Employee Grievances

The request was refused by Vale of Glamorgan Council.

Dear Vale of Glamorgan Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act please provide me with the information to which I am entitled within the next 20 working days:-

1 How many Council Staff have raised grievances about their employment within the last 5 years?

2 How many Stage 1 grievances found in favour of the employee?

3How many Stage 2 grievances found in favour of the employee?

4 How many Stage 3 grievances found in favour of the employee?

Please ensure a response within the requisite time scale.

Please note that I do not require any personal information and therefore exemption under the Data Protection Act will not be an acceptable response.

Yours faithfully,

ElsieSchenk

FOI Unit, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your recent request for information which is currently being processed.

Please note our reference: RFI17 5060

We aim to respond to you within the statutory time scale of 20 working days.

Kind regards,

Information Governance Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Democratic Services
Vale of Glamorgan Council / Cyngor Bro Morgannwg

Visit our Website at www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk
Ewch i'n gwefan yn www.bromorgannwg.gov.uk

Find us on Facebook / Cewch ddod o hyd i ni ar Facebook
Follow us on Twitter / Dilynwch ni ar Twitter

show quoted sections

FOI Unit, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Dear Madam,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 20^th March.

 

You requested the following information:

1 How many Council Staff have raised grievances about their employment
within the last 5 years?

2 How many Stage 1 grievances found in favour of the employee?

3How many Stage 2 grievances found in favour of the employee?

4 How many Stage 3 grievances found in favour of the employee?

 

Your request has been forwarded to the relevant Officer and I can advise
the following:

 

1. How many Council Staff have raised grievances about their employment
within the last 5 years?

32

 

2. How many Stage 1 grievances found in favour of the employee?

Stage 1 Grievance upheld in part - *

Stage 1 Grievance upheld in full - *

 

3. How many Stage 2 grievances found in favour of the employee?

Stage 2 Grievance upheld in part - *

Stage 2 Grievance upheld in full - *

 

4. How many Stage 3 grievances found in favour of the employee?

No stage 3 grievances were found in favour of the employee

 

*Please note, where an answer relating to the number of employees is 5 or
less, we have not disclosed the actual figure. These answers have been
replaced with an asterisk (*).

The reason for not supplying this information is due to the low number of
data subjects involved. As per guidance from the Information Commissioners
Office (anonymisation code of practise) we do not release low numbers as
individuals could be identified.

We believe this information is exempt in accordance with Section 40(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We believe the exemption applies because of the low numbers involved, it
may be possible to identify those individuals concerned. Given the nature
of the request, it is deemed that this could potentially cause unnecessary
and unjustified distress or damage to the persons who the information is
about.

We believe that disclosure of this information would not be fair or lawful
and would breach the first data protection principle as outlined in
Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Therefore in accordance with section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 this acts in part as a Refusal Notice.

 

I hope that this information is of assistance but if you are dissatisfied
with this response and would like to have this reviewed, please contact
the council’s Monitoring Officer (Legal Services) at the Civic Offices ,
Holton Road Barry CF63 4RU.

 

Further information regarding FOI and the appeals process is available at
[1]www.ico.org.uk

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Information Governance Officer

Freedom of Information Unit

Democratic Services

Vale of Glamorgan Council / Cyngor Bro Morgannwg

 

Visit our Website at [2]www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Ewch i'n gwefan yn [3]www.bromorgannwg.gov.uk

 

[4]Find us on Facebook / Cewch ddod o hyd i ni ar Facebook

[5]Follow us on Twitter / Dilynwch ni ar Twitter

 

 

From: ElsieSchenk [[6]mailto:[FOI #396084 email]]
Sent: 20 March 2017 19:15
To: FOI Unit
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Employee Grievances

 

Dear Vale of Glamorgan Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act please provide me with the
information to which I am entitled within the next 20 working days:-

1 How many Council Staff have raised grievances about their employment
within the last 5 years?

2 How many Stage 1 grievances found in favour of the employee?

3How many Stage 2 grievances found in favour of the employee?

4 How many Stage 3 grievances found in favour of the employee?

Please ensure a response within the requisite time scale.

Please note that I do not require any  personal information and therefore
exemption under the  Data Protection Act will not be an acceptable
response.

Yours faithfully,

ElsieSchenk

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Dear Vale of Glamorgan Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Vale of Glamorgan Council's handling of my FOI request 'Employee Grievances'.

I note that you have applied Section 40 (2) - Personal Information exemption. I fail to see how this is either applicable or exempt information. Please explain in full how individuals could be identified? I have merely asked for numbers of grievances upheld at various stages of your grievance procedure and for no other and certainly no personal information whatsoever.

It appears to me that the actual reason for none disclosure of the information is that the Vale of Glamorgan Council's record in this area would almost always find in favour of the employer rather than the employee and that the council is embarrassed by the lip service paid to it's employees concerns. In a council that employs several thousand staff, I fail to see how those that have made successful grievances can be identified were the actual figure disclosed.

