**STOP PRESS** (21/06/16)

A number of readers from North Lanarkshire have been in touch to say that letters finally arrived today regarding the Council's late-running job evaluation (JE) review, which make no mention of backpay. 

Now I've written about this topic in recent days and it seems crystal clear to me that people ought to be entitled to back pay for the reasons explained in the posts below from the blog site archive.

So can this be an oversight on the Council's part or does it signal that some kind of  'dodgy deal' has been done to the detriment of the workforce?

Now I don't know to be honest although I do know a man who must have the answer, the Labour leader of North Lanarkshire Council, Cllr Jim Logue.

Given the apparent reluctance of the trade unions to say anything on the subject, if I were an employee of North Lanarkshire Council I would go straight to the top and ask Councillor Logue for an explanation via the following email address:

loguej@northlan.gsx.gov.uk

I'll have more to say in the days ahead, but I have to admit I would be completely amazed if the Council and the trade unions have been working together behind the scenes to deny employees a backdated increase in their pay to 1 April 2015, if their grade has gone up as a result of the JE Review.

But why the Council and the trade unions have not made the position clear is beyond me because all that's required is a brief factual statement to explain what's going on.

Backpay Bombshell? (17/06/16)

Lots of readers from North Lanarkshire have been in touch to ask where they stand (what they stand to lose), if the Council tries to stop them receiving any backpay that may be due from the late-running job evaluation (JE) scheme.  

Now I don't know is the honest answer because over a week after the Council and the trade unions announced that a 'deal' had been done everyone, especially the workforce, is still in the dark as to what this really means.

Which is an incredible state of affairs if you ask me and instead of clapping each other on the back, you would think that the Council would immediately release full details of the JE review so that people can see the proposals for themselves.

But that hasn't happened and the trade unions seems to be dancing to the Council's tune instead of standing up for the right of their members to know what is going on.

The backpay that would be due under any upgrading depends on the difference in pay (if any) between someone's old grade and new grade, and where their post would be placed on that new grade.

Given that this whole dispute goes back to 2007, I think it would be reasonable for anyone who was in post at that time (i.e. 2007) to go straight to the top of their new grade because that's the only thing that makes sense, if you ask me, since the new grades are intended to correct what went wrong with the old 2006/07 JE scheme.

If the difference in pay between the old and new grade were £2.00 an hour (an assumption not a prediction on my part), then the amount of backpay due would be £2.00 x a person's normal working week.

Using 30 hours as an example, that would come to £2.00 x 30 hours x 52 weeks in a full year = £3,120 less tax and National Insurance, of course. However this would only go back to 1 April 2015 which is the the originally agreed 'implementation date' for any new pay arrangements.

Yet we are now hurtling towards the end of June 2016 because the review is running very late and so I imagine any new pay arrangements could not be put in place until the end of July 2016 which would, therefore, add another four months (one third) to the backdating period.

So do the maths for yourself!

A bigger difference in hourly pay would obviously produce a higher figure in terms of any backdated pay and vice versa, as would an increase or decrease in the number of hours worked per week.

In any event the only way to get to the bottom of this is for the Council and/or the trade unions to explain what exactly is going on which they have failed to do up until now even though the review exercise should have been completed before the end of 2015.

Backpay Bombshell? (16/06/16)

A number of readers have been in touch to say that a stubborn rumour is doing the rounds in North Lanarkshire to the effect that the Council is planning to implement the late-running job evaluation (JE) review in such a way as to avoid paying the workforce any backpay they are due.

Now I can't see this happening for a number of important reasons:

1. The equal pay settlement reached with NLC last year drew a line under all pay and grading issues up to 31 March 2015.
2. So 1 April 2015 was always understood as the operative date for any new pay and grading arrangements going forward
3. As everyone knows, a JE scheme evaluates jobs as they are being done at the time - and clearly the duties and responsibilities of Home Carers, to name just one job, were being carried out from 1 April 2015 onwards
4. So any new rates of pay and higher grades can only, logically, apply from 1 April 2015 onwards. 
5. If not, the Council (and the trade unions) might just as well pull any old random date such as 1 April 2020 out of thin air
6. As a result 1 April 2015 is the only possible implementation date for the late-running JE review and the employees concerned must be entitled to be paid at their new rate and grades for all hours worked from 1 April 2015 onwards. 

Not just that, of course, because in my view any agreement North Lanarkshire has reached with the trade unions cannot override the right of individual employees to backpay, where appropriate.

Otherwise, the trade unions would be guilty of 'screwing' their own members in a way that would be truly shocking and indefensible.

