We were so pleased to have over 1300 people join us during the event. Following the updates, there was a 45-minute question and answer session and we want to thank everyone who raised a question during the question and answer part of the event. We appreciate this was a half term week but we have made the recording available for anyone who missed it. We’re going to take a pause now on these events over the summer period until our next live Teams event, when we will share the results of our 2023 employee survey.
Watch the organisation action plan update event recording
Though we weren’t able to answer all your questions, we did want to get back to you and address some of the ones we didn’t get to.
We were asked some questions about the additional day’s annual leave as part of the pay settlement for 2022 to 2023 and the pay award for this year.
We will continue to keep you informed about the pay award and your terms and conditions through Our Derbyshire, so please look out for your regular e-newsletters.
Here is a summary of the current position as of 15 June 2023.
The current 2023 to 2024 national pay offer
Pay awards for our employees are negotiated nationally.
Following national negotiations, the national employers’ organisation has presented its final offer to the trade unions.
Here is an outline of how the pay offer, if accepted nationally, would increase Derbyshire pay scales, from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024:
- colleagues on grades 1 to 13: an increase of £1,925 (pro rata for part-time employees)
- colleagues on grades 14 to 16: an increase of 3.88%
- in addition, an increase of 3.88% on all flat-rate allowances is proposed, which would include payments such as standby, sleep-in and first aid
This offer would provide a lowest rate of pay of £11.59 per hour and, if accepted, would represent an increase ranging from 9.50% at grade 1/2 to 3.88% at grade 16.
National trade union response to proposed 2023 to 2024 national pay award
All 3 recognised trade unions have confirmed to the national employers’ organisation that they have rejected the offer. Approximately 23% of our employees are members of a recognised trade union. Unison, Unite and GMB have confirmed they will be holding ballots for strike action which will take place from June to September, depending on the union. Members of trade unions will be contacted direct by their union regarding voting arrangements.
Additional leave
Any changes to terms and conditions (not related to pay) are agreed locally rather than nationally.
In 2010, we adopted the ‘Derbyshire Package’ local terms and conditions rather than the nationally negotiated terms and conditions known as the ‘Green Book’. As a result, changes to non-pay terms and conditions, such as annual leave, are consulted locally with the recognised trade unions and are not applied unilaterally from national agreements.
We've taken the decision not to apply the additional 1-day annual leave negotiated nationally as part of the 2022 to 2023 pay agreement.
This decision was made for the following reasons:
- our annual leave entitlement from 1 April 2023 for those with less than 5 years’ service is already on a par with the new national minimum entitlement.
- employees with more than 5 years’ service and those on grade 10 and above have a more generous annual leave entitlement compared to the national agreement.
As a result, none of our employees are at a disadvantage when comparing our existing annual leave entitlements to the increased national entitlement.
Are there any planned changes to mileage rates?
There are no planned increases to the rate of mileage. We apply the recommended HMRC mileage rate of 45p per mile and, should this be reviewed, we will further consider the mileage rate aligned to any amended HMRC rate.
What is the process to apply for a job to be re-graded?
If a role has changed since it was evaluated then the manager should contact the HR business partner in the first instance to discuss the changes required who will support the manager to review the job and person profile and complete the Job Evaluation Request form ahead of the role being assessed by the pay and reward team. Find out more about job evaluation.
Can we review the annual leave disparity between grades?
We’re continually reviewing our employee offer and working to consider different aspects we can consider in the future, so thank you for raising this and we will consider it further.
Can we hold open days and “bank” people to contact reference vacancies?
The recruitment team regularly attend open days and jobs fairs to build talent pools for various jobs. We don’t currently formally store the information of potential candidates but do plan to explore the option of doing this whilst procuring a new recruitment system. Managers are encouraged to keep their own banks of appointable candidates following recruitment processes and candidates can be offered roles up to 6 months after an interview process without the need to re-interview.
Are we planning on offering visa partnerships to aid with the recruitment?
A business case has been put together for international visa sponsorship, it will be submitted in June and if approved we will register for a licence and begin onboarding international workers towards the end of the year.
Can we have a bit more information on the accessibility audit?
The accessibility audit is designed to help us understand how well the building performs in relation to access and ease of use, including for people with mobility, cognitive and sensory needs. We will be carrying out a full accessibility and sensory audit on every room and identifying access to the nearest facilities. The audit will also include the accessibility of the overall building such as car parking facilities and lift access. The purpose of the exercise is to identify the most accessible areas and rooms and ensure these are allocated appropriately moving forward. Once the audit is complete, we’ll be updating all the floor plans to clearly show accessible routes and facilities.
Can we have some detail on where shared touchdown spaces are in different buildings?
View all the floor plans for County Hall.
Asset management have details of other touchdown areas, email karen.allen@derbyshire.gov.uk.
Are we looking into use of ID cards for building access?
This is being looked into as a possibility, particularly to link in with the introduction of print cards.
Is there a plan for more electric vehicle charging points?
The sustainable travel team have been working with colleagues across the council to develop our strategy to provide charge points across all sites within our estate. We hope to see charge points start to be installed at pilot sites by autumn this year, with a strategic roll-out across our estate continuing through to 2025.