SLT Agenda Item: 14

SLTPaper No: 18-052

SLT Date: 20 February 2018

Meeting / Service Leadership Team / Agenda Item / 14
Meeting Date / 20th February 2018 / Report Number / 18-052
Report Authors: / Hannah Phipps, HR Policy & Strategy Manager
Martin Jones, HR Workforce Information Officer
Presented By / Colette Black, Assistant Director of HR
Subject / Workforce Report
Type of Report: / Information

SUMMARY

This paper provides an overview for the Performance and Resource Board (Fire and Rescue) on the Service’s workforce for the period 1st January 2017 – 31st December 2017. It should be noted that the overall headcount and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figuresinclude a number of employees that were on career breaks as at the end of 2017 and hence there is a minor variation from the figures reported in the December 2017 Finance report. This report includes details of formal Human Resources (HR) casework issues addressed by the Service’s HR Business Partner Team and Managers over the twelve-month period January – December 2017 and also other activity undertaken by the wider HR team.

2.RECOMMENDATION

Members of the Performance and Resource Board (Fire and Rescue) are asked to note the contents of the report, and to support the actions being undertaken to address the sickness and diversity issues highlighted within the report.

BACKGROUND

For the purposes of this paper a report was run using our data management system to drill down to the specific workforce metrics. It should be noted there are 66 employees with multiple contracts (e.g. Wholetime On-call or Wholetime with casual Support contract) therefore there are multiple records reported. Exit Interview data and Recruitment and Selection data have also been used to provide further analysis.

WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS

As at 31 December 2017, the organisation employed 1446 employees, made up of 302 staff on Green Book terms and conditions and 1144 staff on Grey Book conditions. Table 1 below shows the number of employees within each of the following work group categories; Wholetime Firefighters, On-call Firefighters, Control and Support for both 2016 and 2017. The overall headcount has increased by 42, this is reflective of the On-call conversion project affecting stations such as Clacton and the formalising of temporary and contractor arrangements.

Table 1
Employee Group / 2016 / 2017* / FTE Variance
Headcount / FTE / Headcount / FTE
Wholetime / 636 / 636.0 / 600 / 600.0 / - 5.7%
On Call / 473 / 375.0 / 509 / 407.5 / + 8.7%
Control / 35 / 33.0 / 35 / 32.3 / - 2.1%
Support / 260 / 242.0 / 302 / 279.2 / + 15.4%
OVERALL / 1404 / 1285.0 / 1446 / 1319.0 / + 2.6%

*2017 figures include a number of employees that were on Career Break at the end of the calendar year.

WORKFORCE COMPOSITION BY PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS

5.1.Age profile

As at 31 December 2017, the Age Profile of the organisation was as follows:

Table 2
Employee Group / Mean / Median / Min / Max
Wholetime / 44.8 / 46.1 / 26.4 / 60.4
On Call / 38.2 / 36.7 / 18.5 / 68.0
Control / 40.1 / 38.5 / 20.0 / 60.1
Support / 46.5 / 47.9 / 18.6 / 73.4
OVERALL / 42.7 / 43.7 / 18.5 / 73.4

During 2017, we changed the level of granularity with which we report on the age profile of the Service, so that the age bands we now use for analysis are aligned with those used by Essex Police.

Table 3
Employee Group / Majority age group / % of Employees in age group
Wholetime / 45 - 59 / 29.7%
On Call / 25 - 29 / 20.0%
Control / 30 - 34 / 22.9%
Support / 50 - 54 / 14.9%
OVERALL / 45 - 49 / 21.3%

The age profile of the workforce remains largely unchanged with the majority of the workforce falling in the 45 – 49 age group.

Overall nationally, the age of firefighters is increasing. In 2017 the average age of a firefighter was 42 compared with 40 five years ago (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017). Essex whole time firefighters average age in 2017was also 42.