So I think these rumours are probably just that 'rumours', although it is true to say that a week on from the JE Review being announced in the press, union members and the wider NLC workforce are still waiting to be provided with written details explaining the outcome.

I find it hard to believe that the local trade unions would attempt to sell their members out in this kind of cynical fashion, yet as regular readers are only too well aware this is exactly what happened back in 2006/07.

Surely the local unions would not enter into such a Devil's Pact again? - not least because if history were to repeat itself, the unions' credibility with ordinary union members would go right thought the floor. 

What would help clear all of this up, of course, is a clear and unequivocal statement from North Lanarkshire Council and hopefully this post on the blog site will spur the Council into action.

NLC Update (18/06/16)

I said the other day that I thought it rather odd that the trade unions in North Lanarkshire were not balloting their members over the question of the late-running job evaluation (JE) review.

Then I remembered that the unions did exactly this back in 2014 over some relatively minor potential changes to the pay and grading structure.

But if this was good enough two years ago I wonder why the trade unions are not so keen about asking members for their support in 2016?

If you ask me, the members who pay their union dues in North Lanarkshire are entitled to a proper explanation as to why such double standards in the case of the JE review.

Union Ballot (29/06/14)

Lots of readers from North Lanarkshire have been in touch regarding the trade union ballot on proposed changes to the Council's pay and grading structure.

In my view, is that there is absolutely no need for a ballot at this stage especially as settlement talks with the Council are about to get underway.

So, as I said on the blog site the other day if I were a union member, I would vote No to any further changes to the Council's pay and grading structure until I could see the big picture - which includes how the Council intends to settle all the outstanding equal pay claims.

Simple, really.

On a wider note a programme of meetings has now been arranged to pursue settlement talks with North Lanarkshire Council and everyone is focused on achieving a fair and just outcome.

For obvious reasons (just as in South Lanarkshire) there will not be a running commentary on these discussions, but if they do not produce a satisfactory agreement then all the cases will go straight back to the Employment Tribunal. 
  

Union Ballot - Vote No! (26 June 2014)

I have now seen the union 'ballot' documents which I mentioned yesterday - they are from Unite but the GMB and Unison may have similar plans.

In any event, my suspicions have been confirmed because there's no doubt in my mind that the union is up to no good if they are recommending changes to the pay and grading structure while important settlement talks are underway.

If you ask me, it makes absolutely no sense unless the union is trying to do the Council a 'favour' - and why would they do that when thousands of equal pay claims remain unresolved.

The Unite documents says that most people will be slightly better off as a result of the proposed changes, but what they don't explain is what people stand to gain if they leave things as they are until all the outstanding equal pay claims are settled.

Unbelievably, the covering letter from Unite (which is recommending acceptance) says:

"We have a clause in the Agreement which allows the proposals to be revised if current Equal Pay Employment Tribunals throw up any issues" 

But exactly what does this 'mumbo jumbo' mean - who would be daft enough to trust the Council in the present situation and why don't member's have a copy of the proposed Agreement so they can see what it says for themselves? 

So if I were a union member in North Lanarkshire I would be voting No and kicking up hell at the union holding a ballot when lots of people are going on holiday and without any answers to all the ongoing issues to do with equal pay.

And isn't it odd that there's been no information from the Council (who is after all the employer) about what's going on?

If you ask me, the union are not being completely straight with its own members and is in real danger of doing the employer's dirty work.  

Stop Press! (25 June 2014)

A reader from North Lanarkshire has been in touch to say that she has received ballot papers from her trade union about a new pay and grading structure within the Council.

Now I haven't seen the documents as yet, but I find it highly suspicious that a trade union should be conducting a ballot about new pay arrangements and term-time arrangements when there are so many issues unresolved from the ongoing Employment Tribunal.

If you ask me, the timing is also completely mad as the schools are now breaking-up for the summer holidays which means that people are unable to discuss what's going on at their workplaces, as normal. 

I am making arrangements to see these papers although if anyone can scan and email them to me, that would help speed things up - markirvine@compuserve.com

In the meantime, if I were a trade union member in North Lanarkshire I would certainly not be voting to support or bring in any new changes at this pint in time. 

Instead I would insist that the Council is required to explain how it intends to settle all the outstanding equal pay claims and address the evident failings in its job evaluation scheme (JES) which have been exposed so brutally at the ongoing Employment Tribunal.

Remember the Employment Tribunal has only been suspended to allow settlement discussions to take place and will start up again in late August/September 2014 if agreement is not reached.