Equal Pay - How Ironic May 16, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Single Status , add a comment
Along with approximately 3500 other East Lothian employees I received a letter at the weekend detailing the anticipated new grade for my job, based on the predicted outcome of my job evaluation.
My salary is predicted to rise by 19p an hour in the first instance and then gradually increase over the next two years by another 65p.
Armed with this information I attended a single status briefing being carried out by East Lothian Council. These briefings are taking place across East Lothian and are intended to keep the workforce up to date on how single status is progressing.
The meeting in Musselburgh Sports centre was well attended with around 100 employees turning up to take part in the briefing.
Zoe Thomson,from personnel, talked us through the latest news with regard to single status and outlined some of the options the council is considering in its bid to implement changes to the pay and conditions of its employees.
The presentation explained that one of the prime motives of single status / job evaluation was to do away with inequalities in pay between the genders.
For example, blue collar jobs, which attracted bonus payments of up to 40% were traditionally carried out by males, similar jobs of equal value carried out by females were not entitled to any bonus payments. In effect males were earning more than their female counterparts.
Nearly forty years ago, in 1970, the Equal Pay Act was passed and made it unlawful for employers to discriminate between men and women in terms of their pay and conditions when they do the same or similar work; work rated as equivalent; or work of equal value.
Looking round the room I estimated that women made up over 95% per cent of the assembled staff and it became apparent during the question and answer session, and upon chatting to them later, that the majority
- worked in education.
- were being “red circled”, therefore expected to have their pay frozen for a period of up to three years.(This particularly applies to administrative and clerical staff in schools)
- were all on the lowest 4 grades in the councils new 13 point pay scale.
It was then I was struck by how ironic it all was.
It may very well be the case that the group of employees single status was introduced to protect- low paid, female workers- may be the very same ones that lose out if it is implemented in its current form.
Jings.
Technorati Tags: single status, equal pay, irony
Single Status Update April 23, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Single Status, Uncategorized , 1 comment so farOn returning to work last week I was anxious to update myself on how the single status negotiations had been going in East Lothian.
I found some information on the intranet and the news was as I thought it may be. A collective agreement may not be possible on the pay and grading model.
Unison have stated that it is unlikely that they will be instructed by their legal advisers to recommend a collective agreement. If a collective agreement doesn’t take place then the council could then force through the new pay and grading model without the backing of the unions, but if they do do this it would mean no backdating of pay for staff.
Some of the new terms and conditions have, after negotiation, been revised
- Overtime premium rates will be paid after 37hrs (was after 40 hrs)
- Overtime calculator of time 4/10ths i.e 40% (was 33%)
- Weekend working as part of normal contractual working week - an hourly enhancement of additional 10% (was zero)
- Public holidays - 6 fixed and 6 floating (was 4 fixed, 8 floating)
- Working day defined as 6am - 10pm (was 6am - 11pm)
So what happens next?
Throughout May staff will receive their employee information packs advising them of the predicted outcomes for the grading of their jobs under the new revised pay and grading model. Details of individuals new salary range will be confirmed and employee consultation packs will be attached to the information pack detailing the revised terms and conditions proposals.
I, like thousands of others working for East Lothian Council, will be anxiously waiting for these packs to drop through the letterbox hoping that I am not one of the 15% that will be red circled and lose pay.
Technorati Tags: elcouncil, single staus, job evaluation, unison
Drumchapel, Blog and Community December 8, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Single Status, Uncategorized , 11comments
I received an email from Harry Carey who is a technician at 
Drumchapel High School. He has been reading my blog and wanted to thank me for flagging up stories regarding Single Status and Job evaluation and generally giving him and others a point of reference with regard as to what is happening in technician circles.
He told me that the blog from the national conference let himself and other technical support staff who were not able to attend the conference see what was going on and gave them an idea of some of the issues that were being discussed.
Support staff can feel isolated within schools. We work under different terms and conditions from teaching staff and some senior management are oblivious to the contents of the Red Book that governs local government employees working practices.
Participation in council affairs and initiatives can pass us by because important information for support staff, with no importance to teaching staff, for one reason or another does not always make it through to its target audience.
Everyone who attended the annual conference agreed that its biggest benefit was being able to meet others from all over the country. Not only were experiences shared and best practice debated, delegates were given a chance to see just how other regions organised and ran their technician services. The feeling of community was palpable.
Since returning from conference I have had a number of emails and comments on the blog. So if you are a technician in a school thinking that you are alone, and are reading this then get in touch and maybe we can start an online community where we could discuss the big questions relevant to us.
Being Flexible December 5, 2006
Posted by Brian in : CPD, ICT, Single Status, Uncategorized , 3comments
Today I contacted the business manager here at Musellburgh Grammar and also the personnel department about taking part in the flexible working hours scheme that the council runs.