Unless a satisfactory response is provided in a timely fashion, rest assured that this matter will be forwarded to the Information Commissioners Office for further investigation.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

ElsieSchenk

FOI Unit, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Dear Sir/Madam,

I can advise that your email dated 24th April 2017 has been passed to the Councils Monitoring Officer who will conduct an internal review of your original request.

We will respond to you as soon as the internal review is completed.

Kind regards,

Information Governance Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Democratic Services
Vale of Glamorgan Council / Cyngor Bro Morgannwg

Visit our Website at www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk
Ewch i'n gwefan yn www.bromorgannwg.gov.uk

Find us on Facebook / Cewch ddod o hyd i ni ar Facebook
Follow us on Twitter / Dilynwch ni ar Twitter

show quoted sections

FOI Unit, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Re: Request for Information (RFI17 5060)

 

I refer to your request for information and your subsequent appeal
received on 24th April 2017.

 

On 20th March 2017 you submitted an FOI request for information relating
to staff grievances within the Council. The request asks us to specify the
number of staff who had raised grievances about their employment and the
number of grievances found in favour of the employee at stage 1, 2 and 3.

 

You were advised the number of grievances found in favour of staff at each
stage was less than 5 and therefore due to the low numbers there is a risk
of identification and the information was exempt from disclosure in
accordance with section 40 of the FOI Act.

 

Section 40 is an absolute exemption for personal information and is not
subject to the public interest test.

 

The legal definition of personal information contained in the Data
Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is information that relates to a living
individual, who can be identified from the information, or from other
information held or likely to be held by the data controller. This would
of course include names and addresses, however it would also include a
wide range of other information which could be used to identify a
individuals.

 

Please follow the link below for further information relating to ‘personal
data’ on the ICO’s website:

[1]http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/data...

 

As previously advised on 12th April 2017, the Information Commissioners
Office has issued guidance on low numbers relating to data subjects in the
form of the Anonymisation Code of Practice. The Information Commissioner
has issued this code under section 51 of the Data Protection Act in
pursuance of his duty to promote good practice. A copy to the guidance can
be found below.

 

[2]https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...

[3]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

 

You will note from the guidance that the ICO suggests a number of
techniques for anonymising data, in particular, when considering small
numbers the guidance advises:

‘Small numbers in totals are often suppressed through ‘blurring’ or by
being omitted altogether. Some cell values (eg small ones such as 1-5) in
statistical data can present a greater risk of re-identification.
Depending on the circumstances, small numbers can either be suppressed, or
the values manipulated. If a large number of cells are affected, the level
of aggregation could be changed. For example, the data could be linked to
wider geographical areas or age-bands could be widened.’

 

Based on the above I deem it appropriate to withhold low statistics of 5
or less and therefore uphold the decision issued to you on 12th April.

 

I would advise you of your right to refer this matter to the Information
Commissioner’s Office should you remain dissatisfied.

 

Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales 2nd Floor Churchill House
Churchill Way Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Telephone: 029 2067 8400

Fax: 029 2067 8399

Web: [4]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Monitoring Officer

Legal Services

Vale of Glamorgan Council / Cyngor Bro Morgannwg

 

Visit our Website at [5]www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Ewch i'n gwefan yn [6]www.bromorgannwg.gov.uk

 

[7]Find us on Facebook / Cewch ddod o hyd i ni ar Facebook

[8]Follow us on Twitter / Dilynwch ni ar Twitter

 

 

From: ElsieSchenk [mailto:[FOI #396084 email]]
Sent: 24 April 2017 10:33
To: FOI Unit
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Employee
Grievances

 

Dear Vale of Glamorgan Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Vale of Glamorgan Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Employee Grievances'.

I note that you have applied Section 40 (2) - Personal Information
exemption. I fail to see how this is either applicable or exempt
information. Please explain in full how individuals could be identified? 
I have merely asked for numbers of grievances upheld at various stages of
your grievance procedure and for no other and certainly no personal
information whatsoever.

It appears to me that the actual reason for none disclosure of the
information is that the Vale of Glamorgan Council's record in this area
would almost always find in favour of the employer rather than the
employee and that the council is embarrassed by the lip service paid to
it's employees concerns. In a council that employs several thousand staff,
I fail to see how those that have made successful grievances can be
identified were the actual figure disclosed.

Unless a satisfactory response is provided in a timely fashion, rest
assured that this matter will be forwarded to the Information
Commissioners Office for further investigation.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[9]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

ElsieSchenk

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[10][FOI #396084 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[11]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[12]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

References

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2. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...
3. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/
6. http://www.bromorgannwg.gov.uk/
7. http://en-gb.facebook.com/valeofglamorga...
8. http://twitter.com/vogcouncil
9. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...
10. mailto:[FOI #396084 email]
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Dear FOI Unit/Monitoring Officer

Thank you for your response which is most unsatisfactory.

This matter will now be forwarded to the Information Commissioner for further investigation.

Yours sincerely,

ElsieSchenk