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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.
Pay negotiations: Local Government Services (Green Book)
The National Employers’ final pay offer was made on 25 July. The offer would provide employees with a pay increase of £1,925 per annum from 1 April 2022. The offer also includes a one-day increase to all NJC employees’ annual leave entitlement from 1 April 2023. In response:
- UNISON members have voted to accept the pay offer. Of those who voted, 63.5% voted to accept the offer and 36.5% voted to reject.
- GMB have agreed to consult their members, with a closing date of 21 October. They will remain neutral on the question of whether to recommend that the offer be accepted or rejected.
- Unite have agreed to consult their members, with a closing date of 14 October. They have recommended that the offer is rejected.
- National Education Union, although not party to the negotiations, consulted are consulting their members, with a closing date of 14 October.
The three NJC trade unions (UNISON, GMB and UNITE) must reach a position once all their ballots have closed, in order for the pay deal to be finalised so that it can be implemented and paid to employees. We will provide updates on progress of this year’s pay negotiations as soon as there are any public developments
The National Employers continue to repeat their clear and consistent position, that they advise very strongly against making any up-front payment in lieu of the pay award being finalised.
Local Government Services (Green Book): Christmas working arrangements
The National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services has issued guidance on working arrangements for staff required to work over the festive period. The NJC issues this advice only in years when Christmas and New Year fall over a weekend, which will next occur in 2026.
Local Government Services (Green Book): State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II
The NJC issued guidance on working arrangements on the day of the State Funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 12 September.
Pay consultation: School teachers' pay 2022/23
The Government’s response details the acceptance of the School Teacher’s Review Body (STRB) recommendations on teachers’ pay for 2022 as set out in the STRB’s 32nd Report. Schools are not expected to receive extra funding to cover the cost.
Thanks to those that completed the Employer Link survey on teachers’ pay for 2022, which helped to inform the National Employer of School Teachers (NEOST) response which can be found alongside all relevant information at school teachers’ pay 2022. The draft School Teachers Pay & Conditions Document has also been amended to reflect the school closure for the state funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The current timeline is as follows.
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14 October 2022 - STPCD scheduled to be laid in parliament 14 October
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14 October to 4 November 2022 - 21 day praying period.
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4 November 2022 - Praying period ends – which is the formal end of the process
The teacher unions are taking various approaches including preliminary pay ballots and issuing formal notices of dispute, including ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU.
Fire and Rescue Services : State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II
The NJC issued guidance on working arrangements on the day of the State Funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 13 September.
Pay negotiations: Chief Executives and Chief Officers
The JNC has updated the Conditions of Service Handbook for local authority Chief Executives.
LGA Inclusive Language Guide
Our new inclusive language guide helps employers understand what inclusive language is and the vital role it plays in embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion across the workplace. It has been designed to support the development of environments where curious yet respectful behaviours, conversations and wider communication take place.
Employment Law
The latest edition (704) of our monthly advisory 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.
Read past advisory bulletins on our website.
Local Government Pension Scheme
The latest edition (229) of our monthly bulletin can be found on the Bulletin page of www.lgpsregs.org and the Bulletin page of www.scotlgpsregs.org.
LGPS bitesize training for employers – final pay
We have launched a new online bitesize training course for LGPS employers. The new course covers how to calculate final pay for LGPS members who built up benefits in the final salary scheme before 1 April 2014.
Teachers’ Pension Scheme
The latest edition (82) 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.
Firefighters’ Pension Scheme
The latest edition (61) of our monthly bulletin is available to download.
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.
A collection of Employer guidance and Government updates from September:
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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