Public and Commercial Services Union

7 May 2008 - BB/47/08

Introduction

Taking up personal cases on behalf of members is a key part of our work as PCS representatives.

The provision of quality advice and support is a vital service that can improve conditions of members and the standing of the union in the workplace.

In response to Conference decision and the needs of many PCS reps who handle an increasing personal case workload, PCS has taken a number of steps to improve the guidance, support and access to advice.

This briefing gives a summary of our work following the Conference paper in 2007 and in addressing individual grievances as part of our broader organising, bargaining and campaigning agenda.

Personal case work

The Legal Department have met with all bargaining units and regional offices to discuss current systems of personal case handling and to offer guidance and support on how to apply best practice. All Groups should now have their own group specific personal case handling arrangements, distributed to all branches and reviewed and updated annually. For more information you should contact your group office or the group officers who have designated telephone access to legal advice.

Guidance ‘What happens if you have a problem at work – a guide for members’ has been produced aimed at helping members to understand what their responsibilities are in pursuing a personal case and also to help to manage their expectations. This is supported by the PC1 form with notes for guidance which is intended to focus members on what is achievable as well as to improve consistency of information and personal case handling.

Work is ongoing to make sure that bargaining units and regional offices have systems in place to enable them to identify, monitor and support all Employment Tribunal applications where PCS is named as the representative.

PCS has issued a number of guides on a range of different aspects of personal case handling, including the ‘Law at Work’ booklet (distributed to each branch annually) and the personal case folder, which will be re-distributed at Conference in 2008.

An electronic personal case management system has been included in the Commix review and subject to financial resources being available will come on-line in the next year.

Legal work

In addition to the range of resources available to reps dealing with personal cases, PCS also has a range of resources relating to legal work.

Not all cases require individual legal advice from solicitors. PCS has considerable internal expertise and a range of sources of information, advice and guidance. These include:

• the PCS ‘Equality, Health and Safety Department’ can give advice on discrimination on grounds of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation and religion, as well as dealing with Health and Safety and maternity related matters
• the ‘Policy, Research, Information & Bargaining Support Department’ can give advice on TUPE, pensions queries, ill-health retirement and working patterns or working time issues
• the PCS ‘Information Service’ can provide copies of legal case-law as well as other articles and legal guidance for use in support of arguments on personal cases with a legal element. They can provide a wide range of advice and assistance
• the ‘Legal and Personal Case Department’ can provide guidance on the employment law scheme, unfair dismissal, discrimination and redundancy as well as giving advice on other sources of information and support such as the dissemination of advice bulletins
• The PCS ‘National & Equal Pay Unit’ (NEPU) can provide information in relation to pay matters, job evaluation. In addition, whenever legal advice on Equal Pay and Age Discrimination in Pay and Benefits is needed, this should be referred to the NEPU.

In addition to the above resources, direct telephone access to Thompsons solicitors continues to be provided to all full time officers and to nominated lay reps. The list of individuals currently able to access verbal advice contains over 200 names from all areas of the union. These are set out in the Personal Case Folder to be issued at Conference.

Where specific written legal advice is needed, the Employment Law scheme (run in conjunction with Thompsons) has been running since 2002 and has been updated and improved as it has evolved.

In particular, it now has an appeal mechanism where branches are not satisfied with the legal advice received. In the year from 1 March 2007 to 29 February 2008 194 requests for written advice were made. All those requests have been actioned for legal advice.

Currently PCS has 28 cases where legal representation has also been authorised, but this figure does not include the majority of equal pay or age discrimination claims pursued by the union, and should be treated with some caution as the figure varies from month to month as cases are settled and/or more cases are agreed for representation. More work is being done on the legal and personal case database to enable PCS to provide better statistical information to Conference in the future.

However, of the 28 cases where representation has been made available, 13 relate to some form of discrimination or equal pay, 4 were for unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal, 3 related to issues over conditions of service, and the remainder covered issues such as suspension, TUPE, redundancy or trade union activities.

In relation to representation requests generally, there are established criteria but as a result of the pilots previously run in DWP and the Met Police groups, the criteria are flexibly applied in relation to discrimination cases with a presumption in favour of representation being provided where the legal advice is that the case merits support.

We are engaged in a dialogue with the National Black Members Forum to review the handling of discrimination cases and explore how this can be improved.

In regional offices and some bargaining units the Employment Law scheme is supported by surgery sessions run in conjunction with Thompsons where face to face advice can be obtained in order to improve the speed of advice and to allow dialogue between reps and the lawyers. More work is being done with bargaining units to expand this facility.

All reps should now be given written confirmation of the legal advice and this will confirm both a view on the merits as well as an indication of what further assistance may be available or if none, why not.

Both Thompsons and Russell Jones and Walker will have stalls at Conference staffed by lawyers who will be able to give legal advice on employment related issues.

The legal protection scheme

The legal protection scheme has now been running two years for the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Branch. Members pay an enhanced premium (currently £5 per month).

