Fórsa has welcomed the recent agreement reached at the Local Authority National Council (LANC) to comprehensively overhaul grievance and disciplinary policies across all 31 city and county councils.

This significant development will see a sector-wide policy negotiated with trade unions, aiming to ensure consistency and fairness in procedures throughout local government. 

Since 2019, Fórsa has taken a leading role in advocating for sector-wide policies to govern grievance and disciplinary matters, that are both rigorous and transparent. The union’s efforts have centred on the need for consistency and clarity, recognising that the existence of 31 separate policies for a sector employing 33,000 staff, has resulted in a fragmented approach and poorer outcomes for workers.  

Head of the Local Government and Local Services division, Richy Carrothers said:  “It makes no sense to have 31 separate grievance and disciplinary policies in a sector employing 33,000 people. This has meant that local government has been out of kilter with the rest of the civil and public service.” 

“To make matters worse many of the existing grievance and disciplinary policies were never formally agreed with unions, which has undoubtedly disadvantaged workers.”  

Richy continued: “Collective bargaining in grievance and disciplinary processes is a core function for unions, and as the LANC staff-side secretary, I welcome the agreement with management to develop sector-wide policies that are modern and fit for purpose. We will engage actively on this issue and report back to members as negotiations progress.” 

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