Land Registry : EIA Managing attendance policy

Land Registry Report

Equality Impact Assessment - Managing Attendance Policy

HR Group

Contents

Introduction

Background

Methodology and Sources of Data

Assessment of Impact on Equality

Consideration of Alternative approaches/ Mitigation of Adverse Impact Monitoring Arrangements

Formal Consultation

Publication of Equality Impact Assessment

Conclusions

Annex

Printable version

Introduction

The screening of the draft managing attendance policy identified that it potentially could directly or indirectly impact on the following diversity strands.

- Race

- Disability

- Gender

- Religion/Belief

- Sexual Orientation

- Age

A full Equality Impact Assessment is therefore required. This report contains the assessment for the managing attendance policy.

Back to top

Background

Why do we need this policy

As a result of the HR Transformation project, local Personnel Offices (PO’S) will close and a centralised Human Resources Service Centre (HRSC) will be introduced at Nottingham Office.

Many of the duties, currently carried out in PO’s and by Assistant Personnel Managers and Personnel Managers, will in future, need to be carried out by managers in local offices.

The current policy is contained in the following publications:

- Guidance Notes for Managers

- Policy statement

- Personnel Managers Guide to Sick Leave

- Rehabilitation leave

- Sick pay at pension rate

There is now a need to produce a single document in electronic format to be made available to staff on Pearl, which supersedes the above documentation.

The Staff Handbook and the Conditions of Service Code will be updated to reflect any changes made in the new policy.

2.1.3 There is a need to have the policy written in-house style, in plain English and in straightforward terms so that all staff can readily understand it.

2.2 Perceived problems

The removal of on site personnel may create a situation where some managers feel they are left to deal with perceived personnel issues with no previous knowledge or experience.

Certain employees may feel uneasy about some, confidential issues, previously dealt with by personnel, being dealt with by line managers.

Some staff may doubt their manager's ability to maintain confidentiality.

Some managers may lack the confidence, skills or will to tackle sensitive personnel duties.

Back to top

Methodology and Sources of Data

3.1 Current Land Registry Policy

3.1.1 All current source material relating to managing attendance was collated and used as part of the research. This included latest instructions issued relating to the SAP system following the completion of HR Advance project.

3.1.2 Work sheets relating to syndicate exercises undertaken at the 2007 Personnel Conference were considered.

3.1.3 Personnel Managers were canvassed at regional syndicate meetings for specific areas of the policy, which they felt needed to be changed/improved.

3.2 Legislative Requirements and Research into Best Practice

3.2.1 Flint Bishop and Barnett provided advice on the interpretation of issues under the Data Protection Act. Tolley’s Data Protection Handbook also offered guidance of D.P.A. issues.

3.2.2 ACAS provided help and advice on best practice. They recommended Salford City Council’s policy as a good example of an up to date attendance management policy.

3.2.3 Examples of managing attendance policies from other government departments, local authorities and private sector companies provided valuable research material.

XpertHr, ACAS and the Information Commissioner provided legislative advice in respect of various elements of the policy.

Visits were arranged to Salford City Council, Orange and Abbey Plc where the operation of centralised HR Services was seen at first hand and key issues were discussed.

The following documents/ reports also provided valuable research material:

- 2005 Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service

- 2007 Land Registry Staff Survey

- Internal Audit Review – Managing Attendance

- Hu-Tech – Guidance on Upper Limb Disorders

- Occupational Health Nurse Trial Report

- HR Transformation Report

Business Requirements

The HR Transformation document sets out details of the new HR structure. The structure creates a central HR service centre in Nottingham and leads to the closure of all local personnel offices.

In order to facilitate this business change a new managing attendance policy needs to be drafted to reflect changes in procedures, systems and levels of responsibility. There is also a need to provide staff and managers with clear guidance on the operation of the policy, which will be accessible electronically by all staff.

Staff administering the policy from the HR Service Centre in Nottingham also need clear guidance on their associate roles and responsibilities in order to fully support the policy.

Focus Groups

The screening document identified that there was a possibility that the new Managing Attendance policy could create inequalities in terms of race, gender, religion and disability. The following meetings took place with the diversity focus groups:

- LGBT focus group at Head Office on 25/10/2007

- BME focus group at Coventry on 14/11/2007

- Disability focus group at Nottingham on 27/11/2007

3.5 Senior Stakeholder Groups

The initial draft policy was circulated to senior Stakeholders (Area Managers, Personnel Managers and Group Heads). Their comments were considered and alterations were made to the draft policy. The final draft policy was circulated to stakeholders for further comment on 30 January 2008.

3.6 Proposals

The policy is to be supported by a manager’s guide and copies of the draft guide will be circulated to stakeholders for comment. The guide and policy will form an integral part of training for managers. A training package will be prepared and delivered regionally to all managers by Learning and Development Group and supported by Personnel Managers.

3.7 Departmental Trade Union Side (DTUS)

3.7.1 The draft Managing Attendance policy was issued to the DTUS on 4 October 2007 prior to an initial meeting with representatives on 13 November 2007.

