Employment Forum: Appointment of Member

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A decision made 4 July 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2014-0084
Decision Summary Title :	DS - Forum appointment employee member		Date of Decision Summary:	4 July 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Policy Principal		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	WR - Forum appointment employee member		Date of Written Report:	4 July 2014
Written Report Author:	Policy Principal		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Employment Forum Membership – Appointment of new member
Decision(s): The Minister decided to appoint Mr Gary Du Heaume as a member of the Employment Forum for a three year term to start on 1 August 2014.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Employment Law requires that members of the Employment Forum must be appointed by the Minister for Social Security. Following a period of open recruitment and selection undertaken by the Forum during May and June 2014, the Forum recommended the selected candidate – Mr Gary Du Heaume - for appointment as an employee member. Mr Du Heaume has recent relevant experience as a trade union representative in a unionised workplace that will enable him to make a valuable contribution to the work of the Forum in continuing with the minimum wage review and consultation on other employment law matters, as directed by the Minister.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: Policy Principal to advise Mr Du Heaume that the Minister has approved his appointment. The Employment Law does not require that the States is notified of appointments to the Forum.
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Employment Forum: Member Appointment

Employment Forum Membership

Background

The Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 (the ‘Employment Law’) provides that the Employment Forum (the ‘Forum’) consists of eight members and a Chairman who are appointed by the Minister for Social Security (the ‘Minister’). Members are appointed having regard to the desirability of securing an appropriate balance between members with experience as employers, members with experience as employees and members with other relevant experience.

Although the Employment Law does not limit the term of appointment that a Forum member may hold, the Forum has proposed that, in accordance with good practice, membership should be limited to a total of 10 years, other than in exceptional circumstances. It is vital to provide a balance between introducing new perspectives and skills, as well as providing some continuity amongst the membership with the retention of knowledge and experience.

Recruitment of new member

Mr Ian Syvret had resigned from the Forum in October 2013. The Forum advertised during January and February 2014 and one candidate was interviewed for this position. The Forum was not able to recommend an ‘employee’ member to replace Mr Syvret and so the Forum agreed to re-advertise later in 2014.

The vacancy was openly advertised for a second time between 27 May and 13 June 2014. An advertisement was placed in the Jersey Evening Post, on the ‘Jobs in Jersey’ website and was sent to those on the Forum’s consultation database (approximately 300 contacts, including employers and employees, trade unions and employers’ associations).

When recruiting, the Forum’s priorities are to ensure that the nine members cover the widest range of skills, expertise and industry types possible, that members have recent knowledge and relevant experience of employment relations issues, and that members have an interest in employment policy and legislation generally.

Two candidates were interviewed in June 2014 by current Forum members Helen Ruelle (Chairman) and Malcolm Ferey (Deputy Chairman) and best practice was followed in the recruitment process. Following consultation with the other members of the Forum, Mr Gary Du Heaume was recommended for appointment.

Mt Du Heaume is employed as a bus driver for Liberty Bus and he is currently a shop steward and secretary for Unite the Union having been a member of Unite since 2006. As a shop steward, Mr Du Heaume has undertaken the first stage of Unite’s workplace representatives training course and he regularly represents Liberty Bus staff in workplace matters including disciplinary and grievance hearings.

Recommendation

Appoint Mr Gary Du Heaume as an employee member of the Employment Forum for a three year term of office starting on 1 August 2014.

The current members and their terms of office are as follows:

	Term of office end date
Independent
Helen Ruelle	30 November 2015
Malcolm Ferey	17 October 2014
Gary Jones	30 April 2017

Employer
Jeralie Pallot	31 May 2017
Thomas Quinlan	30 November 2015
Julie Fairclough	17 October 2014

Employee
David Robinson	31 December 2014
Barbara Ward	30 November 2015
Vacant