OCTOBER HOLIDAY – MANAGEMENT COVER ARRANGEMENTS

With the ‘Tattie’ holidays coming up fast it is important that we keep everyone in the loop regarding holiday cover.

This is just a reminder to make sure that the appropriate management cover arrangements are in place and employees are notified of any changes to ensure they feel appropriately supported and know who to turn to should a situation arise.

DISCLOSURE SCOTLAND UPDATE

Since 1^st April 2025, it’s been a legal requirement to have Moray Council Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership if you carry out a regulated role within Moray Council – more on what these roles are available Here

This means new responsibilities for employees in these types of roles to be registered – advice is available on the newly created Disclosure Scotland Information Hub on the interchange. This can be found under the Policies, Procedures and Guidance section. The information Hub provides helpful information and will support you in complying with the legal requirements. You will find information on roles and responsibilities, the new levels and PVG membership requirements, training resources, guidance documents and useful links. 

If however, you do have any questions that can’t be answered via the Hub, then please contact HR@moray.gov.uk who will be happy to assist you.

PENSION STATEMENTS NOW ONLINE!

Get up to speed on your savings by watching your 2025 Video Pension Statement online at My Pension+. Your personalised 2 minute video details exactly how much your pension is worth, your retirement options as well as death benefits for loved ones.

With over 25,000 members using the new My Pension+, more members than ever are now taking control of their pension. For questions about My Pension+, how to sign up, or your pension statement visit our website.

Note: NESPF is only for members of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

MORAY ENGAGE

Moray Engage, our new digital community engagement tool, launched on Tuesday 19 August 2025. While this won’t take the place of meaningful, in-person engagement, it opens new options for us to have a two-way dialogue with our communities and council employees in a managed and informative way online.

There will a new area for staff communications for you to participate in.

View the Moray Engage site and click on Register Here

NEW VERSION CONTROL TEMPLATE

It’s important to keep track of updates to policy and guidance documents for audit and accountability purposes. To do this in a consistent way across the council please now use the new version control template on interchange HERE

This should be used on any documents being updated or new policy and guidance submitted to CLT or the Personnel Forum for approval.

CYBER AWARENESS TRAINING

If you haven’t already completed the latest cyber awareness training on staying safe while remote working, you’ll continue to receive reminder emails from no-reply@metacompliance.com. This will contain a link to the remote working training module. The training only takes around 15 mins to complete, so please try to set aside the time in your schedule.

Find out more about cyber security and your responsibilities Here

TALENTLINK – NEW DEVELOPMENT

Work is happening behind the scenes to improve the posting and management of vacancies on Talentlink – look out for news here and on Interchange soon!

ARMED FORCES RESERVIST RECRUITMENT

The RAF and Army will be holding a Reserves information and recruitment session at the Annexe breakout area on Wednesday 29^th October 2025 between 12:00pm and 2:00pm.

If you or a member of your team would like to find out more about becoming a reservist for the RAF at Lossiemouth or the Army, please grab a coffee and have a chat!

SCOTTISH MILITARY COMMUNITY PAGE

The latest edition of the Scottish Military Community Update has been published on Interchange: Latest Updates

This month there is information on the Veterans mental health, support to reduce gambling harms, coursers on dementia and mental health first aid, as well as new funding opportunities, plus much more!

JOB & CAREER FAIRS

There are several job & career fairs occurring in the upcoming year and the council will have a stand at these events to promote all the different services and the various career paths that the council provides.

If you would like to speak to potential employees or students and promote the council and your service at any of the events, please email karen.baker@moray.gov.uk to register your interest.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

The Council’s approach to succession planning has been approved by the Corporate Committee and will be beneficial in terms of building internal capacity and a positive workforce culture.

It has been designed with feedback from both managers and union representatives and is aimed at supporting workforce planning and development and increasing the number of internal applicants confident in applying for promoted posts.  

Here are the key highlights of why this approach matters and how it can help:

• Flexibility and Practicality: The approach is designed to be adaptable to each service area while maintaining consistency across the organisation. It includes a flexible toolkit to support workforce planning and development, ensuring we can meet future organisational needs without unnecessary rigidity.
• Positive Workplace Culture: By fostering career progression, skills development, and equal opportunity, this framework aims to create a motivated and skilled workforce, while building positivity and collaboration within our teams.
• Building Internal Capacity: This is an opportunity to retain and grow talent internally. It provides structured support for team members to develop, enabling them to be prepared and confident to be considered for alternative or promoted positions when the time comes.

In practice this means that over the coming months, this process will unfold step by step:

• Preparation Period: During the remainder of this year, you'll have time to familiarise yourself with the approach, consider how it applies to your area, and plan the actions needed to develop succession plans.
• Embedding Conversations: Workforce planning, including succession planning, should already be and if not should become a regular part of management team discussions, building on earlier meetings and identified needs.

While this may sound like “one more thing,” this approach will ease the path forward for workforce planning while generating trust, opportunity, and positivity among teams. It’s designed to simplify and support—not complicate.

More details are available via the following link Succession Planning Approach and is available on Interchange for further reference.

HOLIDAY BUYBACK

A reminder that Holiday Buyback applications need to be completed by the end of November to allow payroll to process all applications in time for the January pay run.

Holiday Buyback allows eligible staff to buy up to two extra weeks’ annual leave. It’s a salary sacrifice agreement, so equal instalments are deducted from your salary each month over the year. For every extra week you take, you’ll sacrifice a week’s pay.

You can find the guidance and application form on interchange here

CYCLE2WORK

We are pleased to announce the Cycle2Work Scheme will be opening soon!

The scheme will be opening on Monday 27^th October and close on Sunday 7^th December for its second window of 2025.

You can now spend up to £3,000 on a bike and accessories and pay back from your salary over a 12 or 24 month period, great if you want to take advantage of the Black Friday sales!

It’s a great scheme to help you get active and it’s easy to apply. Select a bicycle and safety accessories, taking advantage of the savings available from tax benefits.

You can choose your new bike and accessories from hundreds of brands in-store or online from Halfords, Tredz, or one of the independent bike shops that Halfords work with.

More information on how to apply will be available here and on our Cycle2Work Interchange PAGEin the coming weeks!

DSE ASSESSMENTS

As a reminder to those who manage DSE users, each DSE worker should use the DSE workstation checklist to carry out an analysis of their own workstation. This analysis should be repeated by the worker at 2 yearly intervals or when significant changes to the workstation or the working process occur.  Any problems highlighted by the self-analysis, should be referred to a Health and Safety Adviser.

EYECARE VOUCHERS

The process for requesting an eyecare voucher will soon be changing. A voucher must be requested before booking an appointment for a DSE eye test. Please ensure you follow the process as outlined on Interchange for any staff requests. Interchange will be updated as soon as the change is live.

DOMESTIC ABUSE SUPPORT

Domestic abuse and relationship breakdowns are among the most traumatic life events employees may face. As a workplace, we have a unique opportunity to offer support, recognise signs, and help maintain wellbeing and productivity.

Why it Matters

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6-7 men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime
• 90% of employees said separation affected their ability to work
• Abuse doesn’t always involve physical violence – emotional, financial and psychological abuse are common and often hidden

Signs to Look Out For

Managers and colleagues may notice:

• Erosion of confidence, isolation, or sudden changes in behaviour
• Nervousness around a partner or unexplained injuries
• Frequent personal calls or messages during work hours

How We Can Support

• Offer flexible working arrangements and regular breaks
• Provide quiet breakout spaces for reflection and recovery
• Encourage access to external support services and charities
• Avoid assumptions – listen, support, and signpost

Support Services

• Moray Women’s Aid Helpline – 01343 548549 or email admin@mwaelgin.co.uk
• Abused Men in Scotland – AMIS | Abused Men In Scotland
• LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 999 5428
• www.saradavison.com – free online support groups and guides

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, always call 999.

MENOPAUSE EVENTS IN 2025

Menopause events for council employees are being planned for 2025/2026. This follows the approval of the Menopause Policy

and Guidance. If you would like to attend a café style event, chat with your peers on all thing’s menopause, or have any ideas for other events and would like to help organise them please contact karen.baker@moray.gov.uk

ERDP REMINDER

Thank you to all managers that have already completed their team ERDP’s.

If you haven’t yet commenced or completed your Employee Review and Development Process (ERDP) discussions for 2025/26, please remember to schedule them for your teams. ERDP’s are an important opportunity to pause, reflect over the last year, and to look forwards to what is coming in the months ahead. An ERDP complements regular performance review through supervision, workload meetings and just checking in with your teams.

NOMINATIONS FOR 2025 ARE NOW CLOSED!

Thank you for the great response to this year’s STAR awards.

Judging is now taking place. All nominations will receive a letter of thanks and awards will be presented to the winners in due course. Watch out for the results which will be announced on the interchange soon!

CORPORATE WORKSHOPS

As we start to move into the later part of the year, why not sign up to a corporate workshop.

We have everything from change management to project management, the full list with dates is below, along with availability.

To book a place on any of the above workshops, login to you CLIVE account and book your place today to avoid missing out.

CLIVE

When you next login to your CLIVE account, you’ll notice a change in the Categories section. IT Skills has been replaced with Digital Skills Development. There will be some new materials on Digital Skills Development coming soon, so watch this space for updates.

We’ve updated some of the guidance notes for line managers using CLIVE; for example, there is now guidance on how you can assign a course to individuals or your entire team.

Click on the following link to view CLIVE

In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding CLIVE please email organisational.development@moray.gov.uk

FREE COURSES

In addition to the learning that you can access on CLIVE we also have a list of course, qualifications, and podcasts that you can do for free.

To find out more about these please click the following link Free Courses and Resources

MORAY WELLNESS COLLEGE COURSES

Moray's Wellness College courses are now open for booking – learn, feel inspired and connect!

Moray Wellbeing Hub are hosting a wide range of sessions for Moray citizens with partners with a focus on peer support and community-led research.

The course list for this Autumn includes both day courses and ones that take place over several weeks. Courses include Peer support skills, becoming a Peer Researcher, Listening Skills, Principles of Mental Health First Aid, Group Facilitation Skills, and more!

The aim for these sessions is to empower more people in Moray to be able to:
1. Get involved and lead peer research
2. Gain skills to be able to offer peer support

To find out more and to book and their current timetable, visit https://www.moraywellbeinghub.org.uk/tools or call 07721526141.

PRE-RETIREMENT COURSES

Are your retirement savings on track? Do you know how much income your pension savings may provide? And have you thought about how much income you might need when you retire?

Financial education specialists ‘Affinity Connect’ would like to personally invite you to attend an interactive full day course around the key aspects of planning for a financially secure future.

Retirement might be up to 10 years away but it’s never too soon to start planning. This course is perfect for anyone thinking about retirement or already at the planning stages.

During the course you’ll learn how to:

• Help you plan for the lifestyle changes ahead
• Maximise the benefits of your State and workplace pensions
• Make the most of your tax-free cash
• Understand the income options available from your pension
• Achieve your retirement goals

Affinity is also offering an updated course- ‘Taking Control of Your Finances” on the following date:

The enhanced course continues to cover the core learning outcomes you’ve come to expect, including:

• Understanding personal taxation and take-home pay
• Budgeting and reviewing financial outgoings
• Managing borrowing, improving credit scores, and reducing debt
• Creating savings strategies and understanding investment risks
• Gaining clarity on pensions and planning for retirement

Booking links for the above courses:

Planning for Retirement (Online) - https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/retirement/2-hour-30-minute-course-online

Planning for Retirement (Face-to-Face) - https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/retirement/1-day-course

Your Financial Wellbeing - https://affinityconnect.event-registration.co.uk/events/moray-council/your-financial-wellbeing/1-hour-30-minute-course-online

You can also find more information on how to join a course here - Planning for the Future

TIME FOR TALKING

Time for Talking (the Councils Employee Assistance Provider) are open 365 days a year for any support that may be required. They offer counselling, psychological, mediation and legal support, through a 24-hour helpline, a digital app, online resources and self-help programmes. 

You can contact them via their website www.timefortalking.co.uk, by phone on 0800 970 3980, by app (downloaded from the app store or google play) or chat online to a counsellor through their Live Chat using the password TfTnow

All chats are totally confidential; people don’t need to give their name or email address unless they want to.

More information can be found at Time for Talking

EQUALITY DATA

The Council collects data on ethnicity, race, religion, marital status, disability, sex, sexuality and gender reassignment status - these are all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and the data is collected during the recruitment process.

This information is utilised to make sure that its recruitment processes and employment practices are fair, nobody is put at a disadvantage because of any protected characteristic, and that the Council considers how its employees can do their jobs effectively.

One of the challenges for the Council is that a large number of employees do not fill in the equality data. Although people don’t have to share information about their protected characteristics, it does help the Council to deal with inequality more effectively.

We would like to encourage all employees to ensure their data is up to date, and you can do this via the Employee Self-Serve Portal. You can also update your bank details, address, phone number and view your payslips here. All information given is held confidentially.

Information on how to launch the ESS portal is available on Interchange including how to access the portal and find your way round it.

To read more about Equality Data please visit Interchange HERE