3.7.2 Two formal consultation meetings with DTUS representatives were held on 5 December 2007 and 11 January 2008.

Following these consultation meetings changes were made to the policy taking into consideration all stakeholder feedback and a copy issued to the DTUS on 30 January 2008.

Back to top

Assessment of Impact on Equality

See table of issues raised by diversity focus groups in annex to this report.

Back to top

Consideration of Alternative approaches/ Mitigation of Adverse Impact Monitoring Arrangements

See table of responses to issues raised by diversity focus in annex to this report.

6.1 HR Service Centre

The HRSC will have a pivotal role in the monitoring of the policy both in terms of equality issues and Land Registry staff as a whole.

They will monitor, by means of reports from the HR Advance (SAP) system, that return to work interviews are being completed correctly and on time by managers.

They will be able to ensure that the policy processes have been carried out correctly and appropriately by managers, giving advice and guidance were necessary whilst reviewing their case files.

They will advise and monitor referrals for occupational health advice with managers prior to and following referral. This will allow HRSC to provide feedback to Health Management about the quality and speed of service periodically.

They will be able to monitor grievances raised in respect of the application of the policy and in particular any cases of inequality.

6.2 Other sources of monitoring

The Head of Diversity will, as a result of membership of the 3 focus groups, be able to report back to HR if any areas of the policy have an inequality impact.

The DTUS will raise any equality issues, which come to light, as appropriate with management.

Back to top

Formal Consultation

Details of the formal consultations, which took place with the DTUS, Stakeholders and the three diversity focus groups are listed in sections 3.4, 3.5 and 3.7 of this document. Amendments to the original draft were made following feedback from these groups and a final draft issued.

Back to top

Publication of Equality Impact Assessment

The full impact assessment report will be published in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) on the Land Registry website to ensure full accessibility. Due to format of related papers, these will be published in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), which enables the assessment to be shared with other users around the world. Copies of the full report or related papers in alternative formats, including large print are available on request by emailing the Diversity Team at HRDiversity@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk

Back to top

Conclusions

This equality impact assessment of the Managing Attendance Policy highlights the potential barriers/concerns raised by the diversity focus groups. These will be resolved by mitigation, managers guidance material and training.

It is acknowledged that the training of all managers and HRSC staff, is vital in ensuring the new policy and procedures are applied effectively, and in a timely and consistent manner.

In addition to the policy and accompanying guide, the HRSC, the HR guidance page, our counselling and support services, the occupational health services, diversity, health and safety and other web sites will support managers and staff.

