South Lanarkshire
I've been contacted by a number of male workers from South Lanarkshire Council in the past week - people doing the kind of traditional jobs which have been at the heart of all the equal pay controversy in recent years.
Apparently, the pay and pay arrangements for these workers has changed in recent days - with people's pay slips suddenly showing new and different salary levels from those which have been in place, undisturbed, for years.
I'm told that these pay slips suddenly show a significant reduction in the official or basic salary for these jobs - of around 15% - although the difference is made up via a contingency or compensatory, so that 'take home' pay remains the same - but only for a temporary period.
Now I suspect this is all to do with the recent UK Supreme court hearing and the fact that the Council's pay arrangements are slowly but surely being dragged out into the open - where they belong, of course - so that everyone can understand what different council jobs get paid.
But if I were in one of these traditional male jobs, I'd be concerned that such changes are being introduced without proper consultation - and a written explanation of how what the changes mean for the future.
So there are a number of important points to make:
1 Any change in an employee's terms and conditions of employment should be set out in a full explanatory letter - it is against the law and is unacceptable just to amend a pay slip
2 A new and lower official salary will impact on an employee's pension and retirement benefits - especially if 'take home' pay is only guaranteed for a fixed period.
3 A new and lower official salary will have an impact on anyone seeking a mortgage or some other kind of loan - since a lender will only be interested in the official or lower rate.
So I'm thinking of organising a meeting for council workers who find themselves in this position - and if you'd be interested in coming along, then drop me an email to markirvine@compuserve.com
If other readers have information to pass on, the details might well help the wider equal pay campaign and will be treated in complete confidence - of course.
