Common use of Shared/Joint Responsibility Clause in Contracts

Shared/Joint Responsibility. Each job should be assessed according to its actual contribution to an overall responsibility, as different people, departments or committees may have a direct responsibility. For example, an accountant in Financial Services may directly contribute to the setting and monitoring of the budget and longer term financial planning of a nursing home's maintenance programme (Responsibility for Financial Resources, whilst the home's manager has budgetary control responsibility for the programme (Responsibility for Financial Resources), which is managed by a maintenance manager (Responsibility for Physical Resources). The same principles apply in client contractor situations. The actual responsibility of a jobholder who shares, or contributes to, the same responsibility as others should be assessed. For example, there is no dilution of responsibility where a jobholder is responsible for the careful use of a piece of equipment for the whole shift, even when other jobholders have responsibility for the same equipment on other shifts. On the other hand, there is considerable dilution of responsibility for a piece of equipment, which is shared by a team of employees on the same shift, but which the jobholder uses only occasionally. Sharing of responsibility is normally with other employees, but could equally be with others (for example, with clients, for pensions, when collected by the jobholder; or residents, for security of residential premises). The nature and degree of the jobholder's responsibility for resources is more important in assessing demand than who owns them.