Employment Forum Membership: Re-appoint three members

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A decision made on 11 October 2019

Decision Reference: MD-S-2019-0067
Decision Summary Title :	DS Employment Forum membership – reappoint Ruelle Ward Quinlan		Date of Decision Summary:	11 October 2019
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 membership – re-appoint Ruelle Ward Quinlan		Date of Written Report:	11 October 2019
Written Report Author:	Policy Principal		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Employment Forum Membership – Re-appoint three members
Decision(s): The Minister decided to re-appoint three members of the Employment Forum - Helen Ruelle, Barbara Ward and Thomas Quinlan - each for a five-month term until 30 April 2020.
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. In accordance with best practice, members generally hold office for a maximum of nine years. The terms of office of three members, listed below, are due to come to an end on 30 November 2019 each having served for ten years on the Forum. Helen Ruelle – Chair Barbara Ward – employee member Thomas Quinlan – employer member The Forum operates in accordance with the Jersey Appointments Commission guidelines for the recruitment of members of independent bodies which state that “members of independent bodies should not normally be appointed for terms in excess of nine years”. When the three members were last re-appointed in 2015, the Commission recommended as a matter of best practice that such terms of office should be limited to a total of ten years, other than in exceptional circumstances. Given the particular circumstances the Commission, by exception, is prepared to support an extension for a maximum of six months for each member.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: Policy Principal to advise the three members that they have been re-appointed. The Employment Law does not require that the States Assembly is notified.
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Employment Forum Membership: Re-appoint three members

Employment Forum – RE-APPOINT MEMBERS

Background

The Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 (the ‘Employment Law’) provides that the Employment Forum (the ‘Forum’) consists of eight members and a Chair 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 (referred to as ‘independents’)

It is vital to provide a balance between introducing new perspectives and skills to the Forum, as well as providing continuity amongst the membership with the retention of knowledge and experience. Forum members are usually appointed for an initial three-year term and may request to be re-appointed.

The Forum does not fall within the direct remit of the Jersey Appointments Commission (the ‘Commission’). However, the Forum operates in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines for the recruitment of members of independent bodies [1] which state that “members of independent bodies should not normally be appointed for terms in excess of nine years”.

The terms of appointment of three current Forum members, including the Chair, are due to end on 30 November 2019 having each served for ten years. At the time of their re-appointment in 2015, the Commission recommended as a matter of best practice that such terms of office should be limited to a total of ten years, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Under the current guidelines, the Commission would not normally approve extensions over ten years. However, given the particular circumstances the Commission, by exception, is prepared to support the three extensions for a maximum of six months for each member. The particular circumstances include that the Forum is midway through a sensitive review. Earlier in 2019, the Forum was directed by the Minister to start work on a new public consultation (statutory annual leave and rest breaks) and the Forum expects to present a recommendation to the Minister in April 2020. The Forum has prepared the consultation and it is considered sensible to continue this project with the existing Chair and members to retain their knowledge and experience.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister re-appoints the following three members each for a final term of five months, ending on 30 April 2020 -

Helen Ruelle has served ten years on the Forum and it is recommended that she be re-appointed as Chair.

Helen Ruelle is Director of Local Legal Services at Ogier where, amongst other things, she is responsible for the employment practice. Prior to joining Ogier in 2018, Helen was a partner at another offshore law firm where she worked for 16 years including as head of the Jersey employment practice. Helen is a Jersey advocate and an English solicitor (non-practising) and has nearly 20 years’ experience of employment law. Helen also advises on competition law, mergers and acquisitions, data protection, control of housing and work law matters and general commercial work. Helen has held the position of Chair of the Jersey Community Relations Trust and she is currently vice chair of the Jersey Employment Trust and a commissioner of the Jersey Appointments Commission.

Barbara Ward has served ten years on the Forum and it is recommended that she be re-appointed as an employee member.

Barbara Ward is a member and representative for the Royal College of Nursing on pension matters and is also a trustee of the States’ Public Employees Contributory Retirement Scheme. Barbara’s previous experience includes more than 25 years in trade union roles for the Royal College of Nursing, including Lead Steward and Negotiator, Chairman, Secretary and Convenor. Barbara is currently employed as a 'Bank' Staff Nurse for the States’ Health and Social Services Department and also works as Casual Duty Manger for the Jersey Opera House.

Thomas Quinlan has served ten years on the Forum and it is recommended that he be re-appointed as an employer member.

Thomas Quinlan is the Operations Director for the Hotel de France, with responsibility for all day-to-day operations within the hotel. Thomas has more than 30 years’ experience working in the hospitality industry, both in Jersey and a number of award-winning hotels in the United Kingdom, including roles managing hotel food and beverage operations, restaurants, bars and large conference and banqueting events. Thomas holds an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 5 qualification in Jersey Employment Law.

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

	Term of office end date
Independent
Helen Ruelle	30 November 2019
Malcolm Ferey	17 October 2020
John Everett	30 April 2021

Employer
Thomas Quinlan	30 November 2019
Julie Fairclough	17 October 2020
Graeme Stokes	30 April 2021

Employee
Barbara Ward	30 November 2019
Douglas Gray	27 April 2022
Vacancy	To be advertised early 2020

[1]www.gov.je/Government/Departments/ChiefMinisters/ChiefMinistersSections/JerseyAppointmentsCommission/Pages/GuidelinesRecruitmentSeniorEmployeesAppointeesIndependents.aspx