5.2.Gender distribution

Of the 31 December 2017 headcount, 217 (15%) are female and 1229 (85%) male; anincrease of 19 for the overall female headcount. Nationally the figure for 2017 is marginally higher at 15.1% of all FRS staff were women. This figure is slightly lower than the peak in 2010. The 2017 figure compares with 14.6% in the previous year 2016, 14.5% five years ago in 2012 and 13.6% ten years ago in 2007 (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017).

Overall the number of men and women in the Support Staff category are very similar. Overall the number of men in Operational (Wholetime, On-call and Control) roles is significantly higher than female. There are 1144 Operational Staff in total, comprised of 5.7% female employees and 94.3% male, unchanged from 2016. With the removal of the Control team this composition is 1109 Operational Staff in total, comprised of 96.7% male and 3.3% female employees.

5.2% of firefighters were women in England in 2017. This compares with 5.0% in the previous year. Since 2010 the main cause in the increase in the proportion of women firefighters has been a decrease in the number of men firefighters (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017).

Table 4
Employee Group / 2016 / 2017
Male / Female / Male / Female
Wholetime / 604 / 32 / 566 / 34
On Call / 467 / 6 / 506 / 3
Control / 6 / 29 / 7 / 28
Support / 129 / 131 / 150 / 152
OVERALL / 1206 / 198 / 1229 / 217

Gender data from the last census states that for the county of Essex shows that 51% female and 49% male (2011 census data – Office of National Statistics). Therefore, based on current reporting the Service is not representative of the community it serves. Our firefighter recruitment strategy includes a range of positive action to address this.

5.3.Ethnicity

There remains a lack of monitoring data available and it should be noted that it is not mandatory for employees to provide this information. Of the 675 (46.7%) employees who have provided this information, 96.1% self-identified as White British with 3.9% identifying as another ethnic grouping, in which the highest number identify as White Any Other.

All FRSs collect and provide ethnicity information to the Home Office, however 11.3% of employees did not state an ethnicity in 2017.

Home Office Fire and Rescue Authorities: Operational Statistics Bulletin for England 2015 to 2016 (published October 2016) states that the number and proportion of all Fire and Rescue Service staff were from an ethnic minority group has slowly increased since 2003 (the first year for which data are available). In 2003, 2.2% of staff were from an ethnic minority, increasing to 4.4% in 2016.

The last census data (2011) shows that ethnicity data for the county of Essex shows that Essex has become more diverse although, as with England and Wales figures, most of Essex residents are in the White ethnic group; at 94.4% however, Essex is less diverse than England and Wales overall (85.5%). There are smaller proportions in all other ethnic groups in the residents of Essex compared with England and Wales (2011 census data – Office of National Statistics). Nevertheless, based on current data the Service is not representative of the community which it serves.

3.9% of firefighters were from an ethnic minority group in England in 2017. This compares with 3.8% in the previous year. This has been caused by the number of white firefighters decreasing by a greater rate than the number of firefighters from an ethnic minority group (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017).

Table 5
Employee Group / 2017
White British / Other / Not Recorded
Wholetime / 34.7% / 2.2% / 63.2%
On Call / 50.7% / 1.6% / 47.7%
Control / 57.1% / 2.9% / 40.0%
Support / 54.0% / 1.3% / 44.7%
OVERALL / 44.9% / 1.8% / 53.3%

5.4.Employee Disability

Of the 716(49.5%) employees who have provided disability data, 0.7% stated that they have a disability.50.5% of all employees have not provided any information regarding disability. It should be noted that disability data is captured at the point of entry into the workforce, and updated information is not routinely captured during the post holder’s tenure.

Home Office Fire and Rescue Authorities: Operational Statistics Bulletin for England 2015 to 2016 (published October 2016) states that statistics are collected on disability however they are not sufficiently complete or comparable to publish at present. They are looking to improve their understanding of the statistics and the scope for improving the quality. Also these statistics would need to be heavily suppressed.

The Census 2011 shows that the proportion of population across England that are disabled was 18% and within Essex 17%.

