Scottish Parliament - Evidence (3)
Present Position
16) Most of Scotland’s councils have now introduced new (Single Status) pay and grading structures following a local job evaluation (JE) exercise, as required by the 1999 Red Book national agreement. Edinburgh and Midlothian are two councils where the JE exercise is still outstanding, but in the meantime other difficulties have come to the fore.
17) Glasgow City Council and South Lanarkshire Councils have both introduced their own ‘in-house’ JE schemes whose provenance and implementation is at odds with the nationally recommended (Gauge) scheme. Glasgow’s JE scheme rewards full-time workers over part-time workers, who are largely women, while South Lanarkshire has claimed that its scheme was externally validated by the EOC – but external scrutiny by the EOC never took place.
18) The implementation of job evaluation has also caused a great controversy in other areas. North Lanarkshire Council balloted the workforce on its proposals, but the council implemented their scheme without agreement despite an overwhelming NO vote. Likewise in Fife where the workforce again rejected the council’s plans, despite trade union support.
19) So, Scotland’s five largest councils all continue to grapple with major issues and problems when it comes to single status and equal pay – but the two things are not the same. Single Status is a national agreement, key elements of which (e.g. job evaluation) are not mandatory; whereas equal pay is about equal treatment under the law. The legal route has obvious attractions if collective negotiations fail.
20) The present position across Scotland is that Action 4 Equality Scotland and Stefan Cross represent 11,706 local authority claimants as at March 2009 - although some have reached an interim settlement all of these individuals have ongoing claims.
16) Most of Scotland’s councils have now introduced new (Single Status) pay and grading structures following a local job evaluation (JE) exercise, as required by the 1999 Red Book national agreement. Edinburgh and Midlothian are two councils where the JE exercise is still outstanding, but in the meantime other difficulties have come to the fore.
17) Glasgow City Council and South Lanarkshire Councils have both introduced their own ‘in-house’ JE schemes whose provenance and implementation is at odds with the nationally recommended (Gauge) scheme. Glasgow’s JE scheme rewards full-time workers over part-time workers, who are largely women, while South Lanarkshire has claimed that its scheme was externally validated by the EOC – but external scrutiny by the EOC never took place.
18) The implementation of job evaluation has also caused a great controversy in other areas. North Lanarkshire Council balloted the workforce on its proposals, but the council implemented their scheme without agreement despite an overwhelming NO vote. Likewise in Fife where the workforce again rejected the council’s plans, despite trade union support.
19) So, Scotland’s five largest councils all continue to grapple with major issues and problems when it comes to single status and equal pay – but the two things are not the same. Single Status is a national agreement, key elements of which (e.g. job evaluation) are not mandatory; whereas equal pay is about equal treatment under the law. The legal route has obvious attractions if collective negotiations fail.
20) The present position across Scotland is that Action 4 Equality Scotland and Stefan Cross represent 11,706 local authority claimants as at March 2009 - although some have reached an interim settlement all of these individuals have ongoing claims.
Part 4 to follow
