Take a Hike

A regular reader from South Lanarkshire has been in touch to say that some of the home carers have been offered a new annual salary of £19,000 a year.

Which sounds good at first glance - because their basic annual salary at the moment is only £15,000.

But the catch is that people will only get the new rate - if they agree to new terms and conditions - and these new strings require people to work 'flexibly' between 7am in the morning and 11pm at night.

So the question is whether it's a pay increase of £4,000 a year - or really a pay cut when you take everything into account - such as working unsocial hours and split shiofts and so on.

In other words - is it really a pay cut in disguise?

Well the answer is I don't know - but if I were involved in I would make the following points and ask for some detailed answers:

1 Why are the changes being proposed in the first place?

2 When will the proposals should be put forward in writing - so that people can take advice and consider them properly?
  
3 What are the before and after costs to the home care service - is flexible working really a cost cutting measure? 

4 Are male groups of workers in other parts of the council being asked to work flexibly as well - and if not why not?
 
Because I've never known South Lanarkshire Council - to be especially generous to its women workers - quite the opposite in fact.

So I think people have every right - to be wary and sceptical until proved otherwise.
 
The key point is that until you've got all the information you need to make an informed  decision - the safest thing to do is to tell council managers - to go take a hike.