The Social Partnership Forum has published a revised version of its agreement on industrial relations during the crisis, and extended the agreement to the end of September.

The National Social Partnership Forum (SPF), which brings together NHS employers, unions and national bodies, has published a revised version of its statement on industrial relations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The statement, originally published in March, sets out the principles under which unions and employers will work together during the crisis and provides basic guidance on how to handle issues such as organisational change, new working practices, disciplinary action and grievances within their NHS organisations. The new statement covers the period to the end of September 2020.

The statement recognises that temporary arrangements introduced during the crisis may need to kept in place alongside plans for the safe restarting of services. “The partners agree that the safety and wellbeing of all staff in the workplace should be the focus of this planning and, based on the evidence, particular attention must be paid to our BAME colleagues,” the statement says.

The SPF has also agreed that any extension to temporary working practices must be agreed with trade unions or professional bodies, where relevant. Homeworking should still be the norm for staff who can, the statement says: “Homeworking for staff who can work from home should be facilitated and expected as normal during this period.”

A key part of the statement covers the management of organisational change during the crisis. The SPF agrees that organisational change projects at single employer or ICS level should remain paused unless they are required for Covid-19 response or the safe restart of services, are required by law, or are uncontentious and unlikely to lead to disputes.

“Low-level” disciplinary and grievances cases should remain paused, the SPF statement says, while more serious cases should be reviewed with local union reps “to manage any backlog fairly and throughly”. “Pragmatic outcomes without the need for formal processes, with the agreement of the employee, and after consultation with local trade union reps, should always be considered first,” the statement says.

You can read the full statement here.