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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.
Industrial relations: Green Book
Each of the unions representing the trade union side to the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (responsible for the Green Book) are currently balloting for strike action across a wide range of employers (approximately 4,700 – many of whom are Employer Link subscribers). The first ballot to close will be UNISON, whose ballots will close at 10am on Tuesday 4 July. The GMB and UNITE ballots will close later in the month.
Unions are required to inform employers of the result as soon as practicably possible, but because of the scale of the disaggregated ballots, it could take several days. The full position of the staff side may not become fully clear until after all ballots close.
For LGA guidance please note:
Updates will be issued to subscribers as soon as they are available.
Pay Review Body: teachers
There has been much speculation in the press about the contents of the School Teacher Review Board (STRB) report and how the government may react to it. However, the only thing that has been confirmed to NEOST is that the STRB’s 33rd report was submitted to Government on 16 May 2023. We await Government’s publication of the report and decision on implementing the recommendations on teachers’ pay for 2023. This may not be until close to the end of the school term.
Once the STRB report is published, the Department for Education will consult on it, and the proposed changes to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STCPD) – we will canvas opinions from subscribers to help inform the employers’ response. Unfortunately, this is likely to be during the school closure period.
Further information will be issued to subscribers as soon as it is available, information about this year’s pay round can be found on the LGA website.
Burgundy Book
The conditions of service for schoolteachers in England and Wales (responsible for the Burgundy Book) sets out terms that lie outside the School Teacher Pay & Condition Document (STCPD) e.g., notice periods and the maternity and sickness schemes. An update was issued during July. The 2023 edition updates legislation and clarifies terminology without amending the application of any of the terms and conditions of employment contained in the Burgundy Book.
Industrial relations: schools
Ballots for each of the main teacher and school leader trade unions (ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU) are currently open and are due to close by the end of July.
The NEU are also currently balloting their support staff members “to increase funding to avoid support staff redundancies and further detriment to conditions of service”, this ballot will close on 11 August.
For LGA guidance please note:
Updates will be issued to subscribers as soon as they are available.
Heads of HR network in Academy Trusts
Employer Link has facilitated a national network for the Heads of HR in Multi-Academy Trusts for several years. Membership currently accounts for more than a third of all academies in England. At a recent meeting of the network it was agreed that it should be open to all strategic leads for HR issues in all Academy Trusts, if you are not already a member of the network and would like to have more information please contact info@employerlink.co.uk.
Pay negotiations: fire service brigade managers
The National Joint Council for Brigade Managers, which covers senior managers in fire and rescue services across the UK, has now reached agreement to apply a 4 per cent increase on basic pay with effect from 1 January 2022 and a 3.5 per cent increase on basic pay with effect from 1 January 2023.
Joint circulars for this group of staff can be found on the LGA website.
Pay negotiations: coroners
With effect from 1 April 2023, local salaries and day rates for individuals derived from the JNC arrangements below should be increased by 3.5 per cent. Full details of the national agreement are in joint circular No. 68
Pay negotiations: police staff
The Police Staff Council Trade Union Side has submitted its pay claim on behalf of police staff in England and Wales w.e.f 1 September 2023. Read the TU side claim in full
Employment Law
The latest edition (714) 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 (239) of our monthly bulletin can be found on the Bulletin page of www.lgpsregs.org and the Bulletin page of www.scotlgpsregs.org.
Firefighters’ Pension Scheme
The latest edition (70) of our monthly bulletin is available to download. Consultation responses, including in relation to the McCloud case can also be found on their website.
Events
Details of events will be found on the Employer link Events Page. Our next event is the ‘school staff pay – 2023’ webinar on Thursday 20 July.
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
Employer guidance and Government updates from June
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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