International Labour Organisation: Reports by the States of Jersey: July 2014

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

Ministers are individually accountable to the States Assembly, including for the actions of the departments and agencies which discharge their responsibilities.

The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made 2 September 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-ER-2014-0024
Decision Summary Title :	International Labour Organisation reports by the States of Jersey		Date of Decision Summary:	27 August 2014
Decision Summary Author:	External Relations		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	International Labour Organisation reports by the States of Jersey		Date of Written Report:	26 August 2014
Written Report Author:	Social Security Department		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: International Labour Organisation reports – (a) Unemployment Convention, 1919 (ILO No.2) (b) Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (ILO No.115)
Decision(s): The Minister for External Relations approved the above reports by the Government of Jersey for submission to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO.
Reason(s) for Decision: Every year the Government of Jersey is required under Article 22 of the ILO Constitution to submit reports on the application of certain ratified ILO Conventions which have been extended to the Bailiwick.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications.
Action required: External Relations in accordance with article 23, paragraph 2, of the ILO Constitution, to forward copies to employers and employees representative organisations.
Signature:		Position: Minister for External Relations
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

International Labour Organisation: Reports by the States of Jersey: July 2014

REPORT

For the period ending 31 October 2009 to 31 May 2014, made by the Government of Jersey in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation on the measures taken to give effect to the

UNEMPLOYMENT CONVENTION, 1919 (NO 2)

No change since previous report.

Article 1

This information is provided on a monthly basis to the Statistics Unit of the Chief Ministers Department. Statistics are also supplied directly by the Statistics Unit to the ILO.

Attached for information is a report on the unemployment statistics for July 2014, which includes comparative unemployment statistics since June 2009.

Measures taken to combat unemployment are described in Article 2 below.

Article 2

One free public employment agency exists in Jersey under the control of the Minister for Social Security. Job vacancies are advertised via the Back to Work Team, which provides the following services:

Helping people into work by providing advice, training and development opportunities, advertising job vacancies and registering individuals who are unemployed.

Providing Special Needs employment.
Working in partnership with Careers Jersey (a government careers service) to provide careers advice and training to all in Jersey’s community.
Working in partnership with the Jersey Employment Trust which assists people into work with disabilities and long term health conditions.

There is also a job vacancy searching service on the Social Security website http://www.gov.je/Working/JobCareerAdvice/Pages/Jobs.aspx

The number of people registered as unemployed at the end of July 2014 was 1520.

All private employment agencies are registered and licensed under the Employment Agencies (Registration) (Jersey) Law 1969 and the Employment Agencies (Registration) (Code of Conduct) (Jersey) Order 1970, under the control of the Minister for Social Security.

Article 3

A system of insurance against unemployment does not exist in the Island. However, on 28 January 2008 the Income Support (Jersey) Law came into force. This legislation provides financial assistance to households which receive low or no income. Unemployed residents of Jersey who obtain assistance from the Income Support system are required to enter into a Jobseekers Agreement and actively seek work.

The legislation may been seen at http://www.jerseylaw.je/Laws/Alphabetical/I

The Minister for Social Security.

No.
See Articles 1-2 above.

Copies of the present report have been communicated to representative organisations of employers and workers in accordance with article 23, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation. Official unemployment data is published on the Government of Jersey website on http://www.gov.je/government/jerseyworld/statisticsunit/Pages/default.aspx and a 6 monthly labour market report produced by the Chief Minister’s Department carries a commentary on unemployment.

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115)

Report for the period ending the 31st May 2014, made by the Government of Jersey in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, on the measures taken to give effect to the Radiation Protection Convention, 1960.

Articles 1 – 15

In accordance with the advised requirements for this reporting round, it is advised that there have been no changes in legislation in support of this convention.

The requirements for the control of exposure from Work with Ionising Radiation are set out in the Approved Code of Practice for Work with Ionising Radiation introduced under the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.

The Approved Code of Practice is available online at:

http://www.gov.je/Industry/HealthSafetyWork/HSI/Legislation/ApprovedCodesPractice/Pages/IoninsingRadiationACoP.aspx

Article 15 III – V.

