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Dear Managers,

We hope you are bearing up in the heat!

This edition includes promoting the upcoming Together Through Change LGR webinar for colleagues across all Surrey councils on 13 July, supporting teams during the current hot weather, and final arrangements for the Summer Staff Party.

You’ll also find out about key updates to the Employment Rights Act and our Corporate Equality Policy, guidance on supporting colleagues with caring responsibilities, and a link to Mari’s June vlog.

Please take a few moments to read through the bulletin and share relevant updates with your teams at your upcoming team meetings.

If there’s something you’d like to see included in future editions, please get in touch – we’d be happy to hear your suggestions!

Dear Managers,

We hope you are bearing up in the heat!

Supporting your teams during the hot weather

With hot weather and heat alerts in place, managers are asked to support staff safety and wellbeing by checking in with teams and considering flexible working arrangements where needed.

With hot weather and heat alerts in place, managers are asked to support staff safety and wellbeing by checking in with teams and considering flexible working arrangements where needed. This may include working from the Town Hall, working from home, or rescheduling in-person visits if conditions are not safe.

Please use your judgement to balance service delivery with the wellbeing of your teams.

Together Through Change: Surrey councils all-staff webinar – Monday 13 July

Staff at all Surrey councils have been invited to join Together Through Change - Surrey councils all-staff webinar on Monday 13 July, 9.30-10.30am. Colleagues will hear from senior officers leading the transition to the new shadow authorities, with updates on Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation including key milestones, challenges, opportunities and next steps.

Those with an email address should have received an Outlook invitation with full details, including a short sign-up form to register for the event and submit questions in advance.

Please encourage your teams to sign up to the event. A recording of the session and FAQs will be shared afterwards for colleagues who are unable to join, including offline teams. If you manage offline teams or colleagues without access to email, please encourage them to share any questions with you so they can be submitted on their behalf via the online form.

Supporting RBBC carers: guidance for managers

Managers play a key role in creating a supportive and inclusive environment to help colleagues balance their work with caring responsibilities. Here's a reminder of a few simple actions that can make a big difference in supporting carers...

Allow team members to discuss caring responsibilities and possible support they may need in one-to-ones, appraisals or general discussions with you as required.
Explore options and flexibility, appropriate to the role and caring needs, that help your team member balance work and caring. This could be through hybrid or agile working arrangements, flexible use of annual leave, and as a reminder, there is the option for a carer to use statutory carers leave/dependency leave (see Additional Leave Policy).
Bear in mind that some needs will be intermittent and/or short-term whereas other support may need to be more routine. Longer term arrangements could be supported via a Flexible Working Request.
Remind your team about the RBBC Carer's Group and support them to attend if they wish. They generally meet for one hour, once a month.
RBBC is committed to supporting colleagues with unpaid caring responsibilities where possible. If you need any additional support or guidance in supporting your team member, please speak to your HR Advisor.

RBBCFest Summer Staff Party reminder

There's not long to go until our Summer Staff Party on Friday 10 July, 4pm to 9.30pm in the Castle Grounds, Reigate. Please ask your teams to accept the Outlook invitation in their diaries if they are coming (so we can confirm catering numbers) and get in touch by emailing katherine.monk@reigate-banstead.gov.uk they have any dietary or accessibility requirements. Thankyou :)

Mari's June vlog

Mari’s June vlog is now available on the Knowledge.

Please share with your teams that Mari’s June vlog is now available on the Knowledge.

Employment Rights Act updates: what managers need to know

Updates have been introduced to the Employment Rights Act 2025 due to legislative changes. Here are the key changes you need to be aware of as a manager....

Updates have been introduced to the Employment Rights Act 2025 due to legislative changes. Here are the key things for you to be aware of as a manager...

Paternity leave and ordinary parental leave

Ordinary paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are day one rights from the first day of employment. (The policy has been updated to reflect this update in legislation). As a day one right, new employees can give notice of leave from their first day of employment.
Employees are now able to take paternity leave after shared parental leave.
Fathers or partners can take up 52 weeks of unpaid leave if the mother or primary adopter passes away.

Statutory Sick Pay

SSP is payable from the first day of sick leave. This will not impact most RBBC employees as our occupational sick pay is paid from day one, but may be relevant if someone has used up their occupational sick pay entitlement and has a further period of sick leave.

There is now no minimum earnings threshold to be entitled to SSP.

Whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is now classed as a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law meaning those who make a sexual harassment disclosure have protection from detriment and unfair dismissal.

Duty to keep holiday records

There is a new legal requirement to keep employee annual leave and holiday pay records for a minimum of 6 years. This includes information such as carried over, holiday pay and payment in lieu of annual leave.
Leave records are held in iTrent, however as managers, please ensure all annual leave is recorded and that your team are using their full leave entitlement in line with their leave year.
The equivalent of one week’s leave may be carried forward in line with contracts (so for a full time person this will be 36 hours, for someone working a 20 hour week they can carry forward 20 hours). All other annual leave should be used in the relevant leave year.

Ordinary unfair dismissal claim

Currently someone requires two years continuous service to be able to make an unfair dismissal claim. This reduces to 6 months continuous service in January 2027.
This reduction in the service required means it is additionally important that new employees are robustly supported during the probation period in a timely way and any concerns are addressed and documented, and discussed as early as possible with your HR Advisor.

Corporate Equality Policy updated

Please be aware that our Corporate Equality Policy has been updated. Key updates include:

inclusion of characteristics beyond those covered by the Equality Act (section 3.1 and Appendix 2)
use of more modern and inclusive language, including references to gender expression
recognition of strengthened responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment in line with recent legislation.

Thank you for your continued support in helping us create an inclusive and respectful workplace for all.

Please be aware that our Corporate Equality Policy has been updated. Key updates include:

Inclusion of characteristics beyond those covered by the Equality Act (section 3.1 and Appendix 2)
Use of more modern and inclusive language, including references to gender expression
Recognition of strengthened responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment in line with recent legislation

Thank you for your continued support in helping us create an inclusive and respectful workplace for all.

Reminder: Hybrid working policy launched

RBBC's Hybrid working policy was launched in April. Please ensure the hybrid working arrangements for your service have been communicated and discussed with your teams.

Reminder: manager advice line

Our Employee Assistance Programme now includes a dedicated manager advice line. While HR can support you with managing situations and applying RBBC policies, there may be times when you prefer to speak with someone external. This could be for emotional support, to look after your wellbeing as a manager, or to gain practical tips for handling challenging or stressful situations.

The Council’s Employee Assistance Programme includes a dedicated managerial advice line. While HR can support you with managing situations and applying RBBC policies, there may be times when you prefer to speak with someone external. This could be for emotional support, to look after your wellbeing as a manager, or to gain practical tips for handling challenging or stressful situations.

The advice line is available 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday. To access it call 0800 085 3805 or email assist@cicwellbeing.com.

More information.

Keeping up to date on LGR

Future Surrey staff newsletter
Please remind your teams that colleagues across the 12 Surrey councils are emailed Future Surrey newsletters with the latest LGR updates. Printable versions for offline teams are available on our LGR hub.

Future Surrey Together intranet
Future Surrey Together is a shared intranet for staff across all 12 Surrey councils. It brings together key information from across all councils, previous editions of the Future Surrey Newsletter, Implementation Team biographies, updates, news, FAQs, and what's happening next in LGR. It will exist alongside our own intranet. A link to the Future Surrey intranet is available on the homepage of The Knowledge.