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On Wednesday, July 7, Herefordshire Council is to announce a new package of pay scales, salaries and terms and conditions for approximately 4,100 of its employees.
It follows a national agreement between Local Council’s and the trades unions to resolve the discrepancies between the pay and conditions of employment for staff.
It also marks the authority’s on-going commitment to the implementation of a fairer pay structure following the creation of the Herefordshire Council five years ago.
This involved the merger of five smaller authorities, each with its own pay and conditions for its employees, and as a result represents one of the most complicated Job Evaluation programmes to be undertaken by a local authority in the country.
The announcement comes a year after the Council announced its first proposals which were drawn up following negotiations between the previous administration and the trades unions.
However, they were withdrawn by Councillor June French, Cabinet Member (Human Resources) following a ballot of trades' union members.
“Last Summer the negotiations between the trades unions and the Council re-opened and after an enormous amount of work between the employers and the unions we have now developed a set of proposals that are the best that can be achieved within the financial constraints of the council,” said Cllr French.
“In effect, what we’ve achieved is the greatest good for the biggest amount of staff possible,” she added.
The new pay scales, salaries and terms and conditions do not affect teaching staff.
Non-teaching staff in schools will be given their individual results in September. They will get information on the changes in terms and conditions on July 7, but it was decided that it wasn’t right to give them their results so close to the end of term as they have indicated that they want colleagues and senior management around for support and guidance. This could be difficult during the summer holidays.
“We’ve also revised the implementation date. The new terms and conditions, pay scales and salaries will come into force on April 1 next year.
“However, we know employees wanted to be told at the earliest opportunity what their results were, so they will find out on Wednesday, July 7.”
Cllr French emphasised that employees whose salary will drop will get a period of pay protection. This protection begins on April 1 next year.
more follows
“I was pleased by staff members last year – they still continued to deliver quality services to the public despite their own personal upset. In our staff opinion survey conducted only a couple of months after employees were notified of the proposals, the majority still stated that the council was good to work for. A significant majority also stated that they enjoyed doing their jobs”
Broadly, the new pay scales and salaries, along with new terms and conditions, will mean:
· Salary increases for around 1/3 of staff
· 1/3 of staff remaining the same
· Salary decreases for 1/3 of staff
· Time limited pay protection for staff whose salary will drop
· A commitment from the Council to help staff attain the skills they’ll need to enable them to apply for jobs on an equivalent or higher salary to the rate their currently on
“We’ve worked hard to improve communications with employees. We’ve held a series of staff briefings to ensure staff know what to expect from the new proposals and issue regular newsletters to ensure they’re kept informed of all developments.”
While the results will be given to employees on July 7, the Council is still negotiating with the trades unions who will ballot their membership on the proposals.
JOB EVALUATION ANNOUNCEMENT
On Wednesday, July 7, Herefordshire Council is to announce a new package of pay scales, salaries and terms and conditions for approximately 4,100 of its employees.
It follows a national agreement between Local Council’s and the trades unions to resolve the discrepancies between the pay and conditions of employment for staff.
It also marks the authority’s on-going commitment to the implementation of a fairer pay structure following the creation of the Herefordshire Council five years ago.
This involved the merger of five smaller authorities, each with its own pay and conditions for its employees, and as a result represents one of the most complicated Job Evaluation programmes to be undertaken by a local authority in the country.
The announcement comes a year after the Council announced its first proposals which were drawn up following negotiations between the previous administration and the trades unions.
However, they were withdrawn by Councillor June French, Cabinet Member (Human Resources) following a ballot of trades' union members.
“Last Summer the negotiations between the trades unions and the Council re-opened and after an enormous amount of work between the employers and the unions we have now developed a set of proposals that are the best that can be achieved within the financial constraints of the council,” said Cllr French.
“In effect, what we’ve achieved is the greatest good for the biggest amount of staff possible,” she added.
The new pay scales, salaries and terms and conditions do not affect teaching staff.
Non-teaching staff in schools will be given their individual results in September. They will get information on the changes in terms and conditions on July 7, but it was decided that it wasn’t right to give them their results so close to the end of term as they have indicated that they want colleagues and senior management around for support and guidance. This could be difficult during the summer holidays.
“We’ve also revised the implementation date. The new terms and conditions, pay scales and salaries will come into force on April 1 next year.
“However, we know employees wanted to be told at the earliest opportunity what their results were, so they will find out on Wednesday, July 7.”
Cllr French emphasised that employees whose salary will drop will get a period of pay protection. This protection begins on April 1 next year.
more follows
“I was pleased by staff members last year – they still continued to deliver quality services to the public despite their own personal upset. In our staff opinion survey conducted only a couple of months after employees were notified of the proposals, the majority still stated that the council was good to work for. A significant majority also stated that they enjoyed doing their jobs”
Broadly, the new pay scales and salaries, along with new terms and conditions, will mean:
· Salary increases for around 1/3 of staff
· 1/3 of staff remaining the same
· Salary decreases for 1/3 of staff
· Time limited pay protection for staff whose salary will drop
· A commitment from the Council to help staff attain the skills they’ll need to enable them to apply for jobs on an equivalent or higher salary to the rate their currently on
“We’ve worked hard to improve communications with employees. We’ve held a series of staff briefings to ensure staff know what to expect from the new proposals and issue regular newsletters to ensure they’re kept informed of all developments.”
While the results will be given to employees on July 7, the Council is still negotiating with the trades unions who will ballot their membership on the proposals.