Employment Forum Membership: Appointment and Extension

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A decision made 16 April 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2014-0039
Decision Summary Title :	DS - Forum appointment and extension		Date of Decision Summary:	16 April 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 and extension		Date of Written Report:	16 April 2014
Written Report Author:	Policy Principal		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Employment Forum Membership – Appointment of new member and extension of term of office
Decision(s): The Minister decided to appoint Dr Gary Jones to the Employment Forum for a three year term, starting on 1 May 2014. The Minister also decided to extend the term of office of Mrs Jeralie Pallot, an existing member of the Forum, for a three year term from 1 June 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 January to March 2014, the Chairman and the members of the Forum recommended the selected candidate – Dr Gary Jones - for appointment as an independent member. The Forum also recommended that the term of office of Mrs Jeralie Pallot should be extended for three years. Both individuals are recommended as possessing a great deal of knowledge and experience that will enable them 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 Dr Jones that the Minister has approved his appointment and to advise Mrs Pallot that that the Minister has approved an extension to her term of office. 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 Membership: Appointment and Extension

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

Two positions on the Forum – one ‘independent’ position and one ‘employee’ position - were openly advertised between 30 January and 28 February 2014. Advertisements were placed twice in the Jersey Evening Post, on the Social Security ‘Jobs in Jersey’ website and the advertisement was sent to all of those on the Forum’s consultation database (approximately 300 contacts, including employers and employees, trade unions and employers associations).

Mr Ian Syvret had resigned from the Forum in October 2013. Mrs Carol Le Cocq’s term was due to expire on 31 December 2014 and she had indicated her willingness to resign earlier if a replacement was identified during this recruitment process.

When recruiting, the Forum’s priorities are to ensure that its 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 March by Mrs Jeralie Pallot and Mrs Helen Ruelle and best practice was followed in the recruitment process. Following consultation with the other members of the Forum, Dr Gary Jones was recommended for appointment as a new ‘independent’ member to replace Mrs Le Cocq. The Forum was not able to recommend an ‘employee’ member to replace Mr Syvret. That position will remain vacant until such a time as a replacement can be found and the Forum will re-advertise later in 2014.

Dr Gary Jones is currently the Interim Head of Highlands College and prior to that he was Deputy Principal of Highlands College for twelve years. Dr Jones is a member of the National Association of Head Teachers and is a member of the Institute of Directors. 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.

Extension of term of office

The Forum also recommends that the Minister approves a three year extension to the term of office of Mrs Jeralie Pallot which would expire on 31 May 2014. Mrs Pallot is the owner and Managing Director of Rowlands Recruitment.

The current members and their terms of office are:

	Term of office end date
Independent
Helen Ruelle	30 November 2015
Malcolm Ferey	17 October 2014
Carol Le Cocq	31 December 2014 – Resigned effective 11 April 2014

Employer
Jeralie Pallot	31 May 2014 – To be extended to 31 May 2017
Thomas Quinlan	30 November 2015
Julie Fairclough	17 October 2014

Employee
David Robinson	31 December 2014
Barbara Ward	30 November 2015
Ian Syvret	17 October 2014 – Resigned effective 10 October 2013

Recommendations

Appoint Dr Gary Jones as an independent member of the Employment Forum for a three year term of office, effective from 1 May 2014.

Extend the term of appointment of Mrs Jeralie Pallot for a further three year term of office, effective from 1 June 2014.