As you may have seen we were unhappy with a number of issues as outlined in our recent circular here.
The meeting was
extremely productive .
The following was discussed .
Employee Relations – management accepted that they have not consulted on issues they should have done . We have agreed monthly meetings with them , either face to face or telekit. The first will be in December
Unipods - They had been planning the introduction of Unipods since March and apologised for non consultation . Unlikely to be disbanded but they acknowledge the need for a bespoke DEA service , FULL upskilling of staff to cover the “Unipod Coach “following a robust skills analysis by line managers at 1;1, and a full evaluation of Unipod introduction and operation
35 Hour Jobsearch – They accepted this is not enforceable . It should not be embodied in KWO , nor should it form part of a Claimant Commitment
Busy Jobcentres – Risk assessments should have been carried out on all the new processes . They have requested examples where this has not been the case.
Hassle Factor – The document circulated was not commissioned by CEG management . Appropriate steps will be taken to address the unauthorised document.
Attendance Management – They stressed that CEG does not have its own policy and that national procedures must be followed . We gave examples of where this was not the case and have agreed to send more to the HRBP.We have suggested joint workshops on AM to which they agreed . They will come back to us
Must Improve Markings – They stated that again , there was not a CEG approach and the national criteria applies .
ESA Customers - They have seen some of the threatening invite letters . These will be withdrawn and a more appropriate invitation will be used as the invitation to attend voluntary interviews
They will write out to managers on the issues we have raised and hopefully we will see a much improved attitude to both staff and claimants in Central England WSD
