NHS Scotland - Pay Information
Information about salaries and pay rates within the NHS is a key issue in pursuing our clients' equal pay claims.
The employers and the trade unions obviously know the details of how all the different jobs and grades and paid - after all they have negotiated them over many years!!
But - just as in local government - the employers and the unions are now both very keen to keep the details secret and hidden from the workforce and their members.
Because once the largely female workforce finds out just how big the pay gap is (with traditional male jobs) - the genie is out of the bottle.
See the post regarding the pay gap between male and female jobs in South Lanarkshire Council - dated 10 November 2007. And the more recent post dated 7 January 2008 highlighting the same issue in Falkirk.
And exactly the same thing has been going for many years inside Scotland's NHS - within the estates management side of the health service and with other male dominated jobs such as technicians and engineers.
Here's a very small example. An electrician in NHS Scotland is currently paid a salary of £20,261 a year - for a semi-skilled job that requires only a City and Guilds certificate. But compare that with a newly qualified staff nurse - and many other female dominated roles in the NHS.
The female dominated jobs get paid less - despite the fact that their jobs carry much more skill and responsibility - and demand much higher standards in terms of training and qualifications.
And there's worse to follow. If the basic grade electrician gets paid £20,000 +, how much more does his formeman and managers get paid? £25,000 to £35,000 + is the answer - and even more in some cases - so even senior nurses have good equal pay claims.
But that's NHS pay and Agenda for Change for you! Instead of being open and transparent - as promised - everything is secret and furtive.
The NHS management and trade unions say 'trust us, we know what we're doing' - but they won't even share basic details of what all NHS jobs are currently paid.
And that's exactly the information that needs to come out into the open for all to see.
We are asking our NHS clients to keep their eyes peeled for job adverts and other pay information. If you come across anything that looks useful, pass the details on to Mark Irvine - in confidence, of course.
The employers and the trade unions obviously know the details of how all the different jobs and grades and paid - after all they have negotiated them over many years!!
But - just as in local government - the employers and the unions are now both very keen to keep the details secret and hidden from the workforce and their members.
Because once the largely female workforce finds out just how big the pay gap is (with traditional male jobs) - the genie is out of the bottle.
See the post regarding the pay gap between male and female jobs in South Lanarkshire Council - dated 10 November 2007. And the more recent post dated 7 January 2008 highlighting the same issue in Falkirk.
And exactly the same thing has been going for many years inside Scotland's NHS - within the estates management side of the health service and with other male dominated jobs such as technicians and engineers.
Here's a very small example. An electrician in NHS Scotland is currently paid a salary of £20,261 a year - for a semi-skilled job that requires only a City and Guilds certificate. But compare that with a newly qualified staff nurse - and many other female dominated roles in the NHS.
The female dominated jobs get paid less - despite the fact that their jobs carry much more skill and responsibility - and demand much higher standards in terms of training and qualifications.
And there's worse to follow. If the basic grade electrician gets paid £20,000 +, how much more does his formeman and managers get paid? £25,000 to £35,000 + is the answer - and even more in some cases - so even senior nurses have good equal pay claims.
But that's NHS pay and Agenda for Change for you! Instead of being open and transparent - as promised - everything is secret and furtive.
The NHS management and trade unions say 'trust us, we know what we're doing' - but they won't even share basic details of what all NHS jobs are currently paid.
And that's exactly the information that needs to come out into the open for all to see.
We are asking our NHS clients to keep their eyes peeled for job adverts and other pay information. If you come across anything that looks useful, pass the details on to Mark Irvine - in confidence, of course.
