|
Dear colleague,
If you have been forwarded this bulletin, but would like to receive it directly in the future please complete this form.
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)
Following the Chancellor’s announcement of funded pay awards to other parts of the public sector, the local government unions asked the National Employers to return to negotiating. In response, the National Employers reaffirmed the offer they made on 16 May as full and final, as it is at the limit of most employers' affordability.
Two of the unions are currently balloting for strike action: the Unite ballot closes on 15 October, and the Unison ballot on 16 October (GMB voted to accept). The National Employers have put out a statement around the disappointment that employees are facing another lengthy delay in receiving their pay award.
You will be familiar from previous years with the view of the National Employers who advise very strongly against imposing any pay offer before the collective bargaining process has concluded. To do so would not only fragment the unity of the employers’ position but would also leave employers vulnerable to questions being asked by auditors about why, in the absence of a national collective agreement, expenditure has been unnecessarily incurred. Perhaps more importantly, councils would need to consider very carefully the wider legal issues, including those arising out of the cases of Kostal UK Limited v Dunkley and INEOS Infrastructure Grangemouth Limited v Jones & others.
We will keep Employer Link subscribers informed as the next steps are made.
School teachers’ pay award
The School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) 34th Report and Secretary of State’s written ministerial statement, confirming acceptance of the STRB’s recommendations, were issued at the end of July.
School teachers and leaders will receive a fully funded 5.5 per cent pay award for 2024/5. The £1.2 billion in additional funding will cover costs for teachers and support staff pay awards in 2024-25.
In addition to the usual pay uplift changes in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), the DfE have proposed to remove the requirement for Performance Related Pay (PRP) from September, and a further small change to the paragraph on Planning Preparation and Assessment (PPA), clarifying that where operationally possible teachers can take this time off site and in one chunk of time.
The consultation on the STRB report and the proposed STCPD is running until early October. An Employer Link survey has been circulated to relevant employers to help shape the national employers (NEOST) response to the Government’s decision to fully implement the STRB recommendations. Read the LGA pay reference circular. The deadline for completion of the survey is 4pm on Friday 13 September (to allow for the governance process to be completed before submission). As the survey requires only one response per employee, a reminder will be sent out in the coming days to the primary link for the Employer Link service, please contact us if you would like to receive it (and thanks to those that have already done so).
The end of the statutory process will not be reached until after the ‘praying period’ for the new legislation that introduced the new STCPD. This will not happen for some weeks after the conclusion of this consultation, and so implementation of the pay award should not take place until then.
Teacher pay changes linked to performance related pay
The Draft School Teachers Pay and Conditions document proposed the requirement for the use of performance related pay (PRP: employers can still use it if it aligns with their reward strategy goals).
Revised appraisal, capability and Managing Teachers Pay non-statutory guidance documents have also been published to align with the changes to PRP, to support those employers that choose to remove the PRP from the next academic year or beyond. These documents do not form part of this consultation exercise.
Pay negotiations: Craftworker ‘Red Book’ pay 2024
Unite and GMB members voted to reject the National Employers’ 2024 pay offer. Both unions are considering their options.
Pay negotiations: Chief officer pay 2024
Agreement has been reached on the 2024 pay award for local authority Chief Officers.
Pay negotiations: Chief executive pay 2024
The Staff Side has welcomed the employers’ offer but will not formally accept it until the main ‘Green Book’ pay deal has been finalised.
Housing, Planning and Homelessness Organisational Design review
Following on from our successful organisational design review using the DMA methodology, the LGA have tailored this offer to Housing, Planning and Homelessness services to respond to the challenges the sector is facing. You can find out more on our website or please email us.
Employment Law
The latest edition (726) 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 (254) 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 of our monthly bulletin is available to download.
The latest edition (82) 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. Copies of past event presentations can be found on our website for example The Employment Rights Bill: taking a first glance at the Government’s employment law reforms agenda.
Employer guidance and Government updates
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.
|
