / Section 5 – Enhanced payments: work outside normal hours
Eligibility for overtime payments
Bank holiday working
Regular Saturday and Sunday working
Night work
Sleeping-in duty
Shift working
Recall to work / 19
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72 / Section 6 – Annual holidays and special leave
Holiday entitlement
Consolidation of specified Bank Holidays
The annual leave year and carry over provisions
Annual leave entitlement in relation to Maternity Leave
Annual leave provisions in relation to staff leaving the Council’s Service
Payment for time taken off as a Bank Holiday
Part time staff
Special provisions
Public duties
Service in the Non-Regular Forces
Duties of Special Constables
Time off for medical screening
Leave for other purposes / 22
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87 / Section 7 – Travelling and subsistence allowances
Vehicle allowances: general principles
Standard Mileage car user allowances
Higher Mileage car user allowances
General conditions attached to the vehicle allowance scheme
Drivers of vehicles – renewal of licences and attendance for medicals
Season ticket loans
Meal allowances
Reimbursement of expenditure / 28
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97 / Section 8 – Sickness payments
Sickness entitlement
Notification of sickness
Sickness during holidays
Normal earnings
Sickness arising from an accident
Requirement to attend a medical examination
Ill health retirement
Phased returns to work / 31
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101 / Section 9 – Compensation schemes
Payments to staff: Death or permanent disablement arising from an assault
Allowances to employees injured in the course of their employment / 36
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115 / Section 10 – Miscellaneous provisions
Installation and rental costs of telephones
School caretaking staff
Rehousing of employees in tied accommodation
Continuous service and TUPE
Continuous service and the NHS Service
Continuous service – general provisions / 38
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A P P E N D I C E S / Page
A / Plain time rates / 40
B / Subsistence allowance scheme / 41
Related Documents
Implementation Agreement for Conditions of Service Handbook
INTRODUCTION
1. The London Borough of Hillingdon and its employees have jointly agreed to abide by the local conditions of service contained within this document, which shall be effective from 1 July 2013, as set out below.
2. These conditions apply to employees of Hillingdon Council as follows:
(a) Staff paid on the local government outer London pay spine. The provisions of the National and Provincial Agreements that apply to Main Grade employees and have been adopted by the council are as set out in this Handbook. This includes non teaching staff employed in all community (LEA) schools and those voluntary-aided schools that have not determined otherwise through local negotiations. Non teaching staff in foundation (formerly grant maintained) schools that apply Hillingdon Conditions of Service are also covered by the provisions of this Handbook.
(b) Chief Officers, Youth and Community Workers and Soulbury employees. This Handbook applies where the national conditions are silent on the matters contained in this document. In the event of a conflict, the national conditions will prevail unless they are less favourable than those prescribed within this Handbook.
(c) Centrally based Lecturers. The provisions of this Handbook apply. There are a small number of specific provisions that relate to Lecturers only, which are set out within the Handbook.
(d) Craft Workers. These employees are paid in line with the Local Government Outer London pay spine set out in the ‘Green Book’ national conditions of service, but the ‘Red Book’ applies in respect of all conditions of service other than pay and allowances, save for the over-riding agreement that Handbook conditions will apply where these are more favourable.
(e) Employees transferred from Hillingdon Homes. All staff transferred to the council from Hillingdon Homes on 1 October 2010 are subject to the provisions of the London Borough of Hillingdon Conditions of Service Handbook from the date of this Agreement. The Hillingdon Homes Conditions of Service Handbook will cease to be effective from that date.
3. The conditions of service for all employees are modified by any current local collective agreements that are in place that have been signed by the Head of Human Resources or a nominated representative and held centrally for future reference. All Agreements may be amended from time to time following negotiation. A minimum of one month’s written notice will be given by the council of any proposed changes to these Agreements. In the event of a failure to agree, the council may serve 3 months’ notice following the expiry of the consultation period to terminate the Agreement. Local Agreements signed after 1 April 1999 (or 1 July 2003 for Craft Workers) have no legal or contractual validity unless they have been signed by and lodged with the Head of Human Resources or a nominated representative.
4. Pay awards negotiated nationally by the relevant negotiating body will be incorporated into conditions of service automatically unless alternative arrangements are agreed locally.
5. Any questions of interpretation of the following provisions shall be referred to the Officer and Trade Union Consultative Forum for resolution.
6. All references to ‘time’ in relation to overtime payment rates (as in ‘time and a half’, ‘double time’, etc) shall be interpreted as meaning plain time at the hourly rate.
7. Hillingdon Council is committed to the objective of harmonisation of pay and conditions of service and has achieved its current position through:
(a) The evaluation of all employees who are paid on the main salary spine under the GLPC job evaluation scheme, including all former prescribed grades that now fall within these national conditions.
(b) The evaluation of all Chief Officers under the Local Government Employers’ Senior Manager job evaluation scheme.