Council policy states :-
All administrative, professional, technical and clerical staff will be included in the scheme except where, in the view of the Director concerned, and after discussion with the Trade Union Representatives the inclusion of any post is considered impracticable or detrimental to the level of service to the public.
As far as I am aware I have no knowledge of the Director of Education and Childrens services ever being in consultation with unions in regard to stopping school support staff from having access to the flexible working hours scheme so I have asked for clarification on the matter.
Using Flexi time is by far the norm amongst local government employees. It enables staff to be flexible to the needs of their work. Schools should be no exception.
For example Ollie Bray runs excellent after school ICT training. It’s a great way for all staff to access the basic tools and knowledge required in todays multimedia education environment and its making an impact by improving the way ICT is being used to promote good learning and teaching within East Lothian schools. Teaching staff put it down for their CPD, council staff who attend from John Muir House put it on their flexi time, but school support staff have no way of gaining back the time.
Some may say that is just being petty, but rather than being petty I think it’s unfair.
Under single status, local government employees, with some exceptions e.g Teachers, are meant to be subject to the same terms and conditions of employment. If one sector of employees is being treated differently that others without explanation then surely that cannot be in the spirit of the agreement.
Here’s how it could work in schools
- flexi time would have to be subject to the operational requirements of the school
- flexi-time would be taken in consultation with and the approval of the line manager
- staff who required to work additional hours would inform line managers and gain approval where possible before commencing
- staff would be required to keep their own log of their hours and submit them to their line manager on a weekly or monthly basis
- the flexi time agreement in schools would be subject to the councils policy on flexible working arrangements in all other respects
Please feel free to comment with ideas, suggestions or to start a debate. It would be great to hear how it works in schools that do have flexi time.
elcouncil, Ollie Bray, flexi time, single status
Hotting Up November 28, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Single Status, Uncategorized , add a comment
It seems the debate on single status is hotting up.
Members of staff who work for Glasgow Council will begin strike action next week whilst union members in Falkirk are being balloted for strike action on the 18th December, the day that their new contracts must be signed by.
Further South in Staffordshire staff are so incensed about their pay cuts that they have started their own website called ”save our salary”. You can visit it by clicking here.
One thing that caught my eye on the “save our salary” site was the fact that they have started an e-petition.
I was amazed to find out that on the Downing Street website an electronic petition can bet set up and electronically signed. All you need do is put in your email address, your home address and then click the “sign” button at the bottom of the page and your “signature” of the petition is electronically recorded.
I think its a great way of using new media to engage with the electors.
You can sign the save our salary e-petition here
Values November 27, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Single Status, Uncategorized , 1 comment so farJill posted a comment on Friday about support staff in her school being in chaos after being told of their new salaries. As a parent she fears that key members of the support staff may end up looking for employment elsewhere and that will lead to a drop in standards. I think Jill is right to be worried for it is the lower paid support workers that seem to be affected regardless of their geography. A lot of them may very well choose to leave.
The importance of good, a well trained, efficient, motivated support staff to the running of a school is critical and often overlooked. Many support staff feel undervalued and distanced from not only the local authority but also other council workers because of their unique working environment. If good staff leave because they are facing a pay cut and subsequently feel they are not valued it can only be a bad thing not only for the councils, schools and staff but ultimately because the pupils that attend our schools deserve only the best.
All support staff in schools work very hard to aid the education of the generations to come. At the moment, the way that many staff have been evaluated, very little account of the complexity of that task has been taken on board.
Visit my page on Single Status news to see job evaluation items from around the country currently in the news.
Saturday Night / Monday Morning November 13, 2006
Posted by Brian in : CPD Conference, Single Status, Uncategorized , add a comment 
Ewan McIntosh
I met up with Ewan McIntosh on Saturday night for a few beers and we talked about various different stuff that’s happening with regard to new technology in East Lothian.
As I have posted before, here in East Lothian there is a big push to use social software to enhance the teaching and learning experience for staff and pupils. We use wiki’s and the head of education encourages staff and pupils to blog. Imagine my surprise when I heard that one of the local authorities has decided to block blogs and wikis from use on their computers. You can read about it on Ewans blog.
We also came up with a couple of ideas and will work to roll them out in the local authority as soon as they get the go ahead.
This morning when I logged on I found out that I had received a comment from a senior technician in England who had lost money when re graded as a part of the single status implementation. She had read my post on Friday about the meeting and wondered how things were going North of the border. I emailed her back to say that each different authority was approaching the exercise in their own way, with some technicians being placed on a higher scale whilst others have taken pay cuts (sorry, freeze) of up to several thousands of pounds. It would be great to start a discussion to see how everyone fares out of the whole exercise the length and breadth of the country.
Margaret from Eyemouth High provides today’s insight into the national technicians conference.Click on her picture to hear her views.
