P.71/2010 Revised comments of States Employment Board relating to civil servants earning over £60,000 per annum

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[THIS DECISION RESCINDS MD-C-2010-0057] A decision made 5 July 2010 regarding: P.71/2010 Revised comments of States Employment Board relating to civil servants earning over £60,000 per annum - publication of salary bands.

Decision Reference: MD-C-2010-0058
Decision Summary Title :	P.71/2010 – Comments of the States Employment Board		Date of Decision Summary:	2nd June 2010
Decision Summary Author:	Project and Research Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	P.71/2010 – Comments of the States Employment Board		Date of Written Report:	1st July 2010
Written Report Author:	Head of Employment Relations		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: P.71/2010 – Updated Comments of the States Employment Board
Decision(s): The Chief Minister decided to rescind Ministerial Decision MD-C-2010-0057 in respect of comments responding to P.71/2010 ‘Civil servants earning over £60,000 per annum - publication of salary bands,’ and agreed to present to the States Assembly a revised comment on P.71/2010.
Reason(s) for Decision: At its meeting on 1st July 2010 the Council of Ministers reviewed a draft comment to P.71/2010 and recommended that the SEB consider referring to additional relevant information published in the 2009 Financial Report and Accounts and R.70 States Employees Remuneration: 2009 Report. The Chief Minister therefore agreed to rescind the original Ministerial Decision. He further obtained the prior endorsement of the members of the SEB in relation to the revised comment.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications.
Action required: The Head of Employment Relations to request the Greffier of the States to lodge the comments at the earliest opportunity.
Signature:		Position: Senator T.A. Le Sueur, Chief Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

P.71/2010 Revised comments of States Employment Board relating to civil servants earning over £60,000 per annum - publication of salary bands

P71 / 2010

Civil Servants earning over £60,000 per annum: Publication of Salary Bands

Comments of the States Employment Board

1. Where the States Employment Board believes that there is a clear public interest that information should be published, it will do so. That is why it has recently agreed that the salary levels of officers with salaries of more than £100,000 per annum should be published. Further, the States will be aware that information on the earnings of higher paid States employees is published each year in the Financial Report and Accounts and the supplementary information issued by the States Employment Board (please see page 46 of the 2009 Financial Report and Accounts and R.70, ‘States Employees Remuneration: 2009 Report’.) Appendix B of R.70, which is attached, gives remuneration details of employees in remuneration bands from £70,000 upwards. These are broadly equivalent to salaries of £60,000 per annum upwards once pension contribution is excluded. However, the Board believes that the present proposition is not proportionate in this respect.

2. The Board cannot support the proposal that the personal names of each employee earning over £60,000 should be published as requested in the proposition, nor that the personal details of any enhancements to basic salaries be published. To do so would seriously undermine those individuals’ rights to privacy; strain the implied contractual duty of mutual trust and confidence between employer and employee; and have serious implications for employees’ rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and the First Data Protection Principle (in that it would result in disclosure of personal data of less senior officers who maintain a greater expectation of privacy than those at Chief Officer / Director levels).

3. However, being constructive, and as an alternative to what is being sought in the proposition, the States Employment Board would propose to publish, in bands of £5,000, by department, the numbers of staff who have salaries of over £60,000. Any salary enhancements over and above normal contractual terms will be included in the assessment of salary for reporting purposes. The Board suggests that this would meet the objectives which lie behind the proposition whilst safeguarding the statutory and contractual rights of staff to privacy.

4. The States Employment Board urges States Members to reject this proposition but accept the alternative offer of the States Employment Board.