Variable Contracts January 2006

Transcription

1 Variable Contracts January 2006

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section No / Content Page No 1 POLICY INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED DEFINITION...3/4/5/6 3.2 Temporary Contracts...3/4 3.3 Sessional Contracts Seasonal Contracts Term-Time Contracts...4/5 3.6 Casual Contracts Annualised Hours Contracts Variable Hours Contracts...5 APPENDIX 1 COPY OF LETTER FOR VARIABLE CONTRACT...6 APPENDIX 2 COPY OF LETTER FOR CASUAL HOUR CONTRACT...6 Organisational Development HR Policy Framework Version /04/2015 Page 2

3 1. POLICY 1.1 The Council would like to achieve a consistent and flexible approach to variable hour Contracts that treats all contractual rights no less favourably than a full time employee. 1.2 The policy looks at different types of employment practices that are required throughout the Council due to the nature of the work or employment where an actual hour contract is not appropriate, this would be where the member of staff is contracted to work fixed hours per week or over a rota period and the pay does not vary from period to period. 1.3 The Council recognises the difference between statutory and contractual rights and that this needs to be addressed to achieve correct employment practices with particular emphasis in relation to the Working Time Directive, statutory and occupational rights and whether each category of contract is covered under employment legislation and what type of contract should be given. 1.4 This policy also looks at employment status and continuity of service. This can be confusing and each case may have to be assessed individually to establish their entitlements and what category of worker they are. 2. INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED 2.1 All members of staff at Thurrock Council, including schools based staff where the school has adopted this policy. 3. DEFINITION 3.1 There are 7 categories of variable contracts that have been identified within this policy: Temporary Contracts Sessional Contracts Seasonal Contracts Term-Time Contracts Casual Contracts Annualised Hours Contracts Variable Hours Contracts 3.2 Temporary Contracts Someone who is on a contract of limited duration for no longer than 1 year. Usually this will either be: a) For short term cover or replacement for permanent members who are for instance on Maternity or Long term sick leave b) For a fixed term where there is limited funding or the work is seen as only for a short period of time c) For a specific task for example a project that has a clear start and end date Temporary employees have the same statutory employment rights as a permanent employee. Except where rights are gained through length of service, it is therefore important continuity of service should be established at the start of the contract. Organisational Development HR Policy Framework Version /04/2015 Page 3

4 Temporary employees would normally have their hours stated within the contract of employment unless regarded as having a variable hour contract, see 3.8, then this must be clear within the contract. This does not mean they have any less employment rights. 3.3 Sessional Contracts Someone who works for a limited or specified number of hours, for example youth worker or the Music service. Employment rights can depend on different factors is the person an employee or self-employed, whether they have continuity of service between sessions. Sessional workers who accrue employment rights such as holiday. It can be difficult to establish entitlement to employment rights such as paid Holiday for sessional workers. This problem is avoidable by the appropriate level of holiday pay rolled up in normal pay which can enhance the hourly rate of pay, pro rata hours and weeks of work must be capable of being established. Managers must remember that entitlements to leave, for example, need to be pro rata to the 25 or 30 days Thurrock standard, not the 20 day minimum legal requirement. 3.4 Seasonal Contracts Someone who works for a specified period within the year, for example during the schools holiday period, and can be on a regular basis but with long gaps between each period. Employment rights are the same as a permanent worker although continuity of service may depend on whether the contract is terminated at the end of each period and that the intervening breaks are seen as a temporary cessation of work. The Working Time Directive allows for irregular patterns where there are seasonal peak periods, in these cases workers can work for long periods as long as they are given compensatory rest with the reference period (26 weeks). 3.5 Term Time Contracts Someone whose employment is during the terms of schools, unless the contract ends at the end of each term by agreement then continuity of service is established. The term-time contracts that are specific to the Council are detailed below however pay, leave and occupational sick pay entitlements are the same for all contracts. Term Time Workers in schools 38 week term plus 5 Teacher Training Days...39 weeks Under 5 years Service Holiday...5 weeks Over 5 years Service Holiday...6 weeks Bank Holidays...8 days Statutory Day (Christmas)...1 day Total less than 5 years...45 weeks 4 days Total over 5 years...46 weeks 4 days Term Time Only 38 weeks Term...38 weeks Under 5 years Holiday...5 weeks Over 5 years Holiday...6 weeks Bank Holidays...8 days Statutory Day (Christmas)...1 day Total less than 5 years...45 weeks 4 days Total over 5 years..46 weeks 4 days Some cases require staff to attend during schools breaks and this should be added to the time worked and form part of the contract. Organisational Development HR Policy Framework Version /04/2015 Page 4

