NLC Upate (16/05/15)
I know It's early days yet, but so far at least North Lanarkshire Council has not been in touch to take up my offer to carry out a further Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for absolutely free!
The bargain of the year, if you ask me.
Now even if the Council feels a bit nervous about that prospect, I imagine that the trade unions can see how much sense this would make because no one knows the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement better than me, as I led the negotiations with the Scottish council employers during my time as Unison's Head of Local Government and chief negotiator in Scotland.
I was also directly involved in the design of the Scottish job evaluation scheme (JES) as it should have been applied back in1999 - 2002 (never mind 2006/07) which means I'm ideally placed to help North Lanarkshire Council get things absolutely right this time around.
So let's hope the phone rings soon because I'm ready and raring to go and it's not every day I offer to work without charging a fee.
Now even if the Council feels a bit nervous about that prospect, I imagine that the trade unions can see how much sense this would make because no one knows the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement better than me, as I led the negotiations with the Scottish council employers during my time as Unison's Head of Local Government and chief negotiator in Scotland.
I was also directly involved in the design of the Scottish job evaluation scheme (JES) as it should have been applied back in1999 - 2002 (never mind 2006/07) which means I'm ideally placed to help North Lanarkshire Council get things absolutely right this time around.
So let's hope the phone rings soon because I'm ready and raring to go and it's not every day I offer to work without charging a fee.
North Lanarkshire Update (01/05/15)
Here's my Action 4 Equality Scotland 'manifesto' on the way in which a further round of job evaluation should be carried out in North Lanarkshire Council to safeguard the interests of the workforce.
1 A firm from commitment from all parties to complete openness and transparency during the re-evaualtion process
2 Publication of all female dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection
3 Publication of all male dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection
4 Publication of all revised job descriptions and an opportunity for input/comment
5 Publication of all JES scores and individual JES factor scores
6 Publication of a 'rank order test' before any new proposals are finalised
7 Agreement to a further Equality Impact Assessment (prior to implementation) by an independent person not selected by the Council which revisit the issue of grade boundaries
2 Publication of all female dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection
3 Publication of all male dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection
4 Publication of all revised job descriptions and an opportunity for input/comment
5 Publication of all JES scores and individual JES factor scores
6 Publication of a 'rank order test' before any new proposals are finalised
7 Agreement to a further Equality Impact Assessment (prior to implementation) by an independent person not selected by the Council which revisit the issue of grade boundaries
Now I'm sure there will be lots of people within the workforce who would support this 'seven point plan' and I am happy to work with the trade unions as well to ensure that there is no repeat of what happened in the past.
So, I'm prepared to offer my services to carry out a further Equality Impact Assessment, not just because the last one didn't work out too well, but in order to achieve an outcome that is seen to be fair by everyone involved, especially the workforce.
In fact, I'll go further and say I'd be prepared to do conduct another Equality Impact Assessment free-of-charge which would also save the Council some money into the bargain.
