Revised Council Pay Offer

Detailed below are two emails that have been sent to Council members giving some clarity on the revised pay offer. The proposed strike action will not happen this week and further clarity regarding the offer and the consultative ballot to accept or reject the offer will follow in due course.

1: “The key parts of the revised pay offer presented to the joint trade unions on Friday are:

 An increase of £2000 for those earning up to £20,500

An increase of £1925 for those earning between £20,500 to £39,000

A 5% increase for those earning between £39,000 to £60,000

A maximum increase of £3000 for those earning above £60,000

The removal of SSSC fees where application (social care registration fees)

1 extra days annual leave

All increases based on a 36hr week calculator (apart from those over 60k who will have 37hr calculator)

I am however full conscious that many members are still unclear as to what these figures mean and what effect they will have on current salaries. I have converted these figures below into percentage increases so you can see what the percentage increases are on hourly rates and salaries within Inverclyde. The figures quoted above (£2000 and £1925) are based on a 36 hour week. As Inverclyde council’s standard working week is 37 hours then these two figures will increase although not significantly. These percentages are approximate but I hope fairly accurate:

Grade 1 – 10.6%
Grade 2 –  9.89%
Grade 3 –  9%
Grade 4 –  8.4%
Grade 5 –  7.39%
Grade 6 –  6%
Grade 7 –  5.34%
Grade 8 –  5%

So school cleaners will receive an uplift of 10.6%, PSAs and homcare workers will receive a 9% uplift, social workers 5% etc.

Another question which we have been asked is in what way does this offer differ from the offer made last Monday which we were recommending members reject. The main difference is around consolidation. By way of example someone earning £20,000 would, based on the previous offer, have had their salary uplifted by 5% to £21,000. The other 5% (£1000) was to be a one off payment probably spread across 13 pays. The revised offer will mean that the uplift will be the full 10% taking it to £22,000. So in monetray value terms there is no difference in the immediate sense. The difference is that when it comes to next year’s pay negotiations we are all starting with a higher base salary – in this example £22,000 and not £21,000. The value of future increases will therefore be higher.

I appreciate that this may seem on the face of it to be an over simplification of the position. However it clear to me from emails from some members that there is genuine confusion as to how this offer is structured.

The revised offer will now be the subject of another consultation ballot where members can decide on whether to accept or reject.“

2: ”Further to my earlier email have received a number of emails from members seeking clarification on a few points. Rather than respond to each member individually, I am hoping I can capture most of the queries in this email.

When I referenced the 36 hours this was simply to highlight that the the two flat rate amounts (£2000 and £1925) were based on a 36 hour week. The percentage conversions was mainly to assist members who are part-time, term-time or both. So for part-time/term-time members it’s probably best to ignore the 36 hour reference and focus on the percentage conversions. For instance I have calculated that a grade 2 member will receive a wage uplift of 9.89% regardless of hours worked or whether term-time or not. Likewise for the other grades.

In terms of the extra one day annual leave and how this will apply to term-time members. At present term-time employees receive the same annual leave and public holiday entitlement as all other employees. Whatever that entitlement is (depends on individual length of service the same as everyone else) this is given to term-time employees in the form of money built into wages. So all term-time employees’ wages include an element for leave. My expectation is that the annual leave entitlement calculation will increase by the equivalent of one day and that will be reflected in wages. I will get an exact explanation but this is what i expect will happen.

I will get further clarity on 1) when the additional days AL takes effect from and 2) how the SSSC payment will work since all SSSC registrants pay their fees at different times.

I want to provide as much clarity as I can as soon as I can and ceratinly before the consultative ballot begins.“

Robin Taggart
Branch Secretary