Barnet UNISON

Monday 7th September 2026

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – Restructures what are your rights.

 

Restructures are happening across this council all the time, in some corner of the organisation or another. Most members never think about the process until the day it lands on their own desk. By then it’s too late to learn the rules from scratch. So, this week I want to set out plainly what happens when your service is restructured, what rights you actually have, and why the moment to get in touch with us is the day you hear the word “restructure,” not the day you get a letter about redundancy.

 

What actually happens

When management propose a restructure, they’re supposed to consult you formally before anything is decided. That means at least ten days’ notice of the meeting where consultation starts, and a proper written pack explaining what’s changing and why. Before that meeting even happens, we as your union should be briefed by management so we know what’s coming.

 

Once consultation opens, anyone whose post might go gets told individually that they’re “at risk.” That’s not the same as being made redundant. It means your post is on the list for job matching, where your current role gets compared against roles in the new structure. If there’s a close enough match, you slot straight in. If there are fewer posts than people, you go into a ring-fenced selection process instead.

 

Only after all of that is exhausted, if there’s genuinely no role for you, does redundancy notice get issued. And even then, you stay eligible for redeployment right up to your last day.

 

Where it can go wrong for you

On paper this all sounds fair. In practice, it depends entirely on management doing it properly, and on you knowing your rights well enough to hold them to it. You’re entitled to bring a union rep into every meeting, formal or informal. If you move to a lower graded post through this process, pay protection should apply. If you disagree with a job match, you’ve got fourteen calendar days to appeal it. If you’re made redundant, you’ve got fourteen calendar days to appeal that too. Calendar days, not working days, so a letter that lands on a Friday eats into your weekend as well.

 

Fourteen days sounds like plenty until you’re the one staring at a letter you don’t fully understand, trying to work out if the process was followed correctly. Most of the mistakes I see aren’t made deliberately. They happen because nobody was checking the detail at the time it mattered, and by the time someone does check, the clock has already run down.

 

That’s the whole point of getting us involved early. We can’t fix a flawed process after the decision’s been rubber-stamped nearly as easily as we can shape it while it’s still open.

 

So if your service is facing change, or you’ve had any hint that it might, don’t wait for a formal letter. Contact your steward or the branch office as soon as you hear anything, even if it’s only rumour at this stage. We’d rather talk you through ten false alarms than find out about a genuine one after the appeal deadline’s gone.

 

Take care of yourselves and each other.

 

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

Monday 24 August 2026

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – A warning for every council worker

Something has been happening quietly in the Passenger Transport Service that every Barnet council worker needs to know about. It does not just affect Passenger Assistants. It sets a precedent that could affect any of us.

 

What has been going on

In 2017 a decision was taken — without any consultation with UNISON or GMB — that when Passenger Assistant posts became vacant through retirement or resignation, they would not be refilled with directly employed LBB staff. Instead, the work would be picked up by external providers.

 

Nobody announced this. Nobody brought it to a JNCC. No business case was published. No equality assessment was carried out. It just happened, post by post, year by year.

In January 2021 there were approximately 85 directly employed LBB Passenger Assistants. There are now 42. The work has not reduced. The service still runs over 100 routes that need Passenger Assistant support. The workers have simply been replaced.

 

We have now had this confirmed in writing by management. When we asked who is doing the work that LBB Passenger Assistants used to do, the answer came back: 61 workers employed by external private providers contracted by the Council.

 

That is not gap-filling. That is not flexible provision. That is outsourcing — and it has been done without any of the process that outsourcing requires.

 

Why this should worry you, wherever you work

This is not just a Passenger Transport story. The method matters.

Management found a way to run down an in-house workforce without ever formally proposing to outsource it. No Cabinet report saying we want to contract this service out. No consultation with the unions. No equality impact assessment on what it means for a low-paid, predominantly female workforce. Just a quiet decision to stop recruiting, and wait.

 

By the time anyone noticed, 60% of the Passenger Assistant function was being delivered by workers employed by private companies rather than by the Council.

 

Ask yourself this. What stops the same approach being used in your service? If management decided tomorrow to stop filling vacancies in your team and use contractors instead, this is now the precedent they would point to. UNISON is not prepared to let that stand unchallenged.

 

What UNISON has done and where we are

We have submitted a formal report to the highest level of joint negotiation with the Council — the JNCG, chaired by the Chief Executive. That report sets out the full picture: the workforce figures, the governance failures, the health and safety concerns, the breach of the Trade Union Engagement Framework the Council signed just last December.

