People Performance Disagreements

The following details have been supplied by PCS DWP Group:

Mid-year indicative ratings

This briefing clarifies the process for resolving disagreements under the new Grievance Procedure.

Discussion with manager

The aim of the performance management system is to encourage open and honest discussion between the employee and manager to deal with difficulties or disputes at an early stage so that they can be resolved along the way. Regular performance discussions throughout the year allow the employee and manager to discuss issues informally as they occur. The final end-of-year assessment should not come as a surprise to the employee.

The new grievance procedures are for use to resolve People Performance disagreements. All grievances should be resolved by Employee Action or Manager Action if it is possible to do so satisfactorily (Grievance Procedure 5.6).

Where this is not possible, employees may raise their issue formally under the formal grievance procedures (link will only work on DWP network). It is best practice to try to resolve disagreements informally in the first instance and only resort to formal action as a last resort. However, the right to raise a formal grievance and appeal is available under People Performance Procedure13.

Summary of grievance process

There is a procedural emphasis on informal action, under the Employee Action or Manager Action options where possible in the first instance, with a requirement for mangers to engage constructively with employees. The revised grievance process is simply summarised under Grievance Procedure 5.3:

Employees are expected wherever possible to progress their issue using the Employee Action or Manager Action procedures. Managers are required to engage constructively with employees to ensure the Employee Action and Manager Action procedures are meaningful and effective.

However, the right to raise a formal grievance remains under 5.3 (supported by Grievance Advice Q&A 2) on the basis that:

Should the issue remain unresolved and, upon further reflection, the employee believes it is reasonable to do so, employees may have their grievance dealt with under the Management Investigation procedure.

The employee may submit their case for Management Investigation on form G1 after a period of reflection but within 30 working days of the decision/event or issue taking place (Grievance Procedure 5.7).

Deadly BP cost cutter to head UK Civil Service

A former oil executive criticised for his role in a deadly BP refinery explosion, and whose last oil company was fined over 50 health and safety violations connected with fracking, has been appointed the first chief executive of the Civil Service.

Earlier this year John Manzoni was appointed to lead the government's Major Projects Authority (MPA), following his former BP boss Lord Browne into the Cabinet Office.

He is due to start his new role as civil service chief on 13 October, with a salary of £190,000 a year.

The government said: “John Manzoni was chosen following an external competition which highlighted his proven track record in running large, complex, commercial organisations and his reputation for creative strategic thinking and a focus on results.”

Announcing the appointment, David Cameron said Manzoni’s private sector experience put him in the “perfect position to accelerate the pace” of civil service reform, including further cost-cutting in Whitehall.

While at BP, an internal company report published in 2007 found Manzoni should be held accountable for the Texas City refinery blast that killed 15 people and injured 170. He resigned from the company shortly after publication of the report, which criticised Manzoni’s focus on results and the company’s related cost-cutting measures.

He then took up a role as chief executive at Talisman Energy, a company heavily engaged in fracking in the US. In July 2012 Talisman agreed penalties of more than $60,000 for alleged violations in reporting hazardous chemicals at 52 sites in Pennsylvania. Manzoni left his Talisman post shortly after.

Another BP old boy hand-picked by the prime minister is at the heart of the UK’s safety regulatory system. Former BP Alaska and North Sea chief John Morgan was appointed by David Cameron last year to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) board. Like former BP colleagues Lord Brown and John Manzoni, Morgan has been criticised in reports and the courts for corner-cutting on safety.

Voluntary Exit Scheme in Work Services.

3,600 Job Cuts Announced

The following details have been supplied by PCS DWP Group:

DWP have announced a large scale voluntary exit scheme across the whole of the Job Centre network. This exercise is aimed at cutting up to 3,600 jobs. The staff will leave DWP in June 2015.

Who is eligible to apply?

