Minutes:
The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr P M McDonald, Mr R C Lunn, Ms P A Hill, Mr L C R Mallett, Mr C J Bloore, Ms C M Stalker, Mr P Denham, and Ms P Agar.
The motion was moved by Mr P M McDonald and seconded by Ms C M Stalker who both spoke in favour of it, and Council agreed to deal with it on the day.
Those in favour of the motion made the following comments:
· This Council had moved from being a model employer to one practising some of the worst terms and conditions in the country. Zero hour contracts were an unreliable form of employment at best and exploiting the workforce at worst. They left employees with little stability or security and open to exploitation. There was no clear guarantee of a working pattern or future income for staff on these contracts which lead to increased stress and anxiety. Employers bore no risk without the need to provide sickness or holiday pay. The Council argued it provided flexibility to the worker but in reality it had a negative financial and emotional impact
· For the Council to claim to be world-class, it needed to be beyond reproach in its employee relations and not use zero hours contracts
· Some staff, particularly the most vulnerable, had very little option in the current market place but to accept zero hours contracts which left them open to exploitation. It was notable that unionised workforces tended to have the best terms and conditions.
Those against the motion made the following comments:
· The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Change commented that the Council used a variation of contract types including casual contacts. Casual workers undertook an essential role in terms of emergency cover and to provide service continuity, particularly for short term sick leave in residential and social care frontline services. The Council was not obliged to provide casual workers with minimum hours and the worker had a choice to take the work or not or take work elsewhere. Many employees preferred these contracts because of the higher rates available to cover the non-payment of sick and holiday leave
· The Council was a model employer and staff had some of the best terms and conditions in Worcestershire. It was right to offer staff a range of different job options to reflect the modern job market
· People used zero hours contracts to boost their income in addition to their existing commitments and contracts.
On a named vote, the motion was lost.
Those voting in favour were:
Ms P Agar, Mr C J Bloore, Mr P Denham, Ms P A Hill. Dr C Hotham, Mr R C Lunn, Mr P M McDonald, Mrs M A Rayner, Ms C M Stalker, Mr R M Udall (10)
Those voting against were:
Mr B Clayton, Mr A A J Adams, Mr R C Adams, Mr A T Amos, Mr T Baker-Price, Mr R W Banks, Mr R M Bennett, Mr G R Brookes, Mrs J A Brunner, Ms R L Dent, Mr N Desmond, Mr S E Geraghty, Mr A I Hardman, Mr P B Harrison, Mr M J Hart, Mrs A T Hingley, Mrs L C Hodgson, Dr A J Hopkins, Mr A D Kent, Mr S M Mackay, Ms K J May, Mr P Middlebrough, Mr A P Miller, Mr R J Morris, Ms T L Onslow, Dr K A Pollock, Mrs J A Potter, Mr A C Roberts, Mr C Rogers, Mr A Stafford, Mr C B Taylor, Mr R P Tomlinson, Ms R Vale, Ms S A Webb. (34)
Those abstaining were:
Mr M E Jenkins, Mrs F M Oborski, Mrs E B Tucker. (3)