Employment Forum Membership.

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A decision made (01/12/2008) regarding: Employment Forum Membership.

Decision Reference: MD-S-2008-0080
Decision Summary Title :	L:\General Information\Workgroups\Policy\Employment\Ministerial decisions\DS Forum new members 26Nov08		Date of Decision Summary:	26/11/2008
Decision Summary Author:	Kate Morel, Policy Principal		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	L:\General Information\Workgroups\Policy\Employment\Ministerial decisions\SD Forum new members 26Nov08		Date of Written Report:	26/11/2008
Written Report Author:	Kate Morel, Policy Principal		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Employment Forum Membership
Decision(s): The Minister decided to appoint David O’Connor to the Employment Forum for a three year term as an “employee” representative. The Minister also decided to renew the appointments of five existing members, Melvin Le Feuvre, Wendy Lambert, David Robinson, Carol Le Cocq and Jan McCarthy.
Reason(s) for Decision: An open recruitment and selection process was undertaken by the Forum during the period September to November 2008 seeking one employer representative and one employee representative. David O’Connor is recommended by the Forum for appointment as an employee representative from 1 January 2009. Melvin Le Feuvre is recommended to be appointed for a further one year term. The Chair and three other members’ appointments were due to expire during November and December 2008, so the opportunity is taken to renew those appointments for a period chosen by each member, up to a maximum of three years.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: The Minister to formally approve the appointments. It is not necessary to inform the States of the appointment.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Employment Forum Membership.

Employment Forum Membership

BACKGROUND

The Employment Forum is intended to consist of nine members, appointed on the basis of their interest in employment relations and diversity of backgrounds, with three employer, three employee and three independent representatives. The Employment Law requires that members are appointed by the Social Security Minister. The current membership is as follows;

Independent	Appointment end/renewal date
Wendy Lambert	30 Nov 2008
Sally Johnson	30 Sep 2009
Carol Le Cocq	31 Dec 2008

Employer
Jeralie Pallot	31 May 2011
Jan McCarthy	31 Dec 2008
Melvin Le Feuvre	31 August 2008 (Position advertised)

Employee
David Robinson	31 Dec 2008
Rosemary Pestana	31 Oct 2009
Vacant	(Position advertised)

Although the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 does not limit the number of terms that a member may hold, the Forum has proposed that in accordance with good practice, there must be an opportunity to recruit new members in order to prevent stagnation. The Forum suggested that when a member has completed three terms of three years, their position should be openly advertised, whilst allowing that existing member to be considered along with the other applicants, if they wish to continue on the Forum.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

An advertisement was placed in the Jersey Evening Post, on the Social Security ‘Jobs in Jersey’ website and was sent to all of those on the Forum’s consultation database (approximately 150, including employers and employees, trade unions and employers associations).

Employee position

The previous employee representative, Mark Richardson had resigned from the Forum as of 2 July 2008. Three applications were received for that position and, following short-listing, all three candidates were selected for interview. The interviews were conducted in October 2008 by David Robinson (an employee representative) and Jeralie Pallot (an employer representative).

The Forum selected David O’Connor who has worked at Jersey Post and has been a member of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) for 16 years, during which time he has been a Shop Steward for 4 years and Branch Secretary for the past year.

The Forum proposes the appointment of Mr David O’Connor as an employee representative for a three year term, starting from 1 January 2009.

Employer position

Seven applications were received for the employer position. Melvin Le Feuvre, who has served three terms on the Forum, the third of which was due to end on 31 August 2008, had also indicated his willingness to be considered for a further term. Mr Le Feuvre’s position had been informally extended to December 2008 in order to complete an on going consultation and allow interviews to take place.

Three of the candidates were interviewed in September 2008 by the Chair of the Forum, Wendy Lambert (an independent representative) and Jan McCarthy (an employer representative).

Following the withdrawal of one of the candidates, Mr Le Feuvre was selected for re-appointment given his wealth of experience of Forum issues. He has experience in Agriculture, Retail, Hairdressing, Building and Engineering trades and as well as a particular interest in small businesses.

The Forum proposes a further one year term for Mr Melvin le Feuvre as an employer representative, to end on 31 December 2009.

Other Terms of appointment

Wendy Lambert has served two three year terms on the Forum, including four and a half years as Chair. Ms Lambert wishes to extend her appointment as Chair for a further year, to 30 November 2009.

David Robinson, Carol Le Cocq and Jan McCarthy have each served one term of three years each on the Forum and wish to be appointed for a second term of three years each, to end on 31 December 2011.

The Forum proposes the following membership:

Independent	Appointment end date
Wendy Lambert (Chair)	30 Nov 2009
Sally Johnson (Deputy)	30 Sep 2009
Carol Le Cocq	31 Dec 2011

Employer
Jeralie Pallot	31 May 2011
Jan McCarthy	31 Dec 2011
Melvin Le Feuvre	31 December 2009

Employee
David Robinson	31 Dec 2011
Rosemary Pestana	31 Oct 2009
Dave O’Connor	31 Dec 2011