Employee handbook
See our employee handbook for more information about our pay and conditions of employment.
Armed forces
Every central government department, every local authority in mainland Great Britain, and more than 900 businesses and organisations of all sizes have now signed the Covenant.
For further information, please see our covenant agreement document.
Display screen equipment assessment
See our working from home DSE assessment below.
Committed to equality
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and support fair recruitment practices. As part of this commitment we offer an interview to all disabled people who apply for a job at the council and meet the minimum criteria.
For more information refer to: Disability Confident employer scheme - GOV.UK.
Employment of ex offenders policy
Policy Statement
1.1 As an organisation using the Disclosure & Barring Service to assess applicants' suitability for positions of trust, we aim to comply fully with the DBS Code of Practice and undertake to treat all applicants for positions fairly. We undertake not to discriminate unfairly against anyone who is the subject of a Disclosure on the basis of conviction or other information revealed.
1.2 Employment decisions should be based on a person’s skills, abilities, experience and qualifications to carry out the job accountabilities of the post to the required standard for which they have applied. Diversity means recognising the strengths, talents and needs of every individual, nurturing potential, maximising opportunities for all to contribute and ensuring no one is left behind or excluded from society. The aims of this policy and the accompanying procedure are to prevent unfair and institutional discrimination and address the main barriers faced by individuals who are at a disadvantage.
1.3 Future employees must not be arbitrarily excluded from competing for jobs because of their criminal record or because of fears that individuals may have about criminal convictions.
1.4 The council is committed to the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, (Exceptions) Order 1975 and 2020 (as amended) and where appropriate, in the Police Act Regulations (as amended). whereby certain convictions are considered ‘spent’ after a stipulated period of time. To this end, candidates for some jobs do not have to disclose convictions once they are spent DBS filtering guidance . When a person applies for a job the council will not, in most cases, take into account previous time-expired convictions as laid down in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA 1974)) unless the job requires that all convictions be disclosed, as set out in 1.5.
1.5 There are certain jobs, however, that require applicants to disclose their convictions even if they would otherwise be considered ‘spent’. Such jobs include those where the potential employee will have access to vulnerable members of the community (such as the young, elderly and those with disabilities) and teachers.
1.6 If an applicant discloses convictions, the council will not discount him /her for employment merely on the basis that they have a criminal conviction. Consideration will be given, on a case-by-case basis, to:
- the type of job applied for.
- the nature of the conviction.
- how long ago the offence was committed.
- the age of the applicant at the time of the offence.
- whether or not there have been subsequent offences.
- the relevance of the conviction to the job applied for
- before a decision is made to discount an applicant.
1.7 Should an existing employee be convicted of a criminal offence, similar principles will apply.
Scope
2.1 This policy and the accompanying procedure apply to all council service areas and Schools.