1.5.4 Workload Management

1. Team Implementation Plan

Click here to view Team Implementation Plan

2. Background

The purpose of a workload management scheme is to:

Ensure that best use is made of an individual's time and skills in meeting the needs of the service users;
Safeguard staff interests and attempt to avoid work overload;
Measure the workloads of individuals and provide a guide to managers on work allocation;
Generate management information for monitoring, negotiating for and accessing resources;
This differs from assessing workload based solely on the number of cases dealt with by an individual because it aims to take into account issues such as complexity, risk, time and type of work that would be involved.

The workload management scheme is based on a points system. The points system is used because this provides a more open and simple way of measurement whereas a time system may create inequalities and may be more restrictive. The number of points for the tasks is based on a time audit used in 2 other local authorities.

The scheme has been developed in response to addressing, most importantly, concerns from social workers in a variety of forums about workload issues. It also builds on the expectations of the Commission for Social Care Improvement (CSCI), the Assessment Framework, the Working Together to safeguard Children Guidance and recommendations from the Victoria Climbie Inquiry. These are outlined overleaf.

CSCI Expectations	Recommendations from the Victoria Climbie Inquiry
SSD's have established effective team workload management and information systems that clearly track how the council has responded to each referral.	19. Managers of duty teams must devise and operate a system which enables them immediately to establish how many children have been referred to their team, what action is required to be taken for each child, who is responsible for taking that action, and when that action must be completed.
SSD's have established effective management information systems to collect quantitative data on the work of referral and initial assessment teams.	29. Directors of social services must devise and implement a system which provides them with the following information about the work of the duty teams for which they are responsible: Number of children referred to the teams Number of those children who have been assessed as requiring a service Number of those children who been provided with the service that they require Number of children referred who have identified needs which have yet to be met
Ensure that cases are allocated to suitably skilled and experienced social workers and that they have sufficient time to deliver the work planned. Ensure that cases allocation processes always make explicit the purposes of intervention and the expectations of the allocated social worker and any other staff working with the family. Ensure that services and support provided are commensurate with the levels of assessed need including the allocation of a social worker where necessary. Where it is not possible to allocate a social worker, managers should make contingency plans for contact with the child and ensure that a system exists to monitor and report to senior managers and the responsible executive councilors. Have clear definitions of work that is allocated, which should include a named social worker who is working with the child in a planned and purposeful way, on a regular basis and to a work plan that is endorsed by the manager. Recommendations 52-55 regarding work allocation and specifically 52: Directors of social services must ensure that no case is allocated to a social worker unless and until his or her manager ensure that he or she has the necessary training, experience and time to deal with it properly.	And 53: When allocating a case to a social worker, the manager must ensure that the social worker is clear as to what has been allocated, what action is required and how that action will be reviewed and supervised.

3. Guidance

How the model works

Every workload consists of three elements:
- Stable Element;
- Extra Responsibilities;
- Cases.

Points are awarded for each area :

Stable Element

These are fixed which do not have to be re-evaluated from month to month.

They include:

Duty cover within teams;
Training;
Staff/Team Meetings and Supervision.

Extra Responsibilities

This includes:

Foster Care Panel Member (5 points);
Mentoring (5 points);
Group Work (5 points);
Practice Teacher (10 points);
Long arm supervision (Work based Assessor 5 points);
Providing formal training for other staff (5 points);
Working parties (5 points);
Achieving Best Evidence Interviews for other teams by case (1 point).

Cases

Points are allocated to the number of cases a worker has to deal with in any month and additional points are allocated to take into account the activity and level of involvement with the type of client needed to complete the tasks.

What counts as a case?

Child subject to a Child protection Plan = 1 Case;
Child Looked After = 1 Case;
All others count the Whole Family as one case = 1 case.