Table 6
Employee Group / 2017
Has a current or previous disability / Has no disability / Not Recorded
Wholetime / 0.3% / 58.7% / 41.0%
On Call / 0% / 44.6% / 55.4%
Control / 0% / 34.3% / 65.7%
Support / 1.0% / 39.7% / 59.3%
OVERALL / 0.3% / 49.2% / 50.5%

5.5.Sexual Orientation

Of the 458 (31.7%) employees who have declared their sexual orientation, 96.3% identify asheterosexual and 3.7% identify as either lesbian, gay or bisexual.We believe the LGBTQ+ figure of3.7%is under-reported and is lower than the national estimate by Stonewall of 5-7%. The data from the 2015 Employee Staff Survey for 2015 showed that, of the 616 employees who responded, 82.6% identified as Heterosexual, 3.6% identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual and 13.8% preferred not to say.

There is no data on sexual orientation within the local community as the Office of National Statistics concluded that it would not include sexual orientation in the 2011 UK Census.

National figures have been available since 2011 and have shown the proportion of firefighters that stated they were gay, lesbian or bisexual has been 3% in each year between 2011 and 2017. The figures for fire control and support staff were also 3% over this time (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017).

Table 7
Employee Group / 2017
Heterosexual / LGBTQ+ / Not Recorded
Wholetime / 26.5% / 1.3% / 72.2%
On Call / 32.8% / 0.4% / 66.8%
Control / 42.9% / 5.7% / 51.4%
Support / 33.1% / 1.7% / 65.2%
OVERALL / 30.5% / 1.2% / 68.3%

5.6.Workforce joiner diversity

This year, the Home Office collected information on the diversity of those joining FRSs. The proportion of women, staff from an ethnic minority and younger staff within new joiners in 2017 was greater than from within total staff. (Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2016 to March 2017).

Specifically:

During 2016/17, 8.7% of new firefighters were women, this is greater than the current 5.2% of all firefighters that are women.
During 2016/17, 5.1% of new firefighters were from an ethnic minority group, this is greater than the 3.9% of all firefighters that were from an ethnic minority group.
During 2016/17, 72% of new firefighters were 35 or under, this is greater than the 26% of all firefighters that were 35 or under.

Table 8
Employee Group / 2017
Male / Female
Wholetime / 100.0% / 0%
On Call / 100.0% / 0%
Control / 25.0% / 75.0%
Support / 45.5% / 54.5%
OVERALL / 75.8% / 24.2%
Table 9
Employee Group / 2017
White British / Other / Not Recorded
Wholetime / 100.0% / 0% / 0%
On Call / 31.0% / 2.3% / 66.7%
Control / 0% / 0% / 100.0%
Support / 31.8% / 0% / 68.2%
OVERALL / 32.3% / 1.2% / 66.5%
Table 10
Employee Group / < 25 / 25-29 / 30-34 / 35-39 / 40-44 / 45-49 / 50-54 / 55-59 / 60-65 / 65 +
Wholetime / 0% / 75.0% / 0% / 0% / 25.0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
On Call / 31.0% / 26.4% / 17.2% / 9.2% / 2.3% / 6.9% / 5.7% / 0% / 0% / 1.1%
Control / 25.0% / 0% / 25.0% / 25.0% / 0% / 0% / 25.0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
Support / 16.7% / 12.1% / 10.6% / 15.2% / 6.1% / 16.7% / 10.6% / 4.5% / 7.6% / 0%
OVERALL / 24.2% / 21.1% / 14.3% / 11.8% / 4.3% / 10.6% / 8.1% / 1.9% / 3.1% / 0.6%

TURNOVER

Employee turnover refers to the proportion of employees who leave an organisation over a set period, expressed as a percentage of total workforce numbers (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). The overall total staff turnover figure for 2016 was 13.5% compared to 8.5% for 2017. Table 11 below provides the total staff turnover of each staff group.