Margaret from Eyemouth High
That Old Single Status Feeling November 10, 2006
Posted by Brian in : CPD Conference, Single Status, Uncategorized , 3commentsI have just returned from a meeting about single status and job evaluation in east Lothian. It was presented by Sharon Saunders who is head of personnel in East Lothian. The presentation lasted just over an hour. Staff from all the Musselburgh cluster were there and although the big question couldn’t be answered (where will I be placed on the new scale?) it was all very informative and worthwhile.
There seemed to be differing levels of awareness amongst the assembled group. I have been following the whole process very closely due to the fact that I was evaluated for the technicians in the local authority and also because being a member of the Scottish Technicians Advisory Group (STAG) I have met technicians from across Scotland that have taken a hefty pay cut because of the implementation of single status.
Each different local authority have approached single status in their own way and there is no evidence to say that just because one authority has marked down a certain group of workers, that another will do the same, but human nature is such that comparisons will be made between councils.
If you have any thoughts on single status issues then please leave a comment. I have been thinking about starting an area where support staff can discuss and compare agreements. If you would be interested in contributing then please leave a comment and I can get something sorted very quickly.
I have managed to get all the conference photos uploaded.
If you want to see some of the delegates then click here
For photos of the Scientific and Chemical workshop then click here
For general photos, including the presentations on the final morning, click here
Hope you enjoy them.
Todays talking head from the conference is Graham Sheridan from Dundee Council. As usual just click on his picture to run the video.
Graham Sheridan
Back to Work and Single Status November 6, 2006
Posted by Brian in : GLOW, Single Status, Uncategorized , add a comment 
Musselburgh Grammar School
Its Monday so it’s back to work. Lots to catch up on and lots to tell the staff here about the conference.
Just before I left for conference last week, I received notice of a meeting on Friday about single status. Personnel from John Muir House are visiting the school to brief staff about the impending single status implementation. Today I looked on our intranet for more information about how East Lothian intend implimenting it and I found the new pay scales that staff will be placed on. Unfortunately there is still no information about which grade the technicians will be placed on.
I had the opportunity whilst at conference to quiz delegates about single status and I must say it seems a mixed bag. In some councils technical support staff have received a better rate of pay than they are currently on whilst regrettably in other councils they have lost quite considerable amounts. Theres quite a few stories in the press about how the different councils are handling single status.
A piece in the Herald describes how a librarian stands to lose £5500. Click here to read it.
To see whats happening in Fife click here
Glasgow Council workers are being urged to reject their package here
I have uploaded some of the videos I took at the national technicians conference I will put up links to them soon. Just to check that it can be done on this blog I took a video of my GLOW mug. Glow is the new name for the Scottish Schools Digital Network and the mentors were given a mug and a pen. If you click on the picture of the mug below you should see it at work.
Sorry Tess I didnt steal the idea, I’d been planning to do it for ages, honest.
Single Status Update October 25, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Single Status, Uncategorized , 1 comment so farAll the support staff received a special update on the implementation of single status in East Lothian.
It’s the first official information we have had about it since a letter from the chief executive in January. There will now be thirteen pay grades which will cover manual workers, admin, professional, technical and clerical staff. The update doesn’t specify when we will be told about the grade that we will be placed on, but my guess is that letters may be sent out early in the new year.
For the estimated 21% of staff that are unlucky enough to have been placed on a lower salary through the job evaluation process, their salaries will be “cash conserved” for a period up to three years. This means that their salary is frozen and no cost of living award applied until the lower “new salary” catches up. If after the period of “conservation” the “new salary” hasn’t caught up then the staff will be placed on the lower “new salary”.
It’s a massive change in how local authorities pay and grade their staff. Currently, across Scotland some staff are having to sign new contracts or face dismissal. In other local authorities many staff have lost several thousands of pounds. Each local authority is different but the majority of people losing money, sorry having their wages “cash conserved”, in other regions are the lowest paid, including classroom assistants and school clerical staff, whilst middle and upper management seem to be gaining most from the process. It will still be a while before everything is sorted out in East Lothian and the unions have still to ballot their members.
I only hope that it doesn’t turn into the farce that has occurred in other local authorities that have decided to impose new pay and conditions regardless of their employee’s views.
I have had a go at working out the new pay scales, they of course are only my opinion as to how the new grades will be applied but I think it will be interesting to see how close I am to the real thing.
Grade 1 £10,938 - £11,694 Grade 9 £27,039 – £29,349
Grade 2 £12,062 - £12,813 Grade 10 £30,279 – £32,658
Grade 3 £13,251 - £14,577 Grade 11 £33,447 – £36,642
Grade 4 £14,829 - £16,518 Grade 12 £37,539 – £41,100
Grade 5 £16,929 - £18,324 Grade 13 £42,024 – £49,476
Grade 6 £18,840 - £20,637
Grade 7 £21,327 - £23,610
Grade 8 £24,333 – £26,502
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