Home | Assumed Consent | Branch news |
Bullying | Computer use / misuse | Contact your reps |
Corona Virus Advice | Employee Deal | Civil & Public Service facts |
Green page | Join PCS | Member benefits | PCS news |
Privacy policy | Stress at work | PCS Facebook (View at home)
Bullying | Computer use / misuse | Contact your reps |
Corona Virus Advice | Employee Deal | Civil & Public Service facts |
Green page | Join PCS | Member benefits | PCS news |
Privacy policy | Stress at work | PCS Facebook (View at home)
03 July 2020 | DWP briefing.Department for Work & Pensions Group
Safety being compromised with rush to open Jobcentres to the public
Management with their drive to rush through the re-opening of Jobcentres to the public are liable to be breaching health and safety legislation. The Government guidance on what employers must do to protect the safety of the workforce are very clear that kit should be provided to maximise the numbers of staff who can work from the safety of their home in the first instance. Not only is there a reluctance to do this management want to increase the risk in Jobcentres of the spread of the virus and make the public leave the safety of their homes to travel to the Jobcentre to receive services that our members can provide to a better and safer standard remotely through phone and digital channels.
Safety being compromised with rush to open Jobcentres to the public
To: Branch Secretaries, Additional Branch Contacts, Regional Secretaries & GEC
DWP/BB/056/20
DWP/BB/056/20
Management with their drive to rush through the re-opening of Jobcentres to the public are liable to be breaching health and safety legislation. The Government guidance on what employers must do to protect the safety of the workforce are very clear that kit should be provided to maximise the numbers of staff who can work from the safety of their home in the first instance. Not only is there a reluctance to do this management want to increase the risk in Jobcentres of the spread of the virus and make the public leave the safety of their homes to travel to the Jobcentre to receive services that our members can provide to a better and safer standard remotely through phone and digital channels.
The guidance is very clear about the requirement for
employers to consult the unions on the risk assessments in a meaningful
way and this goes on to cite some of the penalties when employers are
found to be breaching H&S legislation up to and including 2-years
imprisonment.
DWP management have failed to follow health and
safety guidance to consult in good time on the risk assessment and to
give us an opportunity to express our views and to take account of any
responses.
▪︎ No agreed Risk assessment
Guidance and a JCFRA has appeared on the intranet. None of these have
been agreed with PCS. In fact there is a meeting next Monday to try to
sort this out. We have had a number of meetings with management and JP
Marks, Debbie Alder and Margarita Morrison have all assured us that
Jobcentres will not open until it is safe to do so.
When PCS
finally received a copy of the JCFRA management had already set in train
their plans to issue the risk assessment and all the other guidance out
to the business. There was absolutely no interest in even taking on
board the extensive union comments on the risk assessment process to
protect the lives and the safety of our members and all the staff
working in Jobcentres. The response we have received to our extensive
comments fails to recognise the duty of care DWP has to protect the
health, safety and welfare of all staff and everyone within our
workplaces.
In fact undue pressure is being put on site reps to
sign off an inadequate risk assessment which is designed to only pay lip
service to our health safety rather than properly discuss all the
issues. No documents that are published on the intranet or being issued
in sites have had the serious issues that PCS has raised incorporated,
let alone agreed
Management have unilaterally rushed out their
poor material with undue haste and put pressure on PCS reps to agree
plans that would put our members in serious and imminent danger. PCS
would have preferred to have had the opportunity to properly discuss the
process and plans and allow for union comments and suggested
improvements to be incorporated. We have no option but to publish the
issues we have raised with management to reps as all of these issues
need to be properly discussed at site level
The stage managed
opening of Marylebone was done without an agreed national generic JCFRA
and without a locally agreed JCFRA. Some of the PPE that they said was
required was not on site but they still insisted on opening as they had
arranged a visit of the minister. Clearly media coverage for Tories is
more important than the health safety and wellbeing of our members and
also the public.
It is important that all reps challenge any attempt to open the jobcentres prior to all the safety aspects being put in place.