This model has been developed taking the stable and extra responsibilities elements of a whole workforce and allocating set points on an inclusive basis (everybody has the stable element and all should be encouraged equally to undertake extra responsibilities). The exception being practice teaching which is linked to case work because of the issues of accountability

The weighting system uses a maximum of 100 points per Full Time Equivalent post as a guideline and operates as follows:

Base Allocation
I. Stable and Extra Responsibilities (non- case related)
II. All staff except practitioners in an Access and Assessment Team	15 Points
III. Practitioners undertaking duty in an Access & Assessment Team	30 Points
IV. Cases Allocated	2 Points per case
When a decision has been made to close a case the points only stand for 28 days from the date of that decision giving a worker up to 28 days to close the case.

Additional point's allocation within the number of cases allocated, dependent on the activity and the type of client involved

V.	Cases which have been newly allocated In the past month (duration/month only)	1 point per case
VI.	Initial Assessment (for the duration of 7 working days only)	1 point per assessment
VII.	Core Assessment (this includes section 47 enquires) for the duration of the 35 working days only)	3 points per assessment
VIII.	Court Work - for the duration of the court period, e.g., the duration of the ICO,EPO	2 points per episode
IX.	Child Looked After	1 point per child
X.	Child subject to a child protection plan	1 point per child
XI.	Child placed out of borough - with traveling time of greater than 2 hours each way	1 point per child
XII.	Leaving Care Needs Assessment (for the duration of 7 working days only)	1 point per assessment
XIII.	Leaving Care Pathways (for the duration of 35 working days only)	Points per new pathway 2 plan

Please note when a social worker is undertaking Practice teaching, long arm supervision or mentoring the student the mentored Social worker case load is not added to the practitioner's caseload.

4. Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ's)

Why do we need to use a workload management scheme?

The scheme provides a simple and transparent way of measuring workloads which captures and uses this type of management information about cases, time, resources and so on to enable planning, prediction and accessing resources for the following purposes:
- To safeguard staff interests and attempt to avoid work overload;
- To measure the workloads of individuals and provide a guide to managers on work allocation;
- To generate management information for monitoring, negotiating for and accessing resources.
Who should work out the workload points?

The workload management form should be completed prior to supervision by the worker, which can then be negotiated and agreed at supervision. The allocation of points have to be agreed by both the manager and the worker.
When should it be done?

This process forms part of performance management and must therefore be conducted within a supervision framework. There is an expectation that each manager will report back on the previous months performance for each worker and their total team performance by the 15th of each month, this timescale must be borne in mind when setting dates to achieve supervision and/ or workload management as part of the supervision process.
What happens if either the manager or worker is on leave, off sick, etc?

As outlined in the supervision policy, if a session is missed, staff and managers should first attempt to schedule a date for the next meeting at the point of cancellation or in event of sickness, booked when the person has returned to work. In the event that the leave is unplanned such as sickness for more than two weeks, the supervisee should report to the supervisor's line manager for alternative supervision arrangements. In the monthly team record sheet, the manager will record those workers who have/have not received supervision.

However in the case of workload management should the worker not return to work within the reporting timescale managers are expected to complete the staff workload form using their previous supervision notes as a guide to the work agreed for any given month, checking with the child's record on ICS if unclear if any agreed work has started .Once the worker returns and there is an rescheduled supervision session then assumptions can checked and adjusted for in the following months workload management record.

If the manager is on unplanned leave each worker can complete their own workload management spreadsheet within the first two weeks of the month and have the points agreed by another manager .
Are workers expected to get the maximum of 100 points?

No. The 100 points outlined in the scheme are only a guideline for the absolute maximum number of points that a worker should receive. If a worker is close to 100 points, for example around 85 points, this suggests that the worker's capacity to allocated any more work is very limited.
What happens if the number of points exceeds 100 points?

The worker and manager should review the caseload and ascertain if for that particular month there was a reason for the points to be high e.g. several core assessments needed to be completed in same month. However if the points are consistently above 100 there should be a review of work and remedial action should be taken. All action to be taken must be recorded on the Workload Management Record (Section 6, Forms for Worker),a copy of which will be retained by staff and their manager.
Who keeps a record of the agreed points?

