Market supplements scheme - Roles and responsibilities

Managers and Corporate Directors responsibilities

Managers and Corporate Directors will:

• review recruitment activity in line with the Market Supplement scheme where posts within their directorate are proving difficult to fill
• consider alternative ways of managing the recruitment and retention difficulties or assess whether services can be delivered in a different way
• gather the documentary evidence for justifying market supplements

Assess:

• the need to retain employees on the basis of their skills, competencies and experience
• the potential detrimental impact on service delivery
• the availability of these skills
• complete the approval process detailed in Appendix 1, before publication
• Apply the provisions of this scheme fairly and consistently in line with current legislation, best practice and equal pay principles.
• Keep the payment of supplements under review and regularly update the evidence.
• Give the relevant employee(s) three months’ notice of either a cancellation or a proportional reduction in their Market Supplement payment where it can no longer be justified.
• Inform the Service Centre so that adjustments to pay can be made when either the market supplement should end or be changed. (Including where an employee is absent on long term sickness)

Employees will sign and accept that if they leave the council within a specified period they must repay the total amount of the supplement. The normal period will be for two or three years unless there is a specific scheme in place - for example, Social Worker Academy.

People Management responsibilities

People Management will:

• assess the evidence and rationale to make sure the market supplement is justified and the Senior Manager, People Management will make the final decision, except where authorised by CMT
• check that a review process has been conducted at least annually to ensure that ongoing payments are still appropriate. Payments cannot be increased without a further approval process

Service Centre responsibilities

The Service Centre will:

• pay the market supplement either as a one off recruitment payment or as part of monthly pay showing the supplement as a separate payment on the payslip
• ensure the payment is subject to the usual tax, NI, Pension and other relevant deductions as appropriate.
• stop payments at the end of the specified period
• provide regular reports to management (as part of the Management Information) to ensure continued review of the payments

Employees will:

• sign and accept that if they leave the council within a specified period, they must repay the
• total amount of the supplement. The normal period will be for two or three years unless there is a specific scheme in place - for example, Social Worker Academy.