Glasgow - Equal Pay and JES

I have been preoccupied in recent days with FOI (Freedom of Information) and the difficulties of getting a proper settlement process in place with Glasgow City Council. 

As regular readers know, dates are finally in the diary (though not until 4 and 11 December) for initial discussions to begin, although that was a struggle in itself and hardly suggested a real sense of urgency on the Council's part at least.

But there are still big problems with the pay data council officials are supplying to explain how the interests of traditional, former bonus earning jobs were 'looked after' under the now discredited WPBR pay scheme.   

So the fight continues until there is proper transparency over Glasgow's pay arrangements, as I've said on the blog site many times before.

One issue that will have to be addressed in future settlement talks is what replaces the WPBR and how any new job evaluation scheme (JES) can command confidence from the workforce which has had the wool pulled over its eyes in the past.

Here's what I wrote on the blog site about the JES review conducted by North Lanarkshire Council previously and if you ask me, any new JES in Glasgow needs to be built upon the following principles:

1. Openness and transparency at all stages of the process
2. Removing gender bias rather than protecting the 'status quo'
3. Informed consent on the part of the workforce and trade unions
4. Expert advice which is properly independent of the City Council

If we can build support around these principles, equal pay for work of equal value will finally become a reality in Glasgow City Council. 

  

NLC Upate (16/05/15)

I know It's early days yet, but so far at least North Lanarkshire Council has not been in touch to take up my offer to carry out a further Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for absolutely free!

The bargain of the year, if you ask me.

Now even if the Council feels a bit nervous about that prospect, I imagine that the trade unions can see how much sense this would make because no one knows the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement better than me, as I led the negotiations with the Scottish council employers during my time as Unison's Head of Local Government and chief negotiator in Scotland.

I was also directly involved in the design of the Scottish job evaluation scheme (JES) as it should have been applied back in1999 - 2002 (never mind 2006/07) which means I'm ideally placed to help North Lanarkshire Council get things absolutely right this time around.

So let's hope the phone rings soon because I'm ready and raring to go and it's not every day I offer to work without charging a fee. 

North Lanarkshire Update (01/05/15)

Here's my Action 4 Equality Scotland 'manifesto' on the way in which a further round of job evaluation should be carried out in North Lanarkshire Council to safeguard the interests of the workforce.   

1 A firm from commitment from all parties to complete openness and transparency during the re-evaualtion process

2 Publication of all female dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection

3 Publication of all male dominated jobs to be re-evaluated and reasons for selection

4 Publication of all revised job descriptions and an opportunity for input/comment

5 Publication of all JES scores and individual JES factor scores 

6 Publication of a 'rank order test' before any new proposals are finalised

7 Agreement to a further Equality Impact Assessment (prior to implementation) by an independent person not selected by the Council which revisit the issue of grade boundaries

Now I'm sure there will be lots of people within the workforce who would support this 'seven point plan' and I am happy to work with the trade unions as well to ensure that there is no repeat of what happened in the past.

So, I'm prepared to offer my services to carry out a further Equality Impact Assessment, not just because the last one didn't work out too well, but in order to achieve an outcome that is seen to be fair by everyone involved, especially the workforce. 

In fact, I'll go further and say I'd be prepared to do conduct another Equality Impact Assessment free-of-charge which would also save the Council some money into the bargain.