The scheme is a way for members of the scheme to access wider legal services in relation to specified criminal law issues and defamation claims arising out of their work. The pilot (that was only open to SOCA members) has now been completed and it is the intention of the NEC to widen access to the scheme to other members who are likely to benefit from it.

These are likely to include members working in investigatory roles where their duties bring them into contact with the public in circumstances that may lead them vulnerable to accusations of criminal activity.

Other potential areas of membership have been identified as set out below, but branches from these or other areas who believe that they may have members who would benefit from joining the legal protection scheme should contact the Legal And Personal Case Department for more information about the scheme and to provide details of the likely take-up in their areas.

Identified areas are as follows:

• Prison Service – instructional officers and operational managers
• Court Service – legal advisors
• Met Police – PCSOs
• UK Border Agency – front line Customs and Immigration officers
• Crown Prosecution Service – designated case workers
• HMRC – Investigative officers.

Publications

PCS distributed a ‘legal credit card’ to all members in the March edition of View magazine.

The purpose of the card is to ensure all members are familiar with PCS legal helplines relating to non-employment issues affecting members or their family.

The first point of contact for legal advice on employment related matters is local reps, who should know where to go for the appropriate advice/guidance. The card also contains a central helpline number for those members who don’t have a workplace or branch representative. See the PCS website or PCS diary for contact details for regional offices or bargaining units.

The Labour Research Department’s ‘Law at Work’ booklet will continue to be adapted for PCS use and distributed to all branches on an annual basis where PCS financial resources allow. Additional copies are also available for personal case officers and others who regularly handle personal and legal case work.

The personal cases folder has been updated and will be re-distributed to all branches at Conference this year.

This contains a series of guides on personal and legal case issues, for example unfair dismissal, discrimination, personal case handling (guidance for reps and for members), the employment law scheme, workplace bullying, ill health retirement, disability discrimination and ET time limits. Additional copies of the folders will be made available to personal case officers and for training purposes on request from the legal and personal case department.

The Legal and Personal Case Department has also produced a series of bulletins setting out anonymised legal advice from Thompsons on PCS cases, together with commentary explaining the wider significance of each case.

Training

The Organising and Learning Services Department, together with the Legal and Personal Cases Department, has now launched a new personal cases strand. The new courses are designed to meet the needs of representatives, and consist of 4 core courses, with additional seminar type one or two day courses on specific issues such as the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The 4 core courses are:

1. Personal Cases

This course is designed as an introductory personal cases training course aimed at new representatives or those who have taken on responsibility for personal cases.

The aims of the course are to help reps:

a. Develop best practice in handling personal cases;
b. Understand procedures/agreements;
c. Understand and use PCS personal cases guide;
d. Develop their confidence;
e. Develop interviewing and negotiating skills.

2. Advanced Personal Cases

This course is targeted at more experienced representatives who will be dealing with more complicated cases and looking to resolve/settle cases within their branches.

The aims of this course are:
a. To develop more advanced skills in preparing, presenting and resolving cases;
b. To develop reps’ ability to make proper use of the PCS Employment Law Scheme;
c. To develop reps’ knowledge of procedures leading up to submission to Employment Tribunal and CSAB in order to settle cases.

3. Employment Tribunals and Advocacy

This course is designed for experienced PCS representatives who need to develop their understanding, skills and confidence to prepare personal cases for Employment Tribunals. The training involves:

a. Developing an understanding of the Employment Tribunal process;
b. Developing the skills to prepare cases for tribunal;
c. Practising these skills to develop confidence in preparing cases for and presenting cases at Employment Tribunal hearings.

4. Employment Law (designed by and delivered in conjunction with the TUC)

This will be a practical course aimed at training reps who are dealing with employment law issues and/or who are likely to provide representation to members in employment tribunals. It will cover the fundamentals of employment law including unfair dismissal, breach of contract, redundancy and the different types of discrimination law. It is likely to require a commitment from course attendees to do some work outside the formal training.

In addition, to these courses the Legal and Personal Case Department has worked with Thompsons Solicitors to develop additional training and guidance on DDA, Unfair dismissal, Discipline and Grievance Procedures and age discrimination, and these courses will be run at various locations around the UK during 2008/09.

Conclusion

As reported, more detailed guidance on Personal Case handling is set out in the Personal Case Folder to be issued at Annual Delegate Conference 2008.

PCS at all levels needs to redouble its efforts to address by collective bargaining the underlying problems we face at work. The problems with policies and procedures are often the cause of members seeking individual representation in the workplace. In parallel to bargaining with management/the employer, the legal support framework offers re-assurance to hard pressed PCS reps/activists, who shoulder a heavy personal case workload, that advice and support is at hand.

Contact Details for Legal and Personal Case Department:

Emma Wiles, senior national officer, director of Legal Services

• Telephone: 0113 200 5300
• Mobile: 07788 168211
• Fax: 0113 200 5301
• Email: emma@pcs.org.uk

Graham Corbett , national officer, deputy head of legal/employment law

• Telephone: 0113 200 5300
• Mobile: 07788 127992
• Fax: 0113 200 5301
• Email: grahamc@pcs.org.uk