 

We submitted that report in June. We are now in August. We have still not received a substantive response.

 

We have also formally asked management a question they have not answered: when did LBB last directly recruit a Passenger Assistant? The answer to that question will tell us exactly when the decision was made that this workforce would be wound down. We intend to find out.

This matter is going to JNCC as a formal agenda item. We are not dropping it.

 

What members can do

If you are a Passenger Assistant or Passenger Escort, or you know someone who is, please get in touch with the branch. Your experience of what has changed in this service matters and we want to hear it.

If you work in any other part of the Council and you have noticed posts in your team sitting vacant for long periods without being advertised, let us know. We want to understand whether what has happened in Passenger Transport is happening anywhere else.

 

The council workforce is strongest when we look out for each other. What happens to one group of workers today can happen to another group tomorrow.

 

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

Monday 10th August

Weekly Blog – Speaking Truth too Power – Sickness Absence

Sickness absence can become complicated very quickly. A few days off, a return-to-work meeting, then suddenly a manager is talking about review stages and attendance targets.

 

My message this week is simple. Contact UNISON early. Do not wait until you are worried that your job may be at risk.

 

Tell us when your health is affecting your work

You do not need to wait until you are signed off sick before contacting UNISON.

 

Speak to us if your health is affecting your attendance, your performance or your ability to carry out parts of your job. This includes physical health, mental health, stress, a disability or a long-term health condition.

 

The Council’s own policy says managers should support staff, discuss health problems sensitively and consider appropriate adjustments. That might include changes to duties, hours, equipment, workload or working arrangements.

 

The earlier these issues are raised, the better the chance of support being put in place before matters become more serious.

 

This guide relates to Barnet Council employees. Staff employed by schools may be covered by a separate policy adopted by their governing body, so school members should contact us for advice about the procedure that applies to them.

 

Know the basic sickness reporting rules

Employees are expected to notify their manager on the first day of sickness, normally within one hour of their usual start time or earlier where possible.

 

You should agree how you will keep in contact during your absence. If you are off for more than seven calendar days, including weekends and bank holidays, you must provide a fit note covering the absence.

A return-to-work meeting should normally take place after every period of sickness absence. The discussion should be private. Your manager should make a written note, place it on your personnel file and give you a copy.

Read that note. Check that it is accurate. Challenge anything which is wrong or misleading.

 

The Council’s review point is three periods of sickness absence or eight days of cumulative absence within a rolling twelve-month period, adjusted for part-time staff. Reaching that point does not automatically mean formal action. The manager should consider the circumstances and what support may be needed.

 

Occupational Health should be used properly

Occupational Health can be useful, but the referral needs to ask the right questions.

 

The Council normally seeks an employee’s consent before making a referral. Occupational Health advice is advisory. It does not make the management decision.

Before agreeing to a referral, ask to see the questions being sent. They should focus on matters such as whether you are fit to work, whether your condition may be work-related, what adjustments may help and whether a phased return is appropriate.

 

A poor referral can produce a poor report. A report based on incomplete or inaccurate information can then be used in meetings about your employment.

The procedure also says managers should have an up-to-date Occupational Health report before arranging a formal meeting or hearing. Contact UNISON before the referral is submitted, particularly if your health problems involve workplace stress, bullying, an accident at work or an ongoing grievance.

 

Do not attend formal meetings alone

The procedure has three review stages.

Stage 1 is described as an informal review. It may include an attendance target and a further review period.

Stage 2 is a formal review meeting. Medical evidence, Occupational Health advice, adjustments, phased returns and possible redeployment should be considered.

Stage 3 is the final formal review. At that stage, the Council may say that continued employment is at risk. Possible outcomes can include medical redeployment, ill-health retirement or dismissal.

 

Members have the right to be represented by UNISON at formal meetings. You may also ask to be accompanied at an informal review meeting, although the policy does not give the same automatic right.

 

Do not wait until Stage 3 before asking for help. By then, decisions may already have been made and opportunities to challenge poor management or secure adjustments may have been missed.

If you receive a letter inviting you to an absence review meeting, contact the Barnet UNISON office straight away. Send us the invitation, the absence record, any Occupational Health reports and any correspondence from your manager.

 

Sickness absence procedures are supposed to support employees. They should not become a conveyor belt towards dismissal.

 

Keep records. Ask questions. Get advice early.

best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary
Barnet UNISON