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This newsletter provides a round-up of all the relevant news that Employer Link has gathered over the last month.
You will need to be logged in to the service to access some of the detailed reports. Please refer to the How to access the Employer Link services to ensure you and colleagues have access to all relevant resources.
COVID-19
A collection of guidance can now be found on the Useful Resources concertina, under COVID-19. All government guidance can be read on their website.
A collection of stakeholder guidance and Government updates from November are included at the foot of this newsletter.
Pay negotiations: Local Government Services (Green Book) pay dispute
This year’s pay award for local government services (‘Green Book’) employees remains unresolved as the unions have rejected the National Employers’ full and final one-year pay offer that covers the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
The employers’ offer will increase the bottom pay point by 2.75 per cent and would increase all other pay points by 1.75 per cent. The higher increase on the bottom pay point will ensure that the sector is compliant with the statutory National Living Wage of £9.50 that will come into effect on 1 April 2022.
The unions have confirmed the timetable for their industrial action ballots (which may include Employer Link subscribers).
UNISON will be conducting a formal national strike ballot from 1 December to 14 January. The results will be collated on an aggregated basis, which means that for strike action to be lawful, at least 50 per cent of UNISON’s national membership is required to cast a vote.
GMB is currently conducting a national consultative ballot (closes 13 December) to determine whether there is support for strike action.
Unite will be conducting a formal national strike ballot from 14 January to 17 February (24 February in Northern Ireland). The results will be collated on a disaggregated basis. which means that strike action could be taken at each employer where a turn-out of at least 50 per cent is secured (if members vote in favour of strike action). Unite will also be balloting its members covered by the JNC Craftworkers (‘Red Book’) agreement.
Please refer to our comprehensive industrial action guide ahead of the unions’ ballots getting underway.
The Queen’s 2022 Jubilee and Term-Time Only employees
The NJC circular, which has been subject to many months of detailed discussion has been uploaded to the Local Government Association website.
Pay negotiations: Youth and Community pay dispute
The Trade Unions have rejected a final offer from the National Employers for a 1.75 per cent pay increase for 2021-2 for Youth and Community workers. They have confirmed that that they will move to a formal national strike ballot. UNITE will conduct this from 14 January to 17 February (24 February in Northern Ireland). The results will be collated on a disaggregated basis.
Pay negotiations: Soulbury pay 2021
The National Employers have made a revised final pay offer (1.75 per cent increase) to the Soulbury staff associations. The Soulbury staff associations are undertaking a consultation on the offer.
Pay consultation: schoolteachers’ 2022/23
We are now expecting the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) remit for teachers' pay 2022 to be published week commencing 13 December 2021. Once published, we will consult relevant Employer link subscribers to gather evidence for the National Employers Organisation for School Teachers response to the STRB. We continue to feedback the practical issues caused by needing to consult over the Christmas holiday period.
Pensions – indexation in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
The trade unions involved in the school sector have written to employers asking them to consider a £1 recruitment and retention allowance for teachers. This claim is to deal with issues linked to the ‘best consecutive three years in ten’ average, when teachers take their pension.
We have raised this matter with DfE Pension’s team and are awaiting a response, to best advise employers, but do not expect to hear back until early 2022.
We will forward any responses as soon as we receive them.
Education staff wellbeing charter
An updated ‘Education staff wellbeing charter’ has been published, which includes ‘a declaration of support for, and set of commitments to, the wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in education.’ It was co-created by the members of the education sector including the LGA, unions, DfE and Ofsted.
Employer link research and benchmarking – Workforce costs in Multi-Academy Trusts
Employer Link has analysed the accounts of 275 of the larger MATs in England (they are the employer for 30% of all academies). Benchmarking data is available on executive pay, the percentage spend on workforce costs such as staffing, supply and pension and much more. There is an accessible version on the website, along with a downloadable version that includes graphics.
Employer link research and benchmarking – Chief Executive pay in Multi-Academy Trusts
Employer Link has analysed the accounts of 275 of the larger MATs in England (they are the employer for 30% of all academies). Benchmarking data is available on regional variation, organisational size, turnover rates, gender pay gap analysis and much more. There is an accessible version on the website, along with a downloadable version that includes graphics.
This work feeds into the pay benchmarking consultancy offer.
School teacher’ pay and conditions Q&As
We have addressed two new questions:
- Timing of UPR pay progression?
- What are the local authorities’ obligations/options with regards to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, when a teacher is made redundant over age 55?
These and a range of other Q&A topics are on the LGA webpage.
LGA research: Mapping national employment and skills provision
A new online resource which maps national employment and skills provision in every local authority area in England including through an interactive map. The aim is to help employers understand what provision is available, who is delivering it, and on what spatial footprint.
LGA research: 2021 Social Work Healthcheck
Social work partner organisations launched the National Social Work Healthcheck on 15 November. If your organisation hasn’t opted in yet, please email workforce@local.gov.uk to take part and receive a report on how your social workers feel supported by the Standards for Employers of Social Workers and what you can do to support the work they do for your residents.
Employment Law
The latest edition (696) of our monthly advisory bulletin is available to download, of particular interest this month will be the case notes around changing collectively agreed terms and conditions: individual offers
Remember, you can sign up to receive this directly (along with other newsletters such as the Workforce Bulletin, these are all free as part of the Employer Link subscription) by going to the e-bulletins page.
Read past advisory bulletins on our website.
Local Government Pension Scheme
The latest edition (216) of our monthly bulletin can be found on the LGPS England and Wales bulletin page or on the LGPS Scotland bulletin page.
Teachers’ Pension Scheme
The latest edition (77) of our monthly bulletin is available to download.
Remember, you can sign up to receive this directly (along with other newsletters such as the Workforce Bulletin, these are all free as part of the Employer Link subscription) by going to the e-bulletins page.
Teachers’ Pension Scheme - consultation
The Department for Education has launched its consultation on amendments to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) regulations. This is the first stage of changes to the TPS rules to remedy the discrimination within public service pension schemes resulting from the transitional protection arrangements that were part of the TPS reforms in 2015. This consultation focuses on technical amendments and closes on 24 January 2022.
Firefighters’ Pension Scheme
The latest edition (216) of our monthly bulletin is available to download.
Firefighters’ Pension Scheme - consultation
The Home Office has launched a consultation for amendments to the firefighters’ pension schemes in England 2022. This is the first stage of changes to the FPS to remove the transitional protections from the FPS 2015.
This is part of the package of measures that the government is undertaking to remove the discrimination identified by the courts in the McCloud and Sargeant cases. The second phase will address the issue of giving members a retrospective choice of benefits for the remedy period. The Home Office will consult on this separately next year.
The consultation is open until Sunday 2 January 2022.
Events
Details of events will be found on the Employer link events page.
If you have not received a discount code to receive the free (or discounted) rate for any event you see on that page, please email us.
Presentations from past events are available to download. A recording of past events can be found on our website for example the exit payment reform webinar from 17 December 2020.
A collection of Employer guidance and Government updates from November (including in relation to COVID-19):
If you have any questions about any of the items in this newsletter or any difficulties in logging into the secure parts of the website, please contact us.
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