Table 11
Employee Group / 2016 / 2017*
Wholetime / 13.5% / 6.6%
On Call / 11.2% / 10.8%
Control / 2.9% / 2.9%
Support / 19.2% / 9.3%
OVERALL / 13.5% / 8.5%

*2017 Annual Turnover is based upon average headcount during the calendar year.

The overall turnover rate for the Service is lower than the average total turnover rate for public sector services; 14.7% (XpertHR). Support Staff turnover has also significantly decreased from 19.2% in 2016 to 9.3% in 2017 a 9.9% variance. The higher turnover figure for Operational Staff in 2016 was a direct consequence of the Early Exit initiative hence the reduction in Wholetime turnover in 2017.

6.1.Leavers

In 2017 the total number of leavers from the Service was 121. The most common reason for employees leaving the Service was because of resignation, which accounted for 60.3% of all leavers. It should be borne in mind that the completion of exit interviews is voluntary, which reduces our ability to further analyse individual employees’ motivations for leaving, particularly where that departure is voluntary, rather than being enforced by reasons such as redundancy or dismissal.

Reasons for leaving

Table 12
Employee Group / Transfer to Other Service / Retirement / Resignation / Redundancy / End of Contract / Dismissal
Wholetime / 2.4% / 61.0% / 24.4% / 0% / 0% / 12.2%
On Call / 0% / 5.7% / 88.7% / 0% / 0% / 5.7%
Control / 0% / 0% / 100.0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
Support / 0% / 19.2% / 57.7% / 7.7% / 15.4% / 0%
OVERALL / 0.8% / 27.3% / 60.3% / 1.7% / 3.3% / 6.6%

Apart from retirement the main reason for leaving was broadly attributed to natural turnover with resignation accounting as leaving for On-call, Support and Control. Table 12 provides a further breakdown of this data and shows that the Control staffing group have the highest number of leavers for the reason of resignation followed by On-call duty system accounting for the second highest leavers due to resignations. This is consistent with previous trends and is mainly due to the fact that the majority of people taking on the On-call duty system will take on the role as secondary employment.

The 2 redundancies for Support Staff were in relation to the Stage 1 of the Management Review and the second was due to Corporate Communication restructure.

Exit questionnaires are non-compulsory and only 11% of leaver completed one during 2016 however this increased to 15.7% in 2017. There are steps in place to increase this further in 2018. Further analysis of the 19 exit questionnaires received during 2017 shows the most common reason for resignation retirement or end of fixed term contract. Whereas 2016 data showed the most common reason of salary. Potentially this could be because of the benchmarking work undertaken as part of the Job Evaluation project within the 2020 Programme.

Table13 shows the length of service of leavers, the highest category being over 20 years with 41.3%, this this is a reduction from 46.3% in the previous year.

Table 13
Employee Group / < 1 Year / 1-3 Years / 4-5 Years / 6-10 Years / 11-20 Years / 20 Years +
Wholetime / 0% / 0% / 0% / 2.4% / 14.6% / 82.9%
On Call / 5.7% / 20.8% / 9.4% / 18.9% / 26.4% / 18.9%
Control / 0% / 0% / 100.0% / 0% / 100.0% / 0%
Support / 15.4% / 7.7% / 0% / 30.8% / 23.1% / 23.1%
OVERALL / 5.8% / 10.7% / 4.1% / 15.7% / 22.3% / 41.3%
2016 / 1.1% / 20.0% / 3.2% / 10.0% / 19.5% / 46.3%

6.2.Joiners/Recruitment

Throughout 2017 there has been a distinct increase in joiners with 91 more staff being recruited than the year before. The largest group of joiners being On-Call followed by Support.

There was no Wholetime recruitment during 2016 due to a recruitment freeze in place between 2009 and 2016. This freeze was lifted in 2017 with the recruitment of 4 Wholetime firefighters.

Table 14
Employee Group / 2016 / 2017
Wholetime / 0 / 4*
On Call / 39 / 87
Control / 2 / 4
Support / 29 / 66
OVERALL / 70 / 161

*Four existing employees taking (in some cases, temporary) operational roles within Support functions.

