Severe cold weather is expected to continue until Monday 12 December. There will be overnight frosts and temperatures only rising a few degrees Celsius above freezing. Wintery showers are also possible.

This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable people and disrupt the delivery of services. Find out what you need to do to keep yourself and your colleagues safe while the severe winter weather warning is in place.

Following the recent launch of the People Hub and the introduction of the recruitment guidance, the hub now includes useful information on annual leave calculations. Find out how how the annual leave balance in iTrent is calculated and take a look at some helpful videos showing you how to work this out.

If you are a manager please log into iTrent People Manager and check that team members reporting to you are correct. Please take action if:

• an agency worker has finished their placement, but their name is still showing in your team
• a team member has transferred to another line manager
• a team member has changed roles or teams

Please email our Employee Changes Team to report any issues at employeechanges-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

As a fostering friendly employer we understand that foster carers sometimes need flexibility in their working arrangements to meet the needs of their fostered child.

Take a look at our helpful guidance for colleagues who need to request fostering leave through iTrent. Read about how to request fostering leave on Inside Devon.

To help encourage self-care during December, Anna Croucher, Senior Colleague Wellbeing Practitioner at Devon Wellbeing Hub, will be running Seasonal Self-Care workshops for colleagues in healthcare, social care and the police across Devon.

Find dates and times for Seasonal Self-Care – virtual workshops on Inside Devon.

Our Digital and Technology Service has new dates available for the Power BI Foundation and Power BI Advanced full day, virtual tutor-led interactive courses. Please note there is now specific criteria to be met for booking on to one of these courses.   

Find out more about the criteria and book onto a course.

Do you struggle with managing your Microsoft Teams meetings? Do you know how you can liven up your meetings with apps? If you’re looking to make your meetings easier to manage and more engaging, join the Digital Change Team on ‘Tips for Managing your Teams Meetings’. Book your place at the next session which takes place on Tuesday 13 December and find future dates or all other sessions through the Sway bookings page.

Many of us use spreadsheets to store information and data. Once we have our information in an Excel spreadsheet, we can run powerful calculations to manipulate the data.

Scomis is running half day, virtual tutor-led courses to help you learn the basics of formulas and functions to increase productivity and work smarter!

The dates of these courses have recently changed. Please see the new course dates on Inside Devon.

• Pre- retirement - Tuesday 24 January
• Focus on Your Finances - Thursday 2 February
• Virtual Manager programme (People) - Wednesday 8 February
• Communicating and engaging with your team - Wednesday 8 March 

✔️ A reminder that your username for DeL is now your iTrent assignment/payroll number. This is the number you use to log into iTrent.

• Carols at County Hall is returning this year on Tuesday 20 December from 1pm to 1:30pm in the Ante Chamber. Find all the details about how to watch and join in with the songs.
• It was Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 8 December. Take a look at our colleagues sporting their festive sweaters.
• Place your vote for our Book Club's next read.

Click on the image to see this week's photo on Inside Devon. You might spot some clues.

Last week's winner:  Sharon Anderson, Trading Standards Group Manager

Last week's answer: Stover Canal, Teigngrace

Send in your own photos.