We have a new co opted pc

Question

Who is asking the clerk for the staff job descriptions the clerk has replied to him telling him he can not see the job descriptions. I do not agree with the clerk and think this is a reasonable request and I think the clerk is wrong can anyone help on this Matter

Answer 1

Is the councillor asking for their contract or their job description? If it is the later then they should be given it with no quibble.  If its the former, then they could get a copy of the model contract as the contract of employment is a private document protected under the DPA 2018.

Comments

Er ... if the contract is protected in way you have suggested then how do you expect the councillors to understand and comply with its provisions (eg. the process for agreeing an uplift in pay and the date it applies from)?

---

By being on the personnel committee and having delegated powers to deal with staff matters. OP was asking about the job description though. I was just asking for clarification.

But why should a clerks contract be published openly? Why not everyone's working in the public sector?

---

All the new councillor is asking is to see all of the staffs jobs descriptions , having spoken to the clerk again to day  she is still saying she will not give them to him

---

Its a perfectly reasonable request and one that should be complied with.  I speak as a former clerk.

Answer 2

Both the contract and the JD should be published and open source documents

Answer 3

This is a complicated issue and one that has clearly divided opinion. I see no justification for refusing to share the job descriptions, although if there is a staffing committee and the councillor is not a member, I'd ask why.

The contracts of employment are a different matter. Imagine a newly-elected district councillor requesting a copy of the contract of employment of every person employed by the council. I doubt that they would be provided. Whilst there is a fundamental difference between the two tiers of government in that a district council would employ HR professionals to manage its employment responsibilities and a parish council is unlikely to do so, the legislative framework is the same for all levels of local government.

Looking at this from the GDPR point of view, the processing of the data must be limited to that which is necessary. How does one demonstrate that giving a new councillor a copy of a contract of employment is necessary to enable the council to perform its duties as an employer?

Comments

On the other hand it would be perfectly acceptable for that information to be given so that the councillor ( bound by the integrity required by their office) to enable them to have no doubts about what the employees duties entailed and thereby not exceed expectations of the employee.

---

Absolutely. Duties will be set out in the job description.

---

The new pc is saying it is because he does not have a description of there duties and responsibilities also saying the good councillors guide that as a councillor he is entitled to see job description . HR had a meeting a few months ago and renewed the staff job descriptions in a open meeting so I can not see why the Clark is refusing hie request

---

This will, I think be the first time I have disagreed with DavetheClerk; but the suggestion that a councillor can the denied access to the clerk's contract is, to me, just preposterous.

I trust we will happily agree to disagree!

---

I suggest that the new councillor has a private conversation with the Chair to explain the situation. It's also worth checking to see whether the job description is lurking somewhere on the Council's website from the last time it was advertised as a vacancy.

As a last resort, the Council would be obliged to provide it in response to a Freedom of Information request, so perhaps the Chair and Clerk could be made aware of this in a calm and sensible way, to help them to understand the situation. I'm rarely in favour of the use of FoI within a Council, as I see it as the start of a slippery slope, so hopefully that would not be necessary.

---

Happy to agree to disagree John, but my take on this is that the contract should be made available as and when an issue arises in relation to it and even then, only to those to whom the matter has been delegated.