Staff appointments

6.1 No manager may engage, re-engage, or re­grade staff, either on a permanent or temporary nature, or hire agency staff, or agree to changes in any aspect of remuneration unless authorised to do so.

6.2 The CEO has delegated responsibility to the HR Business Partner for the proper appointment of staff.

Payments

6.3 The salary Budget is not delegated to any Budget holder or line manager.

6.4 Approval of payroll amendments will be compliant with the scheme of delegation in Appendix A.

6.5 Details of salary scales, pay methods, payments including overtime, allowances, deductions and incremental progression are set out in the Pay Policy. 

6.6 Other payments made to staff can be found in the following policies.

• Maternity, adoption,paternity and hsared parental leave policies
• Attendance policy
• Annual leave & public holidays policy
• Buying and Selling Annual Leave policy
• Special leave, public duties & career breaks policy
• Travel & subsistence policy
• Redeployment & redundancy policy
• Other policies which may be formally agreed by the Executive Team from time to time.

Employee expense claims

Eye and eyesight test for Display Screen Equipment users

6.7 The LGSCO will pay for annual eyesight tests (currently up to a maximum of £35) and make a contribution (currently £80) towards the cost of spectacles (for a change in prescription) where these are specifically necessary for display screen equipment users. Additional eye tests, such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) tests will not be paid. Full details are on the intranet.

6.8 Staff must initially meet the costs of eye tests and spectacles and submit a receipted expense claim and/or a copy of the change of prescription through Cascade HR. Authorised claims will be reimbursed in the normal way through the Cascade HR system. 

Season ticket loans

6.9 The LGSCO will provide interest-free season ticket loans for the purchase of rail, tube, bus and car parking season tickets. Loans are repayable through monthly deductions from the payroll, agreed in advance.

Travel floats 

6.10 Historically the LGSCO issued travel floats to employees who travelled regularly. The maximum amount of the float was £200. (see Travel & subsistence policy). 

6.11 No new travel floats will be issued.

6.12 The Head of Finance will monitor the outstanding floats and, if they consider it appropriate may, with the approval of the Executive Team, require its repayment.

Cycle to Work scheme

6.13 LGSCO operates an HMRC approved cycle to work scheme. This allows employees to acquire a bike, paid for by an LGSCO loan, and pay for it through monthly tax allowable payroll deductions. Further details are available on the intranet. 

Professional Subscriptions

6.14 The LGSCO will support staff to maintain a professional membership subscription relevant to their role by paying for fees, within reason, for one professional membership per employee. Receipted claims will be reimbursed in the normal way through the Cascade HR system. 

Further details are available in the Learning & development policy.  

Delay or cancellation of train travel - compensation

6.15    Travel by train should be purchased using the Corporate Travel Management account. Where a train is cancelled and no alternative travel can be taken or is suitable, the staff member should advise the Operational Support team who can reclaim the cost of the train fare from the train operator.

6.16    Where a train is delayed and compensation for delay is offered by the train operator, the compensation belongs to LGSCO as the ticket purchaser, rather than to the traveller (staff member). However, the administration cost and burden of submitting a claim (and ensuring that the reimbursement is made to the Commission) normally exceeds the compensation offered. Therefore, this will only be claimed by exception.

6.17     As the cost of the ticket has been purchased using public money, it is not possible (nor ethically satisfactory) for staff to claim and keep the compensation.

Income tax and National Insurance

6.18 The Commission’s tax affairs are dealt with by HMRC under the reference number: 951/C799/WW.