‘Red tape’ could see council workers banned from working ‘at local pub’
Plans to impose “authoritarian red tape” which could bar part-time council workers from having a second job “at the local pub” have been pushed back.
Under Gloucestershire County Council current rules, full-time staff have to seek this authorisation in writing from their director before undertaking other work.
But HR bosses at Shrire Hall want to make changes to their employee code of conduct to also require that part-time staff get permission from their directors if they want to take on extra work elsewhere.
But Councillors have disagreed strongly and called for a re-think on the proposals which several see as “authoritarian”.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Jeremy Hilton (Kingsholm and Wotton) was the first to raise concerns over the issue which was debated at the constitution committee on June 15.
He felt they were “quite authoritarian” in that HR would decide on whether part-time workers can take another job “in the bar or at the local pub”.
He said: “If you’ve got somebody working for 16 hours a week for Gloucestershire County Council and they want to take another job for 16 hours a week and it doesn’t clash with the times and everything like that, it would be unfair for directors to then turn around and say sorry you can’t do that.”
Officers said, without the requirement, the authority was exposed to not having any proper protection around if someone is working more than they are supposed to under the law.
The council also lacks the visibility they should have around potential conflicts of interest without the requirement, they said.
Eleanor Hutchinson, the council’s head of human resources, said the proposal would give them greater assurance and protection.
“But of course, we need to be proportionate and balanced in how it’s applied,” she added.
Cllr Alex Hegenbarth (LD, Bishop’s Cleeve) said he understood the point around conflicts of interest but felt it was a “clumsy” mechanism to police that.
“It does sweep up those people who are working at lower levels in the organisation who may work in multiple areas or those who are working from home with a side business or something like that,” he said.
“Does somebody need to get signed off by HR to sell jewellery on eBay?”
He also questioned the rule for full-time employees.
Ms Hutchinson recognised it was quite a simplistic response to the issue but said they is currently no sophisticated mechanism for the council to police the issue.
“In the short term, this is how we are providing some protection for ourselves,” she said.
Reform UK Councillor Michael Rees (Cam Valley) saud it was concerning part time employees would have to ask for permission from a director to get another job.
“Especially if they are jumping between jobs, struggling to make an income to survive,” he said.
He said it sounds “authoritarian and controlling”.
“I don’t like the fact full-time employees aren’t allowed to just have a second job, a second source of income.
“Lots of people do nowadays but to require that also of then part time, I think is absolutely ridiculous.”
And Conservative group leader Stephen Davies (Hardwicke and Severn) said he was surprised the measures were “even legal”.
“I’m sure you’ve checked that,” he said.
“The working hours thing is crazy because you can go and work for a charity all night long in some night shelter and still come to work the next morning,” he said.
“The issue is whether they are capable of doing the job they turn up to do.”
He said he gets the need to check whether there’s a conflict of interest but it was the “wrong approach to the right question”.
Cllr Hilton said the case had not been argued properly and said his preference was to defer the decision and called on officers to go back and provide a thorough report on the reasons why the rule change was needed.
He said: “What you’re doing is just trying to resolve some problems and you’re just affecting the whole load of other people with red tape that is totally unnecessary.”
The committee agreed but Cllr Rees said he would reject it completely.
He slammed the logic behind the policy after the meeting saying “we are adults who have a fundamental right to manage our own time, our own finances, and our own lives”.
“If a council employee is in their twenties, full of energy, and wants to set up a burger van to work events on the weekend, that is none of the council’s business,” he said.
“The freedom to be independent, to hustle, and to strive for a better life without being monitored by council management is a cornerstone of British life. Your personal life is exactly that: private.”