1. All AO’s in WSD (excluding Visits, Access to Work and National Partnership Team and the staff recently allocated to Contact Centre satellite sites)

2. All EO’s in WSD (excluding most Work Coaches, Visits, Access to Work and National Partnership Team).

3. EO Work Coaches are eligible to apply in the following Districts only

·         Surrey and Sussex

·         Devon Cornwall & Somerset

·         Thames Valley

·         Cumbria and Lancashire

·         East Anglia

·         Midland Shires

4. All HEO, SEO and Grade 7 staff in WSD (excluding Visits, Access to Work and National Partnership Team).

How many in each grade?

Management are anticipating that staff will be allowed to leave by grade as follows:

·         AO’s - up to 2,100

·         EO’s - up to 1,100

·         HEO to Grade 7 - up to 350

In addition small scale voluntary exit schemes will be run in BD, NSD and UC aimed only at AA’s and a handful of senior managers in NSD. AA’s who have already applied to earlier exit scheme are not able to apply to this scheme Also AA’s in PIP and DLA are not eligible to apply.

Why are DWP doing this?

DWP claim that in 2015/16 they will have 7,000 more staff in WSD than they will need. This is mainly as a result of year on year cuts to departmental budgets and also to the ongoing falls in the JSA register. DWP would have preferred to allow more staff to leave WSD but 3,500 exits is the most that MyCSP is able to handle at any one time.

PCS says DWP needs more staff not less

At a time when DWP is actually recruiting new staff and even resorting to bringing in temps from the Brook Street Bureau, it is madness for DWP to say it needs to run such a massive exit scheme. All over DWP members are under enormous pressure to deliver more with less. They are routinely threatened with PIP’s and face ever-increasing targets and benchmarks.

Can WSD cope?

PCS does not accept that WSD can cope with losing over 3,000 staff overnight. This will put even more pressure on the staff remaining and will degrade the service we can deliver to customers. Earlier this year DWP allowed too many staff to leave on Voluntary Exit schemes and then had to recruit staff to replace those they had allowed to leave. It is only too likely that they will end up doing the same again

Falling unemployment

It is true that unemployment has been reducing recently but any staff that may be saved as a result could be redeployed into other parts of DWP to relieve the pressure elsewhere and remove the need for unwelcome measures like agency temps and increased privatisation of our work. Also unemployment can go up as well as down and it makes no sense in the long term to lose so many experienced and skilled staff in such a volatile economic climate.

Government budget cuts

Falling unemployment is only one reason behind this exit scheme. The main reason is that year on year since 2010 DWP has faced savage cuts to its staffing budgets. DWP now employs 30,000 staff less than it did in 2010. This reduction is almost exclusively the fault of the government’s cuts to DWP budgets. Once again it is staff in the public sector who have to pay the price of the economic crash in the private sector.

Terms of the Exit Scheme

The terms of the exit schemes will be the standard terms as used in all other recent voluntary exit schemes. Any individual exit that is estimated to cost over £100,000 will be subject to a specific review by the Treasury. Not all staff who apply will be allowed to leave and some staff are likely to be deemed business critical, particularly those in Job centres close to areas where DWP is expanding.

Pay 2015

The last day of service for staff leaving under this scheme will be 30 June 2015. Under DWP rules, this will mean that they will not be eligible to receive any of the 2015 DWP pay award including the non-consolidated payment relating to the current performance year.

Frackers could be allowed to use 'any substance'

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
The UK government plans to allow fracking companies to put “any substance” under people’s homes and property and leave it there, under an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill debated by the House of Lords this week.

The government said the change was part of a package of controversial measures “vital to kickstarting” shale gas exploration. Chemical exposures during fracking operations in the US have been linked to a number deaths.

Tony Bosworth of Friends of the Earth said the amendment would allow companies to dispose of fracking fluid, often contaminated with toxic metals and radioactive elements. “The government appears to be trying to sneak through an amendment which would allow fracking firms to reinject their waste under people’s homes and businesses. Reinjection has caused countless problems in the US and you have to question how far this government will go to make fracking a reality.”

Cabinet chief £20k exes for second home.

The Daily Mirror covered an interesting article about Francis Maude claiming £20k expenses for a second home. The full article can be viewed here.