Back to top

Annex

	Issues Raised by LGBT Focus Group	Alternative approaches/ Mitigation of adverse impact
1	Concerns were raised about how the policy would deal cover/support staff undergoing gender reassignment surgery.	The managing attendance policy will have links to the transgender policy, which will be held on the diversity website. Managers will be advised and supported by the HRSC help desk.
2	Concerns were raised about privacy particularly were the relationship between employee and line manager was fragile. There were also concerns about the level of information required by managers in order to justify decisions e.g. requests for special leave etc.	There should be no question of staff being required to give more information about their private lives than is necessary. Managers should treat notification of sickness uniformly. Requests for special leave should be considered sympathetically. Where there are issues around relationships the counselling and support officer may be able to provide support to the application.
3	There should be no question of staff being required to give more information about their private lives than is necessary. Managers should treat notification of sickness uniformly. Requests for special leave should be considered sympathetically. Where there are issues around relationships the counselling and support officer may be able to provide support to the application.	Manager training will include guidance on communication taking place in private areas and confidentiality of all conversations and the information supplied under the DPA. Interview rooms should be used for such conversations.
	Issues raised by BME Focus Group	Alternative approaches/ Mitigation of Adverse Impact
1	Concerns were raised about managers understanding of equality issues.	Mandatory training for managers will include diversity issues. Learning and development are preparing training packages. HRSC will provide expertise and advice to managers and will deal with any lack of appropriateness.
2	Where will Personnel files be located following HR Transformation?	Personnel files will be held at Nottingham following HR Transformation.
3	How will managers gain more knowledge in respect of certain medical conditions, which affect some groups more than others e.g. Sickle cell condition?	The impact of some medical conditions relative to certain groups will be referred to in manager training. In practice, managers will be supported by HRSC help desk. Information will be found on the diversity website and ultimately managers will be advised through OH referrals.
4	Concerns that managers have a lack of knowledge of the impact of certain situations on different ethnic groups e.g. bereavement.	Diversity training for managers will raise awareness of cultural differences and allow full consideration in this area. Special leave provisions allow for differing amounts of time to be approved dependant on the circumstances. This is particularly so in bereavement requests. HRSC help desk will offer advice to managers. The Cultural Diversity Handbook provides useful information to all staff in this area.
5	Concerns about rights of accompaniment. There appears to be a shortage of ethnic union officials available to accompany ethnic members of staff.	Rights of accompaniment are not denied in the policy. If the issue is one of insufficient trained ethnic union officials, then the DTUS will need to give consideration to this area.
6	The following issues were raised in respect of concerns about confidentiality and privacy – Educating managers about the Data Protection Act. Lack of privacy in open plan working environments. IT staff having access to confidential e-mails and HRA information. Return to work interviews – ethnic minority women tend to want to discuss matters in private. Concerns about home visits taking place when they are absent from work.	Data protection issues will be discussed in manager training. Managers are accountable for adhering to legislation in this respect. Managers will be made aware of the need to consider use of private areas when conducting interviews. Manager training/ guidance will cover this. IT staff are allowed access to certain information but they are subject to regulations in respect of monitoring communications and disclosure. Consideration will be given by managers as to the location of return to work interviews for all staff. If the member of staff feels uncomfortable discussing issues in the working environment then they should inform the manager accordingly. The policy makes reference to the fact that the manager only needs sufficient information to carry out return to work duties. If the reason for absence is of a sensitive nature then the member of staff may prefer to speak with the Counselling and Support Officer. The policy makes it clear that all meetings will take place in the office or at an agreed neutral venue. Home visits will only take place when the individual requests this, and even then the manager must be accompanied.
	Issues raised by the Disability Focus Group	Alternative approaches/ Mitigation of Adverse Impact
1	Who will decide if absence is Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) related or where the DDA is discounted.	Only the chair of an Employment Tribunal can decide if an individual is covered by the DDA. Our occupational health advisers will provide advice to managers on DDA issues and the HRSC will offer guidance to managers.
2	How will managers be trained in respect of the following areas – Sub conscious bias Insufficient knowledge of DDA Dilution of knowledge following removal of on site Personnel. Managers always changing.	Disability awareness training is currently being delivered to managers. Disability guidance is available on the diversity website. Reasonable adjustments under the DDA will be discussed as part of the managers training in the managers training. HRSC will provide expertise and guidance. Disability Rights Commission Guidance indicates, decisions relevant to the DDA should be taken by (a) the individual, (b) the health adviser and (c) the manager. We will ensure that guidance and training material is sufficiently robust. Specific training teams consisting of LMT’s and PM’s will deliver the training on a regional basis. Stakeholder feedback indicates that senior managers are aware of the need for this level of training to be delivered in order to support HR Transformation.
3	Concerns about confidentiality from managers.	DPA issues will be referred to in manager training. Managers are accountable for adhering to legislation. In order for managers to manage disability issues they must be aware of the disability.
4	What if an individual does not want manager to know about their disability?	You are not obliged to disclose a disability to your manager. Your manager is however still obliged to make reasonable adjustments. For example the OHA etc. may instruct your manager to make reasonable adjustments but may not pass on details of your disability as you have not consented to them doing so. Your manager will need to make the adjustments without knowing precisely why they have to do so. This area will be referred to in manager training.
5	Concerns about the Occupational Health Service – Who polices the policy? Concerns about inconsistencies in reports from OHA Reports will be worse when managers are completing them.	The policy will be policed by the HRSC who will approve all occupational health referrals, check and advise on returned occupational health reports, ensure that agreed service levels are adhered to and monitor the results of discussions between staff and their managers. The occupational health service, need to be made fully aware of an individuals disability and consider this when arranging an independent medical assessment (IMA). Access to buildings is a particular issue. HRSC will screen and provide guidance to managers on the completion of written referrals to our occupational health service. Training will also be given to HRSC staff to ensure consistent application of the policy.
6	Will individuals be allocated to a specific adviser or is it a mix and match?	HRSC will open a case file for each individual case; the same case manager will generally manage the file. Cannot give assurances that if the case continues in the future that the same case manager would be involved. This could be down to unavailability of previous case manager or speed of service.
7	Concerns that managers will have conflicting priorities with key focus being on production. They may not have time to deal with DDA or other personnel issues.	Managers conflicting priorities a valid concern hence the emphasis in the managers training programme on the managing attendance policy. The HRSC has an overseeing role to ensure that the policy is being applied consistently and in a timely manner across the organisation. Reports from SAP will allow them to monitor this area.
8	What happens if a persons DDA problems re occur?	Managers will be required to check that reasonable adjustments are still effective and to make further referrals as necessary. This area will be referred to in manager training. HRSC will monitor the situation.
9	When disabled staff move who informs the new manager?	Existing adjustments may have been agreed from three sources (a) the staff appraisal form,(b) a DSE assessment, (c) an OHA referral. The current manager should confirm with the new manager what adjustments have already been made. And who was involved in the recommendation. The new manager should acquaint him or herself with advice already given, and subsequently speak to the member of staff to confirm that the current adjustments are still appropriate. If further adjustments need to be considered they should speak with the HRSC who will advise on the best way to proceed. This will be referred to in the manager training. Disability surveys will continue to be issued following HR Transformation.

Back to top