ITEM GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE MINUTES Minute of the meeting held on Tuesday 10 June 2014 at 5 pm in the second floor Boardroom of the Springburn Campus. 1. Sederunt Ian Patrick, (Chair); John Barbour; Maureen Burke; Margaret Forsyth; Irving Hodgson, (ex officio); Elizabeth Robertson; and Alan Sherry, (ex officio). In attendance: Audrey Miller, (Vice Principal); Doreen Sneddon, (Director of HR); and Patricia McConnell, (for recording purposes). 2. Apologies Alex McCulla 3. Declaration of Interest There were no declarations of interest expressed. 4. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on Wednesday 5 March 2014 There were no matters arising and the minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read and an accurate account of the meeting held on 5 March 2014. 5. Matters Arising from Previous Minutes There were no matters arising from the minute that was not covered within the agenda. 6. Correspondence Members of the Committee noted the letter of thanks to the College from Councillor Gordon Matheson regarding their continued support for the Glasgow Living Wage. 7. Support Staff Terms and Conditions Update The Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development reported on the contents of the document and apprised the committee members of the next stage of the process. She informed members that following extensive negotiations Unison office bearers had agreed that there would be a ballot of members on the terms and conditions offered by the College. It was anticipated that the outcome of the ballot would be known by mid-july at the latest. 1
There followed considerable discussion with regard to the implementation of the support staff structure. The Principal informed members that the College would take steps to implement the support staff structure no matter the outcome of the ballot in order to ensure that the College could operate effectively and within budget from the start of the new academic year. On behalf of members the Chair thanked A Miller and her team for their efforts in making such significant progress in reaching this position on harmonised terms and conditions. ii) note the continued dialogue with UNISON representatives; and iii) request the Principal and Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development to bring forward an update report on progress. 8. Promoted Teaching Staff Structures The Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development reported on the contents of the document and informed the Committee of the progress in implementing the promoted Teaching staff Structure. She informed members that those appointed to promoted posts were contained in the report and that only one post remained to be filled following the completion of the latest round of interviews. The Vice Principal informed members that it was anticipated that this post would be internally advertised in early August 2014. The Chair congratulated the College on moving so promptly to ensure that the teaching staff management structure was in place prior to the commencement of academic year 2014/15. ii) congratulate the successful applicants to their appointment; and iii) request the Principal and Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development to bring forward an update report on the outcome of the re-advertising of the vacant post. 9. Policies and Procedures The Human Resources Director informed members that the Human Resources team were continuing to develop the final three HR policies and procedures in consultation with the College s recognised Trade Union. She informed members of the progress with each of these policies as follows: i ii The Attendance Management Policy and Procedure is at the final draft stage and following minor changes it is anticipated that agreement can be reached with staff representatives by the end of June; The Work Life Balance Policy which is determined by the terms and conditions agreed for Glasgow Kelvin College. The EIS/FELA has agreed their package of terms and conditions for their members; and it is anticipated that this Policy will be progressed once UNISON finalise their package of 2
terms and conditions for their members; and iii The Wellbeing Policy is being drafted with the Health and Safety Manager and again in consultation with the recognised trade unions. It is anticipated that all of the above policies will be considered at the first meeting of the Human Resource Committee in the new session. Following discussion members acknowledged that the College was making appropriate progress with policy development. and ii) request the Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development, and the Principal to bring forward an update report. 10. Safeguarding Update A Miller informed members that following the approval of the Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy and Procedure by the Board in December 2013 the College had taken a number of steps to ensure that this policy had been implemented. She reported that these steps included: i) an information session for College managers on the policy; ii) that annual briefings will be held with all staff on this policy; and iii) that information on Safeguarding will be included in the College staff induction programme. The Vice Principal further informed members that all staff would be issued with a briefing pack at the commencement of the academic year and this would also include information on Safeguarding. Having heard the Vice Principal members agreed to: ii) note that managers have been provided with guidance on the College Policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People and Vulnerable Adults; iii) note that managers will conduct annual briefings with their staff; iv) note that Safeguarding will be a key component of the College induction process for staff; and v) request the Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development, and the Principal to bring forward an update report 11. Organisational Development Update The Vice Principal informed members of the proposed Continuous Profession Development (CPD) programme for Teaching Staff which would ensure that unqualified staff would be afforded the opportunity to attend a Teaching Qualification Further Education (TQFE) programme within the resources available to the College. She informed members that as a consequence of a series of voluntary severance programmes at the three legacy colleges currently circa 65% of teaching staff held a recognised teaching qualification. Therefore the College had prioritised this aspect of 3