As well as wanting meaningful consultation on the JCFRA and supporting
documents we have asked for the risk assessment of the PPE that they are
planning to use. In particular we want the specifications and risk
assessment for the screens. We have grave concerns about the safety of
the screens given that 4 of these glass screens have already shattered
whilst being installed making a mockery of management’s claim that the
screens are shatter proof.
We asked for risk assessment on the
visors and masks that they planned to use and we have already had sight
of inadequate fashion masks that have been given to guards.
This does not instil confidence that the safety of our members is being taken seriously.
▪︎ Advice to branches
As this is a safety issue reps should be given an opportunity to speak
to their site members on this. It's important that the strength of
feeling of all our members is taken into account. Meetings can be
organised electronically or if you have a safe place (like the fire
muster point) where you can meet with members whilst maintaining the 2
metre social distancing this could be done.
All H&S reps
should make clear that; we are opposed to unsafe opening of jobcentres
to the public, we are worried about the safety of the screens that are
being installed badly and with no regard to health and safety control
measures or proper discussion about what is required. The potential for
the screens to be an additional hazard and a risk to staff is huge. A proper cleaning regime needs to be put in place that ensures regular cleaning of equipment after every user. Social distancing of 2 metres should be deployed at all times, in line with PCS' position. Reps should continue to use the 5 tests agreed by PCS nationally to ensure safety in our offices and to engage with members.
Please escalate any issues re this to group office via leeds@pcs.org.uk.
Carol Revell - Group Safety Officer / Katrine Williams - Group Vice President.
17 Jun 2020 | PCS submits 10% pay claim to DWP
The group executive committee has submitted our pay claim
for 2020 to DWP management. The claim repeats the national pay claim for
a consolidated 10% pay increase for all members that was submitted to
the Cabinet Office earlier this year.
In
addition to the headline claim of 10%, PCS has also made clear to DWP
that 2020 pay talks must be used to address some of the DWP-specific
issues that have arisen in recent years. These include:
We deserve a reward for our work during Covid 19
However at the same time the Treasury has issued its 2020 pay remit guidance to departments. This guidance limits pay increases in the civil service to between 1.5% and 2.5% overall. This obviously falls way short of our claim for 10% and is simply not acceptable.
Given the contribution we have made during the Covid 19 crisis it is, in fact, little short of insulting. Such a small amount of money will also make it extremely difficult to address the specific issues listed above.
We are currently in pay negotiations with DWP and will of course be seeking to achieve the best offer we can for members. A final offer is expected soon.
- A fair deal for opted out members whose pay was held down by DWP in every year of the Employee Deal
- Ending the situation that opted out AOs are paid less than some AA members
- Ensuring that members not on DWP terms and conditions receive a fair pay award
- Ensuring the pay offer properly rewards members in the Special Location Pay Zones who lost out under Employee Deal
- Putting in place a system to allow all members who did not reach the Maximum under Employee deal to be able to do so.
- Addressing any pay overlaps and leapfrogging in the SEO and above grades.
We deserve a reward for our work during Covid 19
In addition this year, members in DWP have responded fantastically to
the huge challenges that DWP faced with the surge in new claims that
came with the onset of the Covid 19 crisis. Ministers have described the
achievements of DWP staff as incredible and "heroic" so now is the time
for that praise to be turned into money. DWP staff have been classed as
critical workers having to work through the Covid 19 crisis to deliver
payments to our fellow citizens. This critical work during a period of
national crisis deserves a proper pay rise.
However at the same time the Treasury has issued its 2020 pay remit guidance to departments. This guidance limits pay increases in the civil service to between 1.5% and 2.5% overall. This obviously falls way short of our claim for 10% and is simply not acceptable.
Given the contribution we have made during the Covid 19 crisis it is, in fact, little short of insulting. Such a small amount of money will also make it extremely difficult to address the specific issues listed above.
We are currently in pay negotiations with DWP and will of course be seeking to achieve the best offer we can for members. A final offer is expected soon.
The
Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) is one of the largest and
most influential Trade Unions in the UK, with around 270,000
members. It is a very important time to be a Union member and together we are so much stronger, so please join PCS online today.
Thank you very much for visiting this site, which IS official, but please be aware of
your workplace's Electronic Media Policy.
