Managing the Use of Agency Workers

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S75 Equality And Good Relations Screening Form

General Information

Service/
Function
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Policy/
Procedure
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Project
☐

Strategy
☐

Plan
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Guidance
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Is this an existing, revised or a new function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?
Existing ☐ Revised ☐ New ☒

Operational Area	Organisation Wide
Title	Managing the Use of Agency Workers

Brief Summary
The policy provides a framework for managers to enable them to use and manage agency workers effectively.

What is it trying to achieve? (intended aims and outcomes)
This Policy outlines the Councils framework for Managing the Use of Agency Workers. The Council is committed to implementing fair and effective practices for the engagement of agency workers to ensure optimum utilisation of the Council’s financial resources.

Who owns and who implements each element of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

The OD/HR Department own the Policy.
OD/HR are responsible for providing advice and guidance on the application of this policy and procedure.

Managers particularly have a responsibility to:

Set the standards of acceptable performance/behaviour expected
Ensure that the processes contained within this policy are adhered to;
Uphold and promote the Council’s value of respect for others;
In consultation with ODHR, consider alternatives before engaging an agency worker, including employees requiring redeployment;
Ensure an induction is completed;
Review the duration and cost effectiveness of the agency worker;
Seek the correct authority to engage (including any extensions or transfers) to the original request;
Appropriately manage performance issues/incidents in a timely manner
Review the accuracy of timesheet prior to authorisation and submission

Recruitment Agency will work together with the OD/HR representative to establish the resourcing requirements of the Council and endeavour to put forward suitably experienced/qualified candidates. Furthermore, the Recruitment Agency will be responsible for:

Provide agency worker within timeframe specified in the contract
Pre-assignment vetting: aim to have a minimum of one employment reference or personal reference (whereby they have not been in paid employment before) and ensure that an appropriate Access NI Disclosure has been obtained when an essential requirement of the post
Issue all worker’s with an Agency Handbook
Appropriately manage performance and/or conduct issues as reported (via the agency Incident Report Form) by the Council
Conduct investigations, as appropriate, in relation to an Agency Worker’s misconduct or work related complaint
The processing and payment of timesheets for all agency workers
As the hiring agency, any requests made by an agency worker, in accordance with GDPR regulations, will be dealt with directly by the Recruitment Agency

Agency workers are responsible for providing information and documentation as requested by either the Agency and/or the Council.

Other policies etc. which have a bearing on this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

Terms and Conditions of Employment
CC&G Privacy Statement
OD/HR Privacy statement

Available Evidence
Evidence to help inform the screening process may take many forms. Public authorities should ensure that their screening decision is informed by relevant data.
What evidence/information (both qualitative and quantitative have you gathered to inform this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? Specify details for relevant Section 75 categories.

Organisation Employee Statistics	Number
Number of Employees	644
Male	366
Female	278
Disability	13
Age <30	14
Age 30-50	332
Over 50	298

Section 75 Category	Details of Evidence/Information
Religious Beliefs	N/A
Political Opinion	N/A
Racial Group	N/A
Age	N/A
Marital Status	N/A
Sexual Orientation	N/A
Men and Women Generally	N/A
Dependants	N/A
Disability	N/A

Screening Questions
1. What is the likely impact on equality of opportunity for those affected by this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

Section 75 Category		Positive impact	Neutral	Negative impact	Reason
Gender	Women	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
	Men	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Transgender men/women	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Other please specify	☐	☐	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Race (As used in the 2011 census)	Asian	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
	Black	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Chinese	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Mixed race White	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Other please specify	☐	☐	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Disability	Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc.	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Sexual orientation	Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Age	Older People	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Age	Younger people and children	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Political Opinion		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Religious Belief		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Marital Status		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation
Dependants		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy which will be applied consistently across the organisation

Screening Questions 2. Are there opportunities to better promote equality of opportunity for people within any of the Section 75 categories?

Section 75 Category		If Yes, provide details	If No, provide details
Gender	Women		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
	Men
	Transgender men/women
	Other please specify
Race As used in the 2011 census.	Asian		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
	Black
	Chinese
	Mixed race White
	Other please specify
Disability	Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc.		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Sexual orientation	Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Age	Older People, Younger people and children		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Political Opinion			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Religious Belief			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Marital Status			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Dependants			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.

Screening Questions
3. To what extent is the policy likely to impact on good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?

Section 75 Category	Details of policy impact	Level of impact major/minor/none
Religious Belief	N/A	The policy does not impact on people of different religious belief.
Political Opinion	N/A	The policy does not impact on people of different political opinion.
Racial Group	N/A	The policy does not impact on people of different racial groupings

Screening Questions
4. Are there opportunities to better promote good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?

Section 75 Category	If Yes, provide details	If No, provide details
Religious Belief		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different religious belief.
Political Opinion		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different political opinion.
Racial Group		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different racial groups.


Additional Considerations
Generally speaking people can fall into more than one Section 75 category. Taking this into consideration, are there any potential impacts of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities? (For example: disabled minority ethnic people, disabled women, young Protestant men, young lesbians, gay and bisexual people.) No

Provide details of data on the impact of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities. Specify the relevant Section 75 categories concerned.
N/A

Disability Considerations Is there an opportunity to better promote positive attitudes towards disabled people by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No

If yes, please give further information and examples:

Is there an opportunity to encourage participation by disabled people in public life by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No

Please give further information and examples:

Screening Decision Likely Impact ☐ Major ☐ Minor ☒ None If the decision is to subject the policy to an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact – Major), please provide details of the reasons for this: If the decision is not to conduct an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact = Minor) the Council should consider if the policy should be mitigated or an alternative policy be introduced:
If the decision is not to conduct an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact = None), please provide details of the reasons for this: The policy is aimed at ensuring that Council and its Managers manage the use of agency workers. Through the process of developing the policy and the screening process we have not identified any significant issues that require further consideration.

Mitigation
When the Council concludes that the likely impact is ‘Minor’ and an equality impact assessment is not to be conducted, the Council may consider mitigation to lessen the severity of any equality impact, or the introduction of an alternative policy to better promote equality of opportunity or good relations. Can the policy/decision be amended or changed or an alternative policy introduced to better promote equality of opportunity and/or good relations? ☐ Yes ☒ No
If YES, give the reasons to support your decision, together with the proposed changes/amendments or alternative policy: Through the process of developing the policy, consultation and the screening process we have not identified any significant issues that require mitigation.

Timetabling And Prioritising
If the policy/decision has been ‘screened in’ for equality impact assessment, then please answer the following questions to determine its priority for timetabling the equality impact assessment. On a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the lowest priority and 3 the highest, assess the policy in terms of its priority for equality impact assessment.
Priority Criterion	Rating (1 to 3)
Effect on equality of opportunity and good relations	N/A
Social Need	N/A
Effect on people’s daily lives	N/A
Relevance to the Council’s functions	N/A

Monitoring
Please outline proposals for future monitoring of the policy/decision: The Council will keep this Policy under review as required and may make any changes in line with legislation, and in consultation with trade unions.


Approval And Authorisation
Screened By Position/Job Title Date	Date
HR Business Partner Org Development	8 February 2021

Approved By Position/Job Title Date
Director of Corporate Services	15.03.2021

*Sources:

Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (NILT), Queen’s University Belfast and the Ulster University NI Life and Times Survey - 2019 : ORIENT2 (ark.ac.uk)
https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/nlgccg.htm

Northern Ireland Statistics website: www.nisra.gov.uk
2019 Mid Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (nisra.gov.uk)
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