NLC Update (10/03/16)
Regular readers in North Lanarkshire will be interested to know that a further hearing of 'First Wave' equal pay claims is taking place at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal next week.
Date - Tuesday 15th March
Time - 10 am
Venue - Eagle Building, 215 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7TS
Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council will continue at this hearing to make the case that Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Assistants and Classroom Assistants jobs are not of equal value to traditional male jobs such as Gardener (2) and a council Refuse Collector.
Little wonder if you ask me that so many NLC workers are completely disillusioned at the way Scotland's fourth largest council is being run.
The recent tribunal hearing involving A4ES and North Lanarkshire Council (on behalf of Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Workers and Classroom Assistants) did not resolve the various issues that are still in dispute.
However the Employment Judge did set dates for a full hearing in May 2016 which could last, potentially, up to ten days.
In the meantime the Council has been ordered to specify its defences to the claim that these female dominated jobs are not of 'equal value' to their male comparators.
Sounds crazy, I know, North Lanarkshire is persisting with the argument that a Gardener 2 was rated and paid more highly than a Sheltered Housing Warden (SHW), quite properly according to Council bosses.
Despite the fact that under NLC's 2006 job evaluation scheme (JES) the female SHW job was awarded new NLC Grade 6 while the male Gardener 2 was awarded the lower NLC Grade 5.
So how does that work? - I ask myself.
Because it seems to me, the higher graded female job (whose duties never changed by the way) cannot at any time have been worth less than the lower graded male job - unless we're all living in some kind of equal pay version of Alice in Wonderland.
Any sensible council would have settled these issues a long time ago and goodness knows A4ES has proposed settlement talks, but the Council leadership in North Lanarkshire has dug its heels in, not for the first time, which means that the ongoing fight for equal pay will remain a major issue in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016.
Because the review of NLC jobs (which was supposed to be completed by the end of 2015) is still outstanding and if this is not done quickly and satisfactorily, thousands of equal pay claims from Council Home Carers could end up back in the Employment Tribunals along with those from Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Workers and Classroom Assistants.
I'll have more to say on the subject soon, but it looks as though things are gearing up for a major new campaign in North Lanarkshire over the next few months.
So watch this space.
Tomorrow's tribunal hearing in Glasgow is about North Lanarkshire Council's stubborn refusal to accept that female dominated jobs (Sheltered Housing Warden, Clerical Worker and Classroom Assistant) are not of equal value to their chosen male comparators - a council Refuse Collector and Gardener (2).
I'm sure readers will be amazed, possibly even insulted, to learn that North Lanarkshire was arguing that a Sheltered Housing Warden (SHW), a job which clearly carries enormous responsibility, deserved to be graded and paid considerably less than a council Refuse Collector.
SHWs are now comparing themselves to a Gardener (2) because their jobs were raised from NLC Grade 3 to NLC Grade 6 under the Council's new job evaluation scheme (JES) back in 2006/07 - while the old Gardener (2) job was placed on NLC Grade 5.
So it seems like an open and shut case given that the tribunal has already ruled that the Wardens' duties did not changed, in which case how can a job on NLC Grade 6 not be of equal value to a council Gardener on the lower NLC Grade 5?
Seems like yet another terrible waste of taxpayers' money if you ask me, and from a supposedly cash-strapped Labour-run council which has been making a complete dog's dinner of equal pay for the past 10 years.
Watch this space.
NLC Update (28/01/16)
The recent tribunal hearing involving A4ES and North Lanarkshire Council (on behalf of Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Workers and Classroom Assistants) did not resolve the various issues that are still in dispute.
However the Employment Judge did set dates for a full hearing in May 2016 which could last, potentially, up to ten days.
In the meantime the Council has been ordered to specify its defences to the claim that these female dominated jobs are not of 'equal value' to their male comparators.
Sounds crazy, I know, North Lanarkshire is persisting with the argument that a Gardener 2 was rated and paid more highly than a Sheltered Housing Warden (SHW), quite properly according to Council bosses.
Despite the fact that under NLC's 2006 job evaluation scheme (JES) the female SHW job was awarded new NLC Grade 6 while the male Gardener 2 was awarded the lower NLC Grade 5.
So how does that work? - I ask myself.
Because it seems to me, the higher graded female job (whose duties never changed by the way) cannot at any time have been worth less than the lower graded male job - unless we're all living in some kind of equal pay version of Alice in Wonderland.
Any sensible council would have settled these issues a long time ago and goodness knows A4ES has proposed settlement talks, but the Council leadership in North Lanarkshire has dug its heels in, not for the first time, which means that the ongoing fight for equal pay will remain a major issue in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016.
Because the review of NLC jobs (which was supposed to be completed by the end of 2015) is still outstanding and if this is not done quickly and satisfactorily, thousands of equal pay claims from Council Home Carers could end up back in the Employment Tribunals along with those from Sheltered Housing Wardens, Clerical Workers and Classroom Assistants.
I'll have more to say on the subject soon, but it looks as though things are gearing up for a major new campaign in North Lanarkshire over the next few months.
So watch this space.
North Lanarkshire Update (21?01/16)
Tomorrow's tribunal hearing in Glasgow is about North Lanarkshire Council's stubborn refusal to accept that female dominated jobs (Sheltered Housing Warden, Clerical Worker and Classroom Assistant) are not of equal value to their chosen male comparators - a council Refuse Collector and Gardener (2).
I'm sure readers will be amazed, possibly even insulted, to learn that North Lanarkshire was arguing that a Sheltered Housing Warden (SHW), a job which clearly carries enormous responsibility, deserved to be graded and paid considerably less than a council Refuse Collector.
SHWs are now comparing themselves to a Gardener (2) because their jobs were raised from NLC Grade 3 to NLC Grade 6 under the Council's new job evaluation scheme (JES) back in 2006/07 - while the old Gardener (2) job was placed on NLC Grade 5.
So it seems like an open and shut case given that the tribunal has already ruled that the Wardens' duties did not changed, in which case how can a job on NLC Grade 6 not be of equal value to a council Gardener on the lower NLC Grade 5?
Seems like yet another terrible waste of taxpayers' money if you ask me, and from a supposedly cash-strapped Labour-run council which has been making a complete dog's dinner of equal pay for the past 10 years.
Watch this space.