No change

Article 15 VI

This report, and the responses to the direct requests for information, has been circulated to the following representative organisations of employers and workers:

Employer representative body:

Jersey Chamber of Commerce

Employee representative bodies:

Prospect trade union

Unite the Union

Direct Request (CEACR) – adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Response to the 2 direct requests for further information made by the Committee as a result of the previous report submitted for the period ending the 31st July 2009.

Direct request 1

Article 14. Alternative employment or other measures offered for maintaining income where continued assignment to work involving exposure is medically inadvisable. The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report indicating that the aim of the ACoP is to prevent circumstances where workers are excessively exposed to radiation and does not therefore address the scenario where workers have been excessively exposed and are unable to continue working with ionizing radiations. The Committee also notes the information that, given the limited work that is carried out with ionizing radiations, the inspectorate is not aware of such a situation occurring, but in the event of an occurrence, a worker who meets the criteria for social security or income support schemes administered by the Social Security Department, would be provided with financial support. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on measures undertaken or envisaged to ensure that workers medically advised to cease radiation work, are in fact prohibited from such employment. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the criteria for social security or income support schemes, should a worker be prohibited from undertaking radiation work due to a risk to their health.

Response

Paragraph 16 of the ACoP sets out the responsibility placed on employers to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to restrict, so far as reasonably practicable, the extent to which persons are exposed to ionising radiation. More specifically, the paragraph identifies that any dose limits set out in Appendix 3 of the ACoP must not be exceeded. Paragraph 16 also identifies a requirement for the Health and Safety Inspectorate to be notified if any of the dose limits are exceeded.

An ACoP introduced under the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989, can be used as evidence in any legal proceedings taken under the Law. It follows that should an employer continue to require employees who have reached their individual dose limits for work with ionising radiation, an investigation would be carried out by the Inspectorate with the aim of ensuring that the requirements of the ACoP are met and the employee safeguarded.

The investigation may lead to the issue of a legal notice issued by a Health and Safety Inspector formally prohibiting the employee concerned from continuing to work with ionising radiation and referral of the matter to the Island’s Attorney General for consideration on whether to instigate a prosecution of the employer.

There have been no instances of employees reaching their individual dose limits notified to the Inspectorate since the introduction of the ACoP.

Information on the criteria for seeking Social Security benefits and financial assistance through Income Support can be accessed on the Government of Jersey website:

Social Security benefits

http://www.gov.je/Benefits/SicknessInjury/Pages/index.aspx

Income Support

http://www.gov.je/Benefits/IncomeSupport/Pages/index.aspx

Direct Request 2

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the application of the Convention in practice, including reference to the 2008 online annual report for the Health and Safety Inspectorate. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice over longer periods of time, including information on the number of workers covered by the Convention, disaggregated by gender if available; the number and nature of the contraventions reported; and the number, nature and cause of accidents reported.

Response

Paragraph 12 of the ACoP identifies that the responsibility for meeting the requirements of the ACoP rests with the employer with details of how employers can meet their responsibility set out in the ACoP.

The Health and Safety Inspectorate will review notifications of work carried out with ionising radiation in accordance with Paragraph 14 of the ACoP.

Since the introduction of the ACoP the Inspectorate has received 42 notifications of work with ionising radiation. Of these, 26 notifications were related to medical and dental work, 3 to veterinary practices, 5 to security work, 5 to industrial and site radiography and 3 naturally occurring (radon).

Records are not available of the number of workers who work with ionising radiation. The main reason for this being that, for the most part, the worker will only work with ionising radiation as part of their work, i.e. a dentist, and their occupation therefore recorded as their principal working activity. Work with industrial and site radiography is only carried out by specialist companies who come to the Island for specific jobs and such workers are therefore not recorded as being permanently employed in the Island.

Any concerns or complaints raised in connection with working with ionising radiation will also be acted upon by the Health and Safety Inspectorate in accordance with its published complaints policy.

No contraventions, incidents or accidents involving work with ionising radiation have been reported to the Health and Safety Inspectorate, nor have been investigated by the Inspectorate over the last 5 years, the period of time for which records of such investigations would be kept, in keeping with the Department’s document retention scheme.