Check how little your pay has gone up in the last 6 years

PCS urges all DWP staff to go to RM and check how their pay has been affected by the Government pay and pensions policy over the past 6 years since the economic crash.

The two example below show clearly how increased pension contributions and the pay freeze have left us worse off as inflation soars ahead of wages.    

Example 1 an AO in East London

An AO in East London found by checking on RM that his monthly take home pay in September 2008 was £1,437.10. Monthly take home pay in September 2014 is now £1,438.64. So in 6 years take home pay has gone up by only £1.54.

Example 2 an EO in London

An EO in East London found by checking on RM that his monthly take home pay in September 2008 was £1,805. Monthly take home pay in September 2014 is now £1,816. So in 6 years take home pay has gone up by only £11 a month.

Whatever tiny pay rise these staff have had has been swallowed up by the increased pension contribution.

Important Notice regarding the Branch Hardship Fund

The Branch has set up a Hardship fund to support members who have encountered financial hardship as a result of taking strike action.

The term "financial hardship" means for example that you need to pay for a prescription but do no longer have the funds to buy it.

If you wish to make a claim to the Branch hardship funds then please see the information at the top of this blog first, then contact the Branch Office.

Garston Contact Centre members take 5 days strike action to oppose office closure

In May PCS members in Garston Contact Centre in the DWP Liverpool Branch voted by a majority of five and a half to one in favour of strike action to fight the closure of the office.

95% of PCS members at Garston Contact Centre supported two 1 day strikes on 16 May and 23 June to fight the proposed closure of their office and the forced transfer of all staff to either Bootle CC or Birkenhead CMG. On both strike days around 30 pickets including ordinary members made lively picket lines.

PCS members at Garston will now take 5 days strike action from

Monday 13 October to Friday 17 October. 

Members Angry

Members are angry because management say they need to close the office to save money but DWP management have not taken into account the needs of the staff. Garston, Bootle CC and Birkenhead CMG are not offices next door to one another. Most members will face difficult journeys and even management accept that a good number of staff are outside their contractual mobility for both offices.

Over a 1,000 DWP jobs have been cut in Liverpool in the last decade and many members at Garston are only there because they had to move there when DWP shut the Liverpool Pensions and Liverpool Call Centre sites.

For some staff closing Garston would mean their second and in some cases third forced transfer due to cuts and office closures over the last ten years. 

Concessions agreed

The Group Executive Committee (GEC) has fully opposed the closure and supported fully the members. So far negotiations supported by strike action have achieved several welcome concessions such as:

• Excess fares extended from 3 to 5 years
• Alternative postings to Belle Vale office for all staff with mobility, health or caring problems.
• Agreement to recruit at Birkenhead CMG instead of compulsorily transferring Garston staff to Birkenhead CMG. 

Despite these concessions the great majority of staff will still be compulsorily transferred to Bootle if Garston closes. Management have described this as a lift and drop of the work but our members at Garston say - you can’t lift and drop people and treat them like office furniture. GEC say this is a closure too far.

Reasonable union proposals rejected

PCS only takes industrial action as a last resort. After a series of further talks the GEC this week escalated negotiations to a meeting with the Network Services Director Myrtle Lloyd. The GEC again fully opposed the closure of Garston and put forward what we believe are very reasonable proposals for setting up a satellite contact centre nearer to Garston as an alternative to compulsory moves to Bootle if DWP insist on closing the Garston site.

Management refused to agree to set up a satellite mainly on grounds of cost. Yet management have already set up satellite contact centres in Skegness, Luton, Lancaster, Redruth, Boston and Gravesend where nobody wanted them.

Now when creating a satellite site would overcome the genuine concerns of staff at Garston suddenly there is no money. The GEC stressed strong disappointment at this response.

50% Strike pay

All PCS members will take part in a 1 day national strike on Wednesday 15 October as part of a TUC week of action for fair pay with millions of other public servants in Local Government, the NHS and Education.

The PCS national disputes committee has agreed to authorise 50% strike pay for all members that take part in the 5 day strike over the closure of Garston CC. Strike pay will be paid for 4 days – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but not the national strike day on Wednesday.

