Policy Updates
Wales - Human Resources - Mental Health
Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics
This policy sets out to detail how the service will support staff to follow their professional code of conduct. The policy has been reviewed and now includes reference to the CIW lines of enquiry. References have been checked and remain current.
Annual Holiday Policy and Procedure
This policy will support a service on the annual holiday rights of its staff. It has been updated to reflect the government announcement that days to quarantine when returning to the UK have been reduced from 14 to 10 days. References also updated to ensure they remain current.
Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure
Services will always have employees who are sick. This policy makes it clear what their obligations are as well as protecting individuals from contagious diseases etc. Services should always be conscious of health conditions of their employees and take appropriate action to investigate this and explore ways of getting individuals back to work. The policy has been updated in light of the self-isolation rules being reduced from 14 to 10 days; this includes when quarantining after arriving back in the UK. References have also been updated to ensure they remain current.
Capability Policy and Procedure
This policy is one of the main policies governing the employee and employer relationship and ‘capability’ is one of the potentially fair reasons for dismissal under the Employment Rights Act. There is a process to follow which ensures that the reason for a dismissal is fair and also that the fair reason for dismissal has been reached after following a fair process, both of which are key to ensure that there is no claim for unfair dismissal. This policy relates to issues of capability which are not linked to lack of capability due to ill health. For guidance on ill health capability, you should follow the Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure. The policy has been reviewed with Welsh Lines of Enquiry added and additions made to the content in sections 5.4 and 5.5. in particular. The Confirmation of Dismissal letter has also been updated. References have also been updated to ensure they remain current.
Training Policy and Procedure
This policy will support with the training and development needs of staff at the service. It has been updated to include reference to the registration requirement with Social Care Wales, sections 4.8 and 5.13 added. New reference also included and existing ones checked to ensure they remain current.
Lone Working Policy and Procedure
This policy will support services where staff are required to work alone. It has been reviewed with no significant changes and references checked and updated.
Minimum Wage Policy and Procedure
This policy is intended as guidance to employers about the issues to consider when determining if they are compliant with National Minimum Wage legislation. National Minimum Wage must be paid to all employees or workers that an employer engages, and a failure to do so can be both a criminal offence and also result in claims in the Employment Tribunal and/or the County Court. Employers should ensure that they read the policy fully and take on board all considerations. Employers should also note the imminent Supreme Court judgment due on the Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake appeal which governs the payments of on call allowances.
The policy has been amended to add further reading and to clarify some sections which may initially be more difficult to understand. These have been simplified as much as possible but this is a complex area and employers should take specific advice from their professional advisors if anything is unclear. The Welsh Lines of Enquiry have also now been inc
Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure
This policy details the process for whistleblowing at the service and has been reviewed with content streamlined and a new definition added. References updated to ensure they remain current.
Retirement Policy and Procedure
This policy will support the process where employees are considering retirement. It has been reviewed with 2 new documents added to the ‘Forms’ section. References have been checked and updated.
Moonlighting Policy and Procedure
This policy governs the rules when an employee or worker is seeking work with a third-party employer. It ensures that there is a process for permission to be sought and granted for employees by employers and also makes workers aware of their obligation to ensure that their employer knows how many hours they may be working elsewhere. The policy outlines the obligations that an employer is subject to, to ensure that there is no breach of the Working Time Regulations and any Health and Safety legislation and/or guidance as well as ensuring a two-way dialogue is created to share the necessary information between both parties. The policy has been updated to simplify the wording and procedures and also to introduce the option of a trial period for private working so long as this is subject to the employer being fully aware and in control of this and the Key Facts section has been updated to take account of this. An additional useful form has been added to request details of work done by the