Two Places At One Time
A regular reader from South Lanarkshire - a local union rep - has been in touch over paid time-off for councillors.
"If a union rep gets paid time-off from their employer to deal with union business, they don't also get paid by the union - because that would be double counting or getting paid twice for the same thing", the reader says - not unreasonably.
"So how come some councillors get paid for one role - which they say is a full-time commitment - yet also get paid for taking on other outside work? If we did that we'd be disciplined, or maybe even sacked", the reader adds.
And I think the reader has a fair point - moonlighting by MPs and other politicians is a pretty common practice - and has been for years.
Now clearly no one - not even a politician - can be in two places at one time.
And if a job is a full-time commitment - paid for by public money - then how can it be right to take on additional paid work?
Maybe the authorities will get to grips with the issue one of these days - though to be fair MSPs in the Scottish Parliament are not up to these tricks - albeit with one or two exceptions from the early days.
"If a union rep gets paid time-off from their employer to deal with union business, they don't also get paid by the union - because that would be double counting or getting paid twice for the same thing", the reader says - not unreasonably.
"So how come some councillors get paid for one role - which they say is a full-time commitment - yet also get paid for taking on other outside work? If we did that we'd be disciplined, or maybe even sacked", the reader adds.
And I think the reader has a fair point - moonlighting by MPs and other politicians is a pretty common practice - and has been for years.
Now clearly no one - not even a politician - can be in two places at one time.
And if a job is a full-time commitment - paid for by public money - then how can it be right to take on additional paid work?
Maybe the authorities will get to grips with the issue one of these days - though to be fair MSPs in the Scottish Parliament are not up to these tricks - albeit with one or two exceptions from the early days.