Both the manager and worker keep a record of the signed Workload Management Record.(Section 6, Forms for Worker) The manager will also keep a copy of the Team Workload Management Overview spreadsheet (Section 6, Forms for Worker,) which will hold information about the specific workload of each team member within the team, together with a further Workload Management Overview spreadsheet of the team performance month by month (Section 7, Form for Overview (managers)).

The overview spreadsheets will be shared with the service manager and data will be collated centrally.
Why does everyone get the same base allocation of points for non-case related activity?

Not everyone will be on leave at the same time or have extra responsibilities such as a working party or panel membership. The scheme attempts to spread out the stable elements of work life such as annual leave where it is the same for everyone and recognises that there may be instances where, for example, over a year there will be some months where annual leave, etc may not be taken but there will be instances where they are, which needs to balanced out. As mentioned before, everybody has the stable element and all should be encouraged equally to undertake extra responsibilities.
Why do children with a child protection plan and looked after children attract an additional point?

Child protection work and looked after children work form the statutory base of children's social work, they require very specific activities to take place such as case conferences, statutory visits etc. This type of work takes precedence over other work.
How Do I Work Out My Points for each case?

Within this guidance on Section 5, Points Scheme there is the Points scheme and a specially designed spreadsheet see Section 5, Points Scheme to assist with the process of "weighting" the case load. The spreadsheet will add the points for you. Each worker should fill in the spreadsheet prior to supervision and send it to their manager. During supervision there should be an opportunity to discuss your own cases and how these have been "weighted" with your manager. Once there is agreement the Workload Management Record for the month Section 6, Forms for Worker can be completed and agreed. Alternatively the worker and manager can complete the process together but extra time would need to be allowed within the supervision session to achieve this.
What happens to my points when a decision is made to close a case?

Points will only stand for a period of 28 days from the date a decision is made for the case to be closed.

5. Points Scheme

Points Scheme100 maximum points per Full Time Equivalent post (this is only a guideline)

WEIGHTING SYSTEM

Non case related activities:
1.	Practitioners (not in Assessment and Referral teams)	15 Points
2.	Practitioners undertaking duty in Assessment and Referral teams	30 Points
3.	Workload weight (per 10 points accumulated)	1 Point
Case-related activities:
4.	Cases allocated (per case) ( but points will only stand for a period of 28 days from the date the decision is made for the case to be closed)	2 Points
5.	Newly allocated cases - past month (per case) (note the point only lasts for the month)	1 Point
6.	Initial assessments (per assessment) (applies for the 7 working Days for assessment to be completed)	1 Point
7.	Core Assessments/section 47 enquiry, (applies for the 15 days to case conference or 35 working days for assessment	3 Points
8.	Court Work - applies for each court episode	2 Points
9.	Child looked after (per child)	1 Point
10	Child subject to a protection plan (per child)	1 Point
11.	Child placed out of borough (per child) with traveling time of greater than 2 hours each way)	1 Point
12.	Leaving Care Needs Assessment (per assessment) (7 Working days for assessment to be completed)	1 Point
13.	Leaving Care Pathways (first pathway plan ONLY) (applies for The 35 working days to complete the plan)	2 Points
Other activities i.e. extra responsibilities:
14.	Practice teaching (do not add students caseload)	10 Points
15.	Long arm supervision (do not add students caseload)	5 Points
16.	Group Work	5 Points
17.	Mentoring per person	5 Points
18.	Foster Care Panel Members	5 Points
19.	Providing Formal training for other staff	5 Points
20.	Working Party (for duration)	5 Points
21.	Achieving best evidence Interviews for other teams by case	I Point

6. Forms for Worker

Click here for Forms for Worker

7. Form for Overview (Managers)

Click here for Form for Overview (managers)

End