(c) The introduction of the Local Conditions of Service Handbook in April 1999, as amended in July 2003, July 2006 May 2009 and July 2013, which have harmonised conditions of service and simplified and reduced the range of allowances paid to staff to achieve increased transparency.
8. The conditions of service set out in this Handbook may be amended from time to time as circumstances change following appropriate and detailed consultation of no less than three months. In the case of a failure to agree, the matter will be dealt with in accordance with paragraph 7 above.
9. Hillingdon Council is committed to the completion of regular equal pay audits. Anomalies that are identified from the equal pay audit which are not related to the current protections for existing staff will be addressed and rectified, with back payments made where appropriate.
SECTION 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
1 Appointment to London Borough of Hillingdon posts
(a) All recruitment, transfer and promotion to London Borough of Hillingdon posts will be on merit and internal candidates will be given an opportunity to apply for all posts advertised. Staff will be able to view vacancies through the council’s intranet site (currently ‘Horizon’). Managers will provide paper copies of internal vacancies for staff on request where they do not have access to a computer.
(b) Where redundancies are being implemented, the Council has a legal duty to seek alternative employment, and where a redundancy redeployee meets the specification for a vacant post to be filled, they will be given prior consideration. Similarly, where the Council has a legal obligation to an employee on maternity leave or to an employee with a disability as defined under the Equality Act 2010, priority may be given to that employee over other candidates as appropriate.
(c) Temporary appointments including those concerning acting, secondment and additional responsibility arrangements will be subject to the principles of merit in line with the Council’s procedures.
2 Relatives of Members of the Authority or Officers
(a) Candidates for appointment to any post within the Borough must disclose with their application whether to the candidate’s knowledge they are related to any member of the authority or to any Chief Officer employed by the authority. This includes relationships arising from domestic partnerships as well as by marriage. Deliberate omission to make such a disclosure will disqualify the candidate, and if the omission is discovered after appointment, the employee will be liable to dismissal.
(b) Appointments to posts which would result in blood relatives, domestic partners or any other close personal or family relationship working together in circumstances where one would be under the overall management control of the other will be subject to review by management. It is the duty of employees to disclose the existence of such relationships immediately. Any contractual variations that may be necessary to ensure that proper safeguards are in place will be referred to the Head of Human Resources.
3 Canvassing of Councillors of the Authority
Canvassing of councillors of the authority, directly or indirectly, in connection with any appointment under the authority, shall disqualify the candidate. A member of the authority shall not solicit for any person any appointment under the authority, or recommend any person for such appointment or for promotion. However, members of the authority are not precluded from providing a written reference in relation to the candidate’s ability, experience or character.
4 Mobility between Groups and Services
Employees are appointed to the service of the Council and may be transferred in their existing posts between Groups or Services in accordance with the organisational requirements of the Council and in line with the Council’s procedures. It may be necessary from time to time to change the location of the employee’s place of employment within the Hillingdon boundary under the employee’s contract of employment.
5 Probation
(a) The appointment of all new entrants to the service of the Council shall be subject to a minimum term of probation of six months, which may be extended to a maximum of twelve months. Where it becomes apparent that the new entrant is unsuitable for the job and in the opinion of the manager there are no appropriate measures that could be put in place to improve the employee’s performance in the short term, the contract of employment may be terminated before the end of the probationary period.
(b) The purpose of the probationary period is to monitor and assess the progress of new employees during their induction period and to provide appropriate support and assistance where necessary to assist the new entrant to meet the standards required.
6 Official Conduct
(a) Employees will maintain conduct of the highest standard such that public confidence in their integrity is sustained.
(b) An employee’s off duty hours are a personal matter, but employees should not subordinate their duty to their private interests or put themselves in a position where their duty and their private interests conflict. The Council will not preclude employees from undertaking additional employment, but any such employment must not, in the view of the Council, conflict with or react detrimentally to the Council’s interests, or in any way weaken public confidence in the conduct of the Council’s business.
(c) Officers above Scale 6 shall devote their whole time service to the work of the Council and shall not engage in any other business or take up any other additional appointment without the express consent of their manager in writing. Such agreements must be placed on the employee’s personal file.
(d) Employees shall not be called upon to advise any political group of the Council either as to the work of the group or as to the work of the Council; neither shall they be required to attend any meeting of any political group.
(e) All employees of the Council are required to follow the authority’s Code of Conduct for Council Employees that set out the standards of conduct expected of the Council’s staff.
(f) It is the employee’s duty to maintain contact with the Council as employer and it is a contractual requirement that all staff should ensure that the current home address, together with the mobile and/or landline telephone number and e-mail address at which they may be contacted are registered with the Council.
(g) Employees with access to self service will be required to ensure that their personal details are kept up to date at all times. Those employees who do not have such access should notify such changes in writing to their manager.
(h) The council has a duty to comply with the law governing the health, safety and welfare of its employees, including the conditions under which they work and the provision and maintenance of necessary protective clothing. Employees have a duty to take care of themselves and others affected by their activity at work and to co-operate with the council’s actions taken to meet their duties under the relevant Regulations.