5 Term pay is aggregated over the year to twelve equal payments unless the contract is for a specified term. The full time annual pay is divided by the average hours per week over weeks per year Actual hours per week multiply by weeks per year and divide by average hours per week Occupational Sick pay entitlement is based on the average hours per week on a 5-day pattern unless stated other wise by contract. The employment would normally terminate by the employee giving notice in writing at the end of any term, unless prior agreement has been reached between the employing body and the member of staff to terminate at an earlier date. 3.6 Casual Contracts Someone who works on an irregular basis in accordance with the demand for work. A casual worker is deemed, as having no mutuality of obligation, that is, there is no obligation to provide work and no obligation on the worker to accept work that is offered. Note: The requirement for Casual Contracts should be exceptional and therefore the Pay and Reward Board (PRB) will regularly review employment. Managers must not authorise this type of contract. You can only do so after obtaining agreement from the Business Development Manager HR client. Any unauthorised claims submitted will not be processed by Payroll unless they have prior authorisation. This means that the worker is free to work when they wish and the employer is free to offer work if they wish. The casual worker would be limited to some employment rights unless continuity or a long standing relationship can be established. Where successive short-term contracts have been given then the employment status of the worker should be reviewed. Casual contracts will require individuals to claim hours one month in arrears and will be paid on an hourly basis on submission of claims. Casual workers should be given minimum holiday entitlement i.e. under 5 years which is stated in the Council s Leave policy. This can prove to be hard to establish and this would be advisable to use the rolled up calculation or pay the outstanding leave at the end of each period of work based on the hours worked. 3.7 Annualised Hours Someone who has a contract which specifies the total hours to be worked in any one year, rather then the number to be worked in any one day or week. The total hours are worked on a flexible basis. The total annual hours are aggregated over the 12 month period in equal instalments or claimed one month in arrears as worked. Leave entitlement should be added to the total hours and included with the aggregated pay or claimed as leave taken. Requests for leave should be line with the Council s Leave Policy. Occupational Sick pay entitlement will be based on the aggregated pay with a 5 day working pattern. Organisational Development HR Policy Framework Version /04/2015 Page 5

6 3.8 Variable Hours Contract Someone whose employment has an expectation of working i.e. is on call to the employer or the time worked is of an inconsistent manner. Contracts will have continuity of employment and should it be proved that the employee is working set hours during a specific period of time the contract should be reviewed and issued with an actual hour contract. Pay for variable hours will be one month in arrears paid on claims submitted by the employee. Leave entitlement should be established during a period of working time and credited to each individual. Should this prove too difficult then rolled-up leave should be awarded. Occupational Sick Pay will be based on a non-stabilised method using the average earnings period used in the calculation of Statutory Sick Pay. 3.9 Types of Contract that fall outside of Variable Contracts: Self-Employed Worker someone who works under a contract of service Agency Worker someone who works for an employment agency or a worker registered with an employment business Consultant or Contractor someone who is self-employed, agency worker or on a fixed term specific task contract. Where the worker is not proven to be self employed then this may revert to a temporary contract Volunteer someone who agrees to perform work without pay other than reimbursement of expenses. APPENDIX 1 COPY OF LETTER OF VARIABLE CONTRACT To be added once completed by the Service Improvement Team APPENDIX 2 COPY OF LETTER FOR CASUAL HOUR CONTRACT To be added once completed by the Service Improvement Team Organisational Development HR Policy Framework Version /04/2015 Page 6