Human Resources Coaching and Advice Service – Service Level Agreement 2016/17 – Children’s Centres

Introduction: Royal Greenwich HR Traded Services team can meet all the HR advice and support needs of your centre. We provide a traded service in line with statutory requirements that offers a responsive, high quality HR consultancy and advisory service within a framework of confidentiality, professionalism and pragmatism. We provide a dedicated service to schools, academies and children’s centres, supporting the focus of improvement and the delivery of teaching and learning to pupils. Buying our HR services will enable Service Leaders to carry out all their statutory responsibilities and be safe in the knowledge that they are using good employment practices and have access to supportive and practical HR advice.

The benefits of buying into our service:

If you buy into our traded HR Service you will receive the following benefits:

  • Staffed by experienced dedicated HR Advisors with knowledge of casework and a thorough understanding of the conditions under which schools, academies and children’s centres operate.
  • Access to advice from HR professionals, provided by telephone, email or visit as appropriate.
  • Access to the HR Traded Service micro site for regular employment updates; model policies and procedures and associated letters; forms and guidance notes and information relating to national and local terms and conditions.
  • Provision of detailed employee data on request and monthly absence reports (subject to the schools buying into the Royal Greenwich Payroll Service).
  • A minimum of a termly visit to each centre includingan Annual Health Check (subject to centre agreement).
  • HR staff well placed to liaise with other Royal Greenwich teams on your behalf to facilitate the appropriate resolution of issues e.g. occupational health, payroll, health and safety (subject to the centre buying into those services).
  • Working knowledge of teachers’ pay and conditions of service, Royal Greenwich pay and grading structures and relevant pensions information.
  • Collaborative working with centres to identify areas of concern and positive resolutions.
  • Advice and support to centres in matters relating to safeguarding allegations against staff.
  • Effective working relationships at both Royal Greenwich and regional level with trade unions and networks with external agencies such as LGE, NCTL, DBS and DfE.
  • Reassurance of access to, and continual review of, advice against relevant legislation and current best practice.
  • Links to the provision of statutory HR requirements e.g. advice on safeguarding checks and pre-employment checks.

Children Centre Client Responsibilities:

For us to meet our service standards and commitments we would require you to undertake the following:

  • To provide all relevant information and staffing data required to assist in the provision of HR advice.
  • To ensure we are fully aware of all relevant facts when dealing with a staffing or employment issue.
  • To specify any centre based time limits or constraints.
  • To advise us of any change in circumstances that may affect the work we are doing for you or advice we have given you.
  • To give as much advance notice as possible when requesting the attendance of a HR representative at a hearing/governing body meeting (including where possible, consultation over date and time).
  • To give as much notice as possible of any requirement for ‘one off’ consultancy that may be required.
  • To ensure that a senior member of the HR team is informed as soon as possible of any instance where you feel that the standard of service is less than satisfactory.
  • Provision of any other information requested to enable the HR team to comply with statutory requirements or its strategic functions defined by current or future regulations.

What our traded services offer:

Traded Services: The cost of the SLA covers the following services:

  • National/Local Conditions of Service - Notification of national pay awards and new conditions of service arising from the national negotiating machinery, and of any local agreements, for both teaching and support staff.
  • Pre-Employment Safeguarding Checks – Basic checks to support safer recruitment of staff i.e. Enhanced DBS disclosures, Barred List. The centre will be responsible for the cost of the DBS check. Rechecks will incur an additional charge (details available upon request)
  • Model Procedures – Provision of model procedures, relating to recruitment and selection, capability, discipline, grievance, redundancy, and sickness absence management.
  • Industrial Action - Written information will be provided on statutory advice. We will collate and provide information to corporate and external regional bodies on the effects of industrial action
  • Formal Termly Visits and Annual Health Check: -We will undertake a comprehensive annual HR Health Check of your centre. This will identify areas of best practice and risk, and come up with clear recommendations which we will support you with implementing.
  • Pay and Conditions of Service:
  • Advice and guidance on the interpretation and implementation of national decisions and regulations.
  • Provision of local and national information on employment issues such as salaries and benefits.
  • Advice on other matters relating to pay and conditions of employment for all categories of staff.
  • Provision of the interpretation of statements of terms and conditions of service (contracts of employment).
  • Capabilities/ Disciplinaries/ Grievances Casework:
  • Telephone advice and support on the implementation of the centre’s capability, discipline and grievance procedures.
  • Attendance by a member of the HR team to advise and support Centre leaders at all formal hearings/meetings, including hearings where dismissal is a potential outcome, subject to availability by prior agreement.
  • Advice and support throughout the process of investigation by prior agreement.
  • Attendance Management Casework:
  • Telephone advice and support on the implementation of the centre’s sickness absence management procedures.
  • Access to the Royal Greenwich Occupational Health Adviser (OH) (subject to the centre buying into the Royal Greenwich OH Service via the Health & Safety SLA)
  • Advice on how to proceed following receipt of OH reports.
  • Attendance at formal review meetings, subject to availability by prior agreement.
  • Provision of ill health retirement benefit calculations.
  • Advice and support on implementing robust and effective absence monitoring systems.
  • Employee Relations:
  • Telephone advice and support on all employee relations issues.
  • Advice and support on consultation processes e.g. when redundancy is possible with attendance at meetings if required.
  • Advice will also be given on timescales, statutory and procedural requirements and the preparation of documentation. Attendance at other hearings as appropriate and subject to availability by prior agreement.
  • Where required, liaison and negotiations with employee representativesaround settlement agreements, including drafting of agreements(at an additional cost).
  • Employment Tribunals:
  • Telephone advice and support on all issues relating to employment tribunals.