ABSENCE

7.1.Sickness data

The reporting of sickness data includes calendar days rather than duty days as this reflects more accurately the actual data.

During 2017 there have been 12,600 calendar days lost due to sickness. Please note this does not include On-call sickness, only Wholetime, Control and Support. This is a 5.54% increase on days lost due to sickness in 2016.

If On-call managers enter sickness data onto MSS this pulls through the incorrect payment on SAP as it is unable to talk to the HBS system (the system which records all hourly work carried out by On-call employees, including turnouts and attendance time and attendance on training course. This data is exported monthly into SAP so that payment can be made). This system error means that it is not possible to configure payments for On-call to include average turnouts and attendances and the HR Support Team therefore have to manually calculate this figure. This system limitation means that we are unable to report on On-call sickness.

The estimated number of days lost per employee using this data is 8.7 calendar days per employee which is slightly higher than the CIPD average days lost per public sector employee per year 8.5 per employee in 2016, andthe same as 8.7 in 2015 (CIPD Absence Management Report 2016 Public Sector Summary).

Table 15 shows the breakdown of sickness absence by staffing group. Operational (Wholetime) have the highest number of days lost per employee at 14.8 days.

Table 15
Employee Group / Calendar Days Lost / Mean Days Lost per EE / Median Days Lost per EE / Days Lost to Long Term Absence* / Days Lost to Short Term Absence
Wholetime / 8,853 / 24.1 / 8 / 5,296 / 3,557
On Call** / See note below.
Control / 434 / 24.1 / 19.5 / 120 / 314
Support / 3,313 / 17.0 / 5.0 / 1,987 / 1,326
TOTALS / 12,600 / 21.8 / 6.0 / 7,403 / 5,197

* Long term absence is defined as any single period of absence lasting 28 days or more

** On Call sickness data not included due to current HRIS limitations which mean that we are unable to report On Call sickness from SAP.

Table 16
Employee Group / Calendar Days Lost / Median Daily Rate / Cost
Wholetime / 8,853 / £116.65 / £1,321,820
Control / 434 / £74.39 / £41,322
Support / 3,313 / £53.23 / £216,923
TOTALS / 12,600 / £1,580,066

Our data does not allow us to accurately report on the cost of employee absence. However, if a median salary is taken for each staff group and a daily rate is identified with on-costs then in 2017 sickness absence could have cost the Service in the region of £1.5m. Table 16 also provides the overall estimated cost of sickness absence for each staffing group based on the average salary with on-costs.

It is also not possible to report in detail on the causes of all absence however the HR Casework Team are able to report on the top causes of long-term absence cases with acute medical conditions, stress, mental ill health, musculoskeletal injuries and back pain topping the list. This is consistent with other Public sector organisations.

7.2.Attendance Management Cases

The HR Casework Team dealt with 130 attendance management cases during 2016, an increase of 39 cases from 2015 ranging from short term sickness to more complex long term sickness absence.

In comparison the HR Business Partner Team dealt with 133 attendance management cases during 2017, an increase of 3 cases from 2016 ranging from short term sickness more complex long term sickness absence. 75 attendance cases were closed during the period with full return to work.

There were 0 Ill-Health Retirements processed during 2017. This is a decrease from 5 during 2016. During 2017 there were no dismissals as a result of ill health capability.

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

This section provides an update on the number of formal cases being dealt with by the HR Business Partner Team in terms of disciplinary, grievance, and bullying and harassment.

8.1.Formal Disciplinary Cases

The formal disciplinary data can be found in figure 1.

Figure 1: Year on year formal disciplinary data

With the exception of 2011, where the figures were unusually high due to one incident which resulted in 44 employees being subject to disciplinary action, the figures have shown a steady year on year decline since 2011 for first and final written warnings however there was a slight increase of dismissals during 2015 with 6 dismissals however this has fallen to 3 during 2016.