Garstons fight is your fight

These 5 days of strike action by our members at Garston shows their fantastic commitment in their fight to keep their office open. It will mean a considerable loss of pay for them.

The closure of the Garston CC is part of the government and DWP cuts. The NEC and the GEC believe that the Garston members fight is a key part of the bigger fight against the cuts that affect every PCS member. The action they are taking is action on behalf of us all. 

Urgent bucket collections

That is why the GEC is strongly calling on ask every member to give generously to help the members at Garston financially. Let’s make sure that members at Garston fighting to keep their office open are not left out of pocket.

Please send donations to – Mr A. Campbell. 67A Garston Old Road, Liverpool L19 9AD. Made payments out to - PCS DWP Liverpool branch hardship fund

Don’t sell out our safety

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
The Government’s attacks on health and safety, including swingeing cuts to the Health and Safety Executive’s budget and the erosion of its inspection and enforcement functions, could jeopardise long-term improvements in standards at work, retail union Usdaw has warned.

Speaking on the 1 October 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act taking effect, Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett said the law was “one of the most important pieces of legislation” ever introduced. “This legislation has stood the test of time, with much of it still used regularly by our army of Usdaw health and safety reps,” he said.

But he warned: “Today our concerns lie in enforcement and inspection of workplaces. The current government is obsessed with deregulation, claiming that health and safety inspections are not needed for ‘low risk’ workplaces such as shops and offices. It simply isn’t true that it’s only people who work in ‘dangerous’ industries who are at risk. Cuts and political interference from Ministers mean that most workplaces are no longer being inspected.”

SSCL PCS members vote YES to 2.3% pay increase

Shared Services Connect Limited (SSCL) PCS members have voted by 150 to 9 in favour of accepting the 2.3% consolidated pay increase offer from SSCL. The increase will be paid at the end of October and backdated to 1 July 2014. Thank you to all of the members who voted.

 

Further talks will be held between SSCL and PCS later in the year about a bonus to be paid in early 2015.

 

PCS met SSCL management on Thursday 2 October as a part of our regular negotiations on pay, jobs and conditions of service. A brief report of the meeting is set our below.

 

Management gave PCS an update on the figures for Voluntary Exits, Voluntary Redundancies and Staff redeployed back into the Civil Service.

 

At the closing sites the numbers facing potential compulsory redundancy remains very high at over 170 with the biggest numbers at Sheffield and Cardiff. PCS are continuing to raise this with DWP management.

 

PCS raised concerns about a general lack of information around transformation. SSCL are still in talks about their bid for Ministry of Justice shared services. The outcome would be likely to affect transformation. SSCL agreed to provide PCS with a full report at the next meeting.

 

Management gave notice of their intention to consult PCS at the next meeting about flexi. If you have any comments or queries about flexi policy please let us know.

 

The next PCS national meeting with SSCL is on 6 November. If you have any queries please pass them to your local PCS rep or email to stevec@pcs.org.uk

 

Steve Cawkwell (PCS Negotiations Officer)

Jack Papasava (PCS Negotiations Officer)

Marion Lloyd  (PCS NEC Member)

Don’t participate in the 2014 People Survey

I say I say I say, when is Voluntary Participation Industrial or Political Action?

An all Members Briefing asked members to not participate in the DWP People Survey. Senior DWP management have protested that distributing the briefing by Departmental email was a breach of the Employee Relations Framework.

The ERF forbids Industrial or Political materials to be circulated.

The PCS DWP Group Executive Committee have pointed out that the members briefing does not refer to industrial action and although the Staff Survey is a national government civil service wide policy participation is voluntary.

The GEC does not accept that campaigning against a voluntary policy breaches the Employee Relations Framework. However, the GEC believes it is important that PCS activists in the DWP reps are not placed in difficult circumstances when distributing PCS briefings to members.

To help overcome any problems a prominent new link has been set up at the top of the DWP page of the PCS website headed "Boycott the 2014 People Survey" at:

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/index.cfm

Clicking on the link takes you straight to all DWP GEC briefings on the People Survey.