Argyll & Bute Council - Single Status?

[kintyre 84]

Has anyone any comments to make regarding the single status letters all Council employees received this week?
On a personal level, my pay will be decreased by £400 per year as it stands today and I will no longer be able to reach my grades top level which is £2000 more than I get now. Even the next grade up is lower than what I get now! I am, selfishly perhaps, gutted!
Over 50% of council employees are supposedly receiving an increase in pay , but everyone I spoke to was decreased. This includes many of the lower paid workers who can least afford a pay cut. The moral is at rock bottom, and outwith any appeal process, the damage has been done. Most people think they are undervalued in the work place but to be told in writing that you are over-valued is a feeling like no other.
I would be interested to hear other views.[/quote]

[SmithD]

I was waiting on someone to post about this!

I am going to loose £600 a year,(jobshare) And that will be me at the top of my grade, so to get any higher I have to apply for a higher grade.

A large majority GS1/2 and GS3 have been severly affected and along with other sections like road workers who have been working up the spinal points for years just to be told that they are going to loose out.

I knew we could loose out a bit but not as much as this!

Moral was low before and even lower now as most are undervalued and get no thanks for the hard and extra work that is put in.

Apparently it is not a cost cutting excerise? I find that hard to believe!

[Rabmacd]

My wife's salary will be reduced by 15.9%

[Malky]

What's the Unions saying?

Malky

[SmithD]

I think the Union were for the job evaluation to be in line with equal pay. But not completely sure. If thats the case they will have to do a turn around!

[John S]

The unions are on a cleft stick here Malky, the Single Status agreement was negotiated by unions in 1997 to address historic pay discrimination in local government. People in very similar jobs were being paid significantly different salaries as a result of changes in working roles and the merger of district and regional councils.

Councils have been criticised for failing to implement fully the agreement by the Scottish Executives Finance Committee, although as far as I can see, Councils had to come up with a regrading scheme themselves and find the funds to regrade staff from within existing budgets. Which means withdrawal of some non essential services to fund regrading or applying downward pressure to some grades to allow others to come up or some combination of the two.

heres their press release.

http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/content/n ... 181540?a=0

[JEM]

http://www.labouruniondigest.org.uk/ind ... page_id=13

There are loads of links to tell you what's happening elsewhere. (See above)

It surely can't be legal.

You need to get organised.

It looks as if several councils have already changed their minds.

[Malky]

Thanks for link John - interesting reading, especially that they've been working on this for the last 7 years.

From that article.

Of the 4,350 jobs:

1366 31% are “white circled” – no change to pay level
1985 46% are “green circled” – an increase in pay
996 23% are “red circled” – a decrease in pay. Cash conserved for 3 years.

Tough luck if you're in the red circled area
Perhaps they should have phased it in over a couple of years by freezing pay rises for those already in the white circled area and increasing and decreasing the others till they match.

Just my thoughts.

Malky

[amron]

I phoned Dunoon today to query my new proposals. My new proposed package was below the proposed grade minimum . I was then given the correct proposed minimum and maximum payments the figures that I was given were wrong Dunoon did apologise about this so now I have a clearer understanding of my package and luckily I am in the white area.
3 of my workmates also phoned today and they were in the same position they were given the wrong minimum and maximum payments.

Just thought that I would mention this as how many more people have been given the wrong figures

[Rabmacd]

Amron you are correct--my wife was told in her letter that she would have a 4% drop in salary. A quick phone call to a workmate, on the same current grade, set the alarm bells ringing. A phone call to Dunoon confirmed that a mistake had indeed been made-the drop is actually 15.9%.

[John S]

That's a hellish amount Rab, do employees get any individual feedback on the job appraisal process? There surely has to be a way of identifying and challenging decision’s that lead to cuts like that.

[SmithD]

The Evaluation was done on a points basis for each department. So it was large scale from Road Workers to Office Workers. Therefore for example for environment(work suroundings) Road Workers would maybe get a 4 and clerical would get 1 as they don't have the same hazzards the road workers. There is a 78 page document on how to appeal on the council website. To appeal you have to look through this document and see if you can find more points to add on to your evaluation.

The new pay scale has been designed so people cannot work up as easy as before and the grades are not as big. People have been in their job and worked right up to the top of their scale and now look to loose £2000 a year. Workers moral is not good!

The council say this is not a cost cutting exercise - I doubt that very much!

[Hels]

It would be interesting to hear how many of the 996 expecting a salary cut are higher management positions - say those on £30k and above?! From what I have heard its those who can least afford it who are bearing the brunt of this "cost cutting"

[Ship called Dignity]

It's a rather worrying time for people and so far I've heard cuts for the lower grades.

I've also heard of complete difference in points systems applied across Councils.

Concept, perhaps, is good but in reality is not workable.

There is alot more to it than just affecting your salary. I read your core time now becomes 6am to 8pm at night so any hours extra you worked would just be at flat time. Might be wrong right enough...

[jillibabes]

I'm aware that a manager who is on some huge salary is about to get a £4000 pay rise!! Yet I am also aware of a couple who work in Dunoon who will be losing £7500 between them!!!

Having talked with someone representing the unions they were telling me that they were in agreement to bring discrimated employees in line with the rest of us and it has to be said that this is a good thing, in theory. However, they disagreed with the Council with regard to the Scheme they chose to use to enable this to happen, negotiations are on going and the unions have advised members that if they are appealing to put it through them - don't do it on your own. They have also advised not to sign anything at this time.

I know that the money side of things is a very emotive subject. However, I think it should be worth noting that alot of the Council employees conditions of service are also being eroded. Conditions that were fought long and hard for.

I listened with interest to the radio broadcast on Argyll FM on Wednesday at 12. It would seem that the Councillors are blowing their horn about 53% of employees getting a pay rise. What they aren't saying is that the bulk of the payrises are only a few hundred pounds, if that, yet the 23% who are taking a pay cut is running into thousands.