its CPD programme identifying twelve staff members who would undertake the TQFE at the University of Dundee in academic year 2014/15. She informed members that this would be a rolling programme over a number of years as the College sought to provide all teaching staff with access to the opportunity to attain a recognised teaching qualification. In addition the College was also establishing an in-house programme for those staff without a teaching qualification based on the Professional Development Awards (PDA) accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. In session 2014/15 forty-six staff would participate in these programmes. In response to questions A Miller informed members that there was an element of credit transfer from the PDA to the TQFE. Furthermore the College would also provide with its CPD programmes opportunities for staff to attain SQA qualifications in assessing and verifying which were required to deliver Scottish Vocational Qualification Awards. i) note the contents of this report ; ii) note the College approach to enable staff to develop the skills required for effective learning & teaching; iii) note the College commitment to supporting staff attain the TQFE; iv) note the CPD provision planned by the College for June 2014 and session 2014/15; and v) request the Organisational Development Manager bring forward an update report to future meeting of the Human Resources Committee note the contents of this report. 12. Equalities Update The Equalities report update was presented in two sections covering Equalities Mainstreaming and Equality Outcome Development ensuring that all activities undertaken by the College are in line with the Equality Act 2010. The Director of Human Resources informed the Committee of the progress made by the College to embed still further and mainstream equalities within the College. Members were informed that the College had developed an Equalities Statement and five Equalities Aims to assist with raising awareness of the Equalities agenda and gaining stakeholder buy-in. These had been developed and discussed with members of the Strategic Management Team, a copy of the Equalities Statement was provided to members for their information. She informed members that the five equality aims were intended to support the development of an equality culture rather than be a prospective checklist. Following discussion Members endorsed the Equality Statement and the five Equality Aims. Furthermore members welcomed the emphasis on culture rather than compliance when promoting the Board s equality agenda. In response to a question from the Chair it was agreed by the Committee to set a target date of the end of May 2015 for the production of the College s Mainstreaming Report and Equalities Outcomes. 4
Members of the Human Resources Committee agreed to ii) request that the Equalities Manager produces and submits a regular update report to this Board Committee 13. Integrated Human Resources and Payroll Systems D Sneddon reminded members that the College had purchased an Integrated Human Resource (HR) and Payroll software system, Cintra IQ, to support the decision to operate an in-house payroll function. She informed members that installation and implementation of one payroll date for Glasgow Kelvin College had been successfully achieved and that the first single salary run had taken place in April 2014. In response to questions D Sneddon informed members that staff were currently being issued with a paper payslip that it was intended to move to electronic payslips in due course. The HR Director further reported that a self-service function for individual members of staff would be introduced by the College next session which would provide staff with access to edit their personal data, such as qualifications, and CPD logs. D Sneddon also reported Auto Enrolment in pension schemes had been introduced for members of staff into a pension scheme if they meet the appropriate criteria. She informed members that it is anticipated that this will lead to an increase in staff costs. i) note the content of the report; ii) note the progress towards the implementation of a new integrated HR and Payroll system; iii) note the delivery of one in house payroll function; and iv) request that the Director of Human Resources bring a progress report to a future meeting of the Human Resources Committee. 14. Scottish Government Tax Arrangement of Scottish Public Sector Workers The Committee were informed of the obligation of the College relating to the tax arrangement for Scottish Public Sector Workers. Members noted that all individuals employed by the College are paid through the College payroll system. Recommendations i) note the content of the report and its appendices. 15. National Bargaining A Miller informed members that there were no further developments from the previous meeting on National Bargaining. Recommendations 5
Members of the Human Resources Committee agreed to request the Principal and Vice Principal, Human Resources and Organisational Development to bring forward a report on National Bargaining as appropriate. 16. Positive about Disabled People Standards D Sneddon informed members that the purpose of this report was to apprise members of the outcome of the assessment which Glasgow Kelvin College had undergone against the criteria for the Positive About Disabled People standard. She reported that following an external audit of College employment policies and procedures the College has been informed that it meets the required standard. The HR Director informed members that the College would require to undertake an annual audit in order to maintain accreditation under the standard and as a matter of course the outcome of these audits will be presented to the Human Resources Committee and to the Board of Management. Having heard the HR Director Members agreed to: i) note the contents of this report and its appendix; ii) note that the College has achieved recognition under the Positive About Disabled People Standard; and iii) note that this report will be presented at the next scheduled meeting of the College s Board of Management. 17. Equality Management Issues to be considered as a consequence of the consideration of the above agenda It was agreed that there were no new Equality management issues raised as a consequence of the business conducted at the meeting. 18. Risk Management Issues to be considered as a consequence of the consideration of the above agenda Item 13 Members noted that the introduction of the new payroll system was included on the Risk Register. After discussion it was agreed that the risk rating should not be at this stage, 19. Closure The meeting closed at 1835 hours and the chair thanked all members for their contribution to the meeting. 20. Date of Next Meeting The date of the next meeting is to be schedule. 6