Additional Services:Additional bespoke services such as recruitment, training and consultancy tailored to suit your needs:

  • Workshops:Access to workshops offered on HR related matters
  • Workplace Mediation: A voluntary and confidential process for resolving workplace differences and disputes between colleagues through the assistance of trained and accredited mediators
  • Bespoke Training: Provision of training to suit specific centre needs i.e. policy workshops for Senior Leaders and staff, charged at an hourly rate or half day rate.
  • Consultancy: Tailored for specific needs.

Service Standards:

We have renewed our commitment to service standards and will:

  • Provide a telephone help/support line during office hours for our service related areas.
  • Fully trained and qualified staff to deliver the service and give effective and professional advice.
  • Provide a courteous and helpful response at all times, in person (by appointment only) or by telephone.
  • Acknowledgements to written and electronic correspondence within 2 days.
  • Respond to telephone calls within 1 working day.
  • Quality assurance assessed by use of questionnaires following casework and training courses.
  • Access to a formal complaints procedure.

Our office hours are:

Monday to Thursday 8.30am- 5.30pm

Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm

Pricing:

An annual fee is charged to centres buying into the service although there is the opportunity to buy extra services:

Annual Fee:

Includes all the services outlined above. Charges are based on the number of staff working at each centre (as at 30th September 2016) at a fixed rate £48.00 for each member of staff/employee i.e. a centre with 30 members of staff will be charged £1440 (30 x 48 = £1440).

Optional Charged Services:

Includes all services outlined above plus training, compromise agreements and consultancy tailored to suit your needs:

  • Access to half day workshops on model procedures: £40 per delegate
  • Workplace Mediation: Charged at a daily rate of £500
  • Bespoke training on HR issues: Charged at £100 per hour or £300 for a half day.
  • Consultancy: Charged at an hourly rate of £70 or £350 per day
  • Compilation of centre specific data e.g. TUPE transfers (where the school also buy into payroll) charged at £50 per employee
  • Settlement Agreements: payment of all legal fees
  • Fees for Legal support in preparation for and at Employment Tribunals will be provided upon request

Centres wishing to buy our HR Coaching & Advice Service will be required to opt in for the full financial year. For centres opting not to buy into the service in 2017/18will be required to give notice to the Schools’ HR team no later than 1st January 2017.

Contact details for senior HR Coaching & Advice staff:

Donna Cusack – HR Manager

Telephone: 020 8921 8259

Email:

Penny Gifford – Head of HR

Telephone: 020 8921 6237

Email:

Postal Address: Schools’ HR Team, Finance, Floor 3, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, SE18 6HQ.

Human Resources Coaching and Advice Service – Service Level Agreement 2016/17 – Children’s Centres

Level of service required ………………………………………………………………

Total Cost………………..………………………………………………………………

Name………………………………………………………………………………………

Position………………………………………………………………………………..….

School……………………………………………………………………………………..

Signed……………………………………………………………………………………..

Dated………………………………………………………………………………………

Once completed please return to:

Caroline Banin – Head of Direct Services to Schools

Professional Development Centre

1st Floor, 20 Orangery Lane, Eltham London SE9 1HN

Telephone: 020 8921 4704

Email: