HR and employment

Page updated for 2024 by-election

Employment documentation and checks 

The Resourcing Team will email you from on Monday 11th November 2024 to discuss the checks that are required, e.g. Right to Work in the UK, ID to support a Basic Disclosure Scotland check and Basic Disclosure application form. Please respond to the email as soon as possible.  

Payroll  

Pay day is on the second last working day of each month.  

A representative from the Payroll team email you with a Bank Mandate Form. To ensure payment please respond to this as quickly as possible.  

Pensions 

New Councillors will automatically be enrolled in the North East Scotland Pension Fund if aged under 75 (unless you contact NESPF to advice that you wish to opt out). Their contact details are www.nespf.org.uk  

Travel and expenses

Travel and Expenses Claims must be submitted online via your Employee Self Service account (ESS) by the 14th of the month. Guidance along with an online course with a step by step instructions will be emailed to you.  

Learning and Development  

ALDO (Aberdeenshire Learning and Development Online) is our online training portal. Once logged in you can enroll in a range of training course. There is a dedicated section on ALDO containing essential councillor courses and other topics of interest. ALDO records your participation in all courses, so you can see at a glance what training you have completed. ALDO is a rich resource full of useful information and tips for councillors.The checklist at the end of this document contains a list of ALDO courses that you should complete within the first few weeks of joining the Council. Please note that the Data Protection and FOI training is mandatory for all Councillors and must be completed.  

Register of Interests  

You will be sent an email asking you to complete a register of interests. Please complete and return no later than the 6th December 2024.  

You must list your interests for the period 12 months before your appointment to office (i.e. from November 2023).  You should be aware that the form will be placed on a statutory Register of Interests and will be open to public scrutiny by being published on our website.   

What needs to be registered? 

The rules on what should be registered are set out in Section 4 of the Councillors Code of Conduct. A copy of the code of Conduct is included within this Induction Pack and you can find further guidance on the Standards Commission website (www.standardscommission.gov.uk).  

 The categories which require registration include:- 

1 – Remuneration  

2 – Other roles – e.g. unremunerated directorships 

3 – Contracts  

4 – Election Expenses 

5 – Houses, Land and Buildings  

6 – Interest in Shares and Securities 

7 – Gifts and Hospitality  

8 – Non Financial Interests  

9 – Interests of Close Family Members 

Registration of Interests will be discussed during the familiarisation session and you can ask for registration advice by emailing Lauren.Cowie@aberdeenshire.gov.uk if required.