Employment Forum: Re-Appointment of Two Members

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A decision made 20 January 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2017-0003
Decision Summary Title :	DS Employment Forum – reappoint members		Date of Decision Summary:	20 January 2017
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 Employment Forum – re-appoint members		Date of Written Report:	20 January 2017
Written Report Author:	Policy Principal		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Employment Forum – re-appoint two members
Decision(s): The Minister decided to re-appoint Dr Gary Jones and Mrs Jeralie Pallot to the Employment Forum.
Reason(s) for Decision: Schedule 2 to the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 requires that members of the Employment Forum must be appointed by the Minister for Social Security. Dr Gary Jones has served for three years on the Forum and it was recommended that the Minister re-appoint him as an independent member for a further three year term. Mrs Jeralie Pallot has served for nine years on the Forum and, with the approval of the Jersey Appointments Commission, it was recommended that the Minister re-appoint her as an employer representative member for a further and final one year term.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: Policy Principal to advise the members that they have been re-appointed. The Employment Law does not require that the States is notified.
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Employment Forum: Re-Appointment of Two Members

Employment Forum – RE-APPOINT MEMBERS

Background

The Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 (the ‘Employment Law’)[1] provides that the Employment Forum (the ‘Forum’) consists of eight members and a Chairman who must be appointed by the Minister for Social Security (the ‘Minister’). Members must be 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.

It is vital to provide a balance between introducing new perspectives and skills, as well as providing continuity amongst the membership with the retention of knowledge and experience. Although the Forum does not fall within the direct remit of the Jersey Appointments Commission (the ‘Commission’), the Forum will operate in accordance with the Commission’s guidance, the current draft [2] of which states that “members of independent bodies should not normally be appointed for terms in excess of nine years”.

On this occasion, the Commission was asked to consider the exceptional circumstances in relation to Mrs Jeralie Pallot whose current term on the Forum is due to end on 31 May 2017 at which time she will have served for 9 years. The Commission was asked to agree that Mrs Pallot should be re-appointed for an additional one year term, taking her total term to 10 years.

The Commission agreed to the request given the specific circumstances which are -

The Forum started a review of family friendly employment rights in January 2017. This is one of the most complex subjects that the Forum has dealt with and so a member with Mrs Pallot’s seniority and experience will be invaluable. It would be unfortunate to lose the Forum’s longest serving member part-way through the review.

Mrs Pallot is the only Forum member who has knowledge of the Forum’s previous consultation on family friendly rights. She also has considerable experience in a sector (employment agency) to which this subject will be particularly relevant.

It would not be appropriate to appoint a new member part-way through this complex review. If Mrs Pallot was not re-appointed, the Forum would continue with 8 members for the duration of the review.

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

	Term of office end date	Proposed end date
Independent
Helen Ruelle	30 November 2019
Malcolm Ferey	17 October 2017
Gary Jones	30 April 2017	30 April 2020

Employer
Jeralie Pallot	31 May 2017	31 May 2018
Thomas Quinlan	30 November 2019
Julie Fairclough	17 October 2017

Employee
Barbara Ward	30 November 2019
Gary Du Heaume	31 July 2017
Dougie Gray	27 April 2019

Recommendation

Mrs Jeralie Pallot has served for nine years on the Forum and, with the approval of the Jersey Appointments Commission, it is recommended that the Minister re-appoints her as an employer representative member for a further (and final) one year term ending on 31 May 2018.

Mrs Pallot has over 20 years’ experience in the Jersey recruitment industry and is the Managing Director of Rowlands Recruitment Consultancy, managing 15 permanent employees and a large bank of temporary staff and clients from a wide range of local industries. Mrs Pallot is a Fellow of the industry’s professional body, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and is part of an informal steering committee tasked with researching and making recommendations to the local recruitment industry on behalf of the majority of Jersey based Temporary agencies.

Dr Gary Jones has served for three years on the Forum and it is recommended that the Minister re-appoints him as an independent member for a further three year term ending on 30 April 2020.

Dr Jones is currently and independent research and consultant, prior to which he was Deputy Principal of Highlands College for fourteen years. His qualifications include a degree in Economics and International Politics and a Doctorate in Educational Management. Dr Jones was a founder member of the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service Board from 2001 to 2004. Dr Jones has considerable knowledge and experience of research, statistics and economics. Dr Jones is currently working with universities in the United Kingdom on the effective use of research evidence to inform decision-making.

[1] Paragraph 1, Schedule 2 www.jerseylaw.je/laws/revised/Pages/05.255.aspx

[2]www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/P%20JAC%20recruiting%20guidelines%2020160706%20JP.pdf