Minutes of an HR Committee meeting held on Wednesday 5 February 2025 at Ruskington Parish Office at 11amam.

Present: Cllr C Bain (Chairman), Cllr AE Jennings, Cllr D Conway

Also in attendance: Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council)

No members of the public or press were present.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 11.05am.

1. To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.

All Councillors were present.

2. To receive declarations of interest and to consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.

None were declared.

3.  To approve as a correct record the notes of the last HR Committee meeting held on 17 October 2024.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to approve the notes as accurate Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Jennings, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.

4. To review / amend the following policies for recommending to Council:

   4.1. Dignity at Work: Sexual and General Harassment Policy

The policy was reviewed and suggestions for amendments were made.

   4.2. Sickness and Absence Policy and Flowchart for Managing Absenteeism and Sickness

Discrepancies between the policy and flow chart were noted.

Action: Cllr Bain to provide the Clerk with the amendments required for the above documents. Once revised, the policies and flow chart to be presented to Council for its consideration.

5. To resolve whether to exclude the public and press, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the staffing matters below.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the public and press to consider the staffing issues matters below. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Jennings and approved unanimously.

6. To review the sick pay arrangements for staff not employed on NJC contracts for recommending to Council. (The current fixed term amendment to contract expires at the end of January 2025).

Changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) legislation were still being considered by the Government.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the fixed term amendment be extended for an additional sixth months.  This would be reviewed in June 2025. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Jennings and approved unanimously.

7. To consider staff involvement in the community emergency plan and agree recommendations for making to Council.

No member of staff had responsibility for monitoring Beck levels, or the weather, and there was no expectation for staff to deal with emergencies outside of their usual working hours.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that when staff worked outside of their usual working hours to deal with an emergency, this would be recognised and, at the discretion of their line-manager, staff may be able to claim this time back as TOIL or flexitime. Any discrepancies to be raised with the HR Committee. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.

8. To review/consider staff workloads, health and wellbeing.

The Clerk provided an overview of workloads and changes to staff job descriptions.

Action: The Clerk to meet with staff members to discuss the best balance of workloads. Any changes required to job descriptions would require staff consultations and approval from the Council.

9. To agree the date for the next HR Committee meeting and consider any items for the agenda.  (Next scheduled meeting is 23 September 2025).

Action: A meeting to be held in April to discuss sick pay arrangements for staff not employed on NJC contracts, and a meeting in June to discuss the arrangements for cleaning the public toilets. Dates to be confirmed.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 12.06pm.