Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee	20 March 2023
Report of the Head of HR and Organisation Development

Retention Payments

Summary

1. This report is for information and advises the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee of retention payments approved and processed for payment.

Background

2. It was agreed in September 2021 that quarterly reporting of the number of retention payments would be provided following the approval of the Retention Payment Protocol. 

3. It was agreed that these would be presented to the Committee on a rolling basis each March, June, September, and December. 

4. Details will be added to the Committee’s Work Plan to include reference to these reports.  Where there is a nil return / no retention payment, a report will not be submitted.

5. Since December 22, there has been two applications covering 120 employees.  The applications have been assessed and approved by Management and the Trade Unions as part of the Pay Board.  Payments are for a 12-month period unless stated otherwise.  The following payments were approved in December 22 and February 2023;

Grade of post	Number of job holders	Effective date
9*	38	01/03/2023
*payments to this group was approved for a 9 month retention period, in February 2023.
8**	4
7 6 4	1 25 52	31/01/2023
** Payment to this group approved in December 2022 for a one-off payment

Council Plan

6. Whilst retention payments are not material to the Council Plan, they are consistent with the required outcomes of the Organisation Development Plan of maintaining a skilled and experienced workforce to deliver Council Services.

Implications

7. The business cases for each of the retention payments have been assessed and implications have been considered prior to the approval by the Pay Board. 

Financial Implications

8. The Departmental Financial Manager signs off financial implications for each business case prior to the application being presented to the Pay Board for full consideration and approval.  Costs are met by the individual service area.

Equalities Implications

9. There are potential equalities implications in the application of any retention payment, but these are addressed via risk management.  The risks are assessed to ensure that the payments are proportionate and reviewed in line with the agreed retention payment protocol.

Legal Implications

10. Individual legal risks are highlighted as part of any application and managed as part of risk management.

Crime and Disorder, Information Technology and Property 

11. There are no known crime and disorder, information and technology and property risks.

Risk Management

12. Each application has been assessed against the criteria identified in the Retention Policy.  The risks of not applying a retention payment to the cases identified will impact on the Council retaining employee skills and experience which will directly impact on the delivery of Council Services.

Recommendation

13. Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee are invited to:

        a. Note the number of retention payments made in the last quarter  

Reason:       In order to provide an overview of the number of payments made.

Contact Details

Author: Helen Whiting Head of HR & OD Human Resources	Chief Officer Responsible for the report: Ian Floyd Chief Operating Officer
Report Approved	X	Date	6 March 2023
Specialist Implications Officer(s): None
Wards Affected:  List wards or tick box to indicate all					All	X
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

Emergency Retention Protocol 20 September 2022

https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s152173/Emergency%20Retention%20Protocol%20Report.pdf