Twenty-six ‘lessons learned’ – including issues surrounding whistleblowing – have been considered by Cheshire East Council following recent employment tribunals, writes Stephen Topping.
The local authority has dealt with six employment tribunal claims in the past 12 months at a cost of £75,400 – and that figure is due to rise, with two of those claims still ongoing.
At a staffing committee meeting on Thursday the findings were presented in a report, along with a five-point action plan to improve the way CEC deals with staff concerns in future.
Sara Duncalf, acting HR business partner at CEC, said: “At the end of an employment tribunal it is important for us to look back and consider any lessons learned as part of the overall process in the way that we operate.
“It is important to note that it is going back to the very beginning when issues and concerns have started to arise and have been dealt with in those very early stages.”
One of the four resolved claims was found in CEC’s favour – the high-profile tribunal involving Sue Wallace, a former HR officer who claimed she had been unfairly dismissed in 2016 after attempting to raise concerns about the minimum wage through the whistleblowing procedure.
Her claim was dismissed by judges following a 10-day hearing at the Manchester Employment Tribunal last June.
Two other tribunal cases were settled and another was withdrawn by the applicant.
The list of ‘lessons learned’ followed a review of the six tribunals.
It emphasised the need for HR procedures to be adhered to, for internal investigators of complaints to receive training and the requirement for legal input to be ‘consistently sought at an early stage’ when the circumstances surrounding a complaint are not clear – for example, if an issue is a whistleblowing matter or a grievance.
A five-point action plan was also produced following the ‘lessons learned’, with each issue to be addressed by March.
In the plan, CEC said it wanted to improve training for staff who conduct internal investigations and ensure policy and procedure is ‘updated, clear and understood’.
The council also wants to establish an agreement for the availability of emails and documentation, establish a method to ensure recommendations from investigations are reviewed and assessed, and review disclosure arrangements.
Cllr Paul Findlow, cabinet member for corporate policy and finance, praised the report as a ‘worthwhile exercise’ for the council.
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