Glasgow - Talking the Talk
As Glasgow City Council prepares to defend its 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme in the Employment Tribunal here's what the notorious 37 hour rule means for just one of the many claimants who are employed on far less favourable terms than a colleague in a traditional male job.
I work 45hrs a week but over 2 contracts yet would have to work all day Saturday and half day Sunday before I get to an enhanced overtime rate, how can anyone say that’s fair when I theoretically work 8 hours beyond the 37hr rule in my normal working week
A
Yes, it's as blatant as that - the rules of the WPBR have clearly been invented or designed to disadvantage female dominated jobs, yet council bosses are still defending a scheme which has been judged as 'unfit for purpose' by the highest civil court in Scotland, the Court of Session.
Glasgow - Advice and Accountability (25/9/18)
Here's the first instalment in what is likely to become a series of posts explaining why I believe it is perfectly fair for Annemarie O'Donnell, Glasgow City Council's chief executive, to be be asked to resign her post.
First and foremost is the question of accountability and the fact that very senior, highly paid officials ought to be held responsible for their professional advice - because that's why they are paid such big salaries in the first place.
Now the fact of the matter is that Annemarie has been defending the Council's WPBR pay arrangements for many years and as chief executive she was directly responsible for the Council's legal strategy in the build up to the Court of Session hearing in 2017 - which resulted in three senior judges deciding unanimously that the WPBR was (and is) 'unfit for purpose'.
The political leadership of the Council, at the time, could have challenged and tried to overturn the chief executive's strategy, but they would in all likelihood have faced the threat of 'surcharge' for going against the strong legal advice of their own senior officials.
So the Labour leadership played safe and backed the chief executive's position since the threat of surcharge meant they could potentially be held personally and financially responsible, if the things went badly wrong and blew up in the Council's face.
Yet that's exactly what happened anyway - the City Council 'bet the house' on winning at the Court of Session but lost in a devastating, landmark judgment which condemned Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme as 'unfit for purpose'.
By this time (August 2017) the City Council was under new political leadership in the shape of a newly elected SNP administration who were visibly keen on a negotiated settlement.
However, instead of facing reality and admitting that she had got things terribly wrong, the chief executive's advice was to fight on and seek 'leave to appeal' the Court of Session's decision - to the UK Supreme Court in London.
I presume the political leaders of the Council were again warned about the possible risks of surcharge, if they 'ignored' their own legal advice and tried to enter into settlement talks while another appeal was pending in the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.
Predictably, in December 2017 Glasgow lost its 'leave to appeal' case in another unanimous judgement at the Court of Session before elected Councillors finally exerted their authority, on a cross party basis, and squashed the attempts of senior officials to continue with their plan of a further direct appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
Against this background I think it is reasonable to criticise the chief executive's advice and judgment because she has been backing the wrong horse for years and even now defends the role of senior officials who oversaw the introduction of the WPBR in 2007 by claiming that they acted in 'good faith'.
For the life of me, I can't see how someone who comes from a legal background and who is paid such a high salary (more than the First Minister and Prime Minister) can't see that the WPBR's notorious 37 hour rule blatantly discriminates against the City Council's largely female workforce.
Which is why I believe that the chief executive has zero credibility with Glasgow's 12,000+ equal pay claimants - because the lowest paid workers within the Council were badly let down by the very people who were supposed to be looking out for and protecting their interests.
So while Annemarie has enjoyed a long and lucrative local government career, she will probably be best remembered for defending so stoutly, and for so long, Glasgow City Council's indefensible pay arrangements.
More to follow - next up is Annemarie's role in the great Cordia debacle.
Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (16/04/18)
Since the WPBR was introduced in 2007 the small group of senior officials in Glasgow City Council have paid themselves a small fortune - around £27 million by my calculation, i.e. 12 x £2,250,368 = £27,004,416.
No wonder Scotland's public spending watchdog, the Accounts Commission, last year described the handling of equal pay as a 'decade long failure of local and central government'.
Glasgow's wage bill for senior officials salaries in 2017 came to £2,250,368 - the same year in which the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, condemned the WPBR pay arrangements in Scotland's largest council as 'unfit for purpose'.
The figures are taken from Glasgow's Annual Accounts for 2016/17 and include basic salary, election duty fees and the employer's pension contributions.
Annemarie O'Donnell - Chief Executive
£167,853 plus Election Duty Fees of £46,663 = £214,515 + £38,345 =£252,860
Carole Forrest - Director of Corporate Services and Solicitor to the Council
£122,853 plus Election Duty Fees of £4,000 = £116,524 + £21,717 = £138,241
Lynn Brown - Executive Director of Financial Services (from 1 April to 30 September)
£72,893 plus Election Duty Fees of £2,000 = £74,893 + £134,147 = £209,040
Richard Brown - Executive Director of Development and Regeneration
£135,372 + £26,127 = £161,499
Maureen McKenna - Executive Director of Education Services
£135,372 + £26,127 = £161,499
Brian Devlin - Executive Director of Land and Environmental Services (1 April to 31 December 2016)
£143,182 (includes 12 weeks pay in lieu of notice and unused annual leave) + £20,600 = £163,782
Susanne Millar - Chief Social Work Officer
£100,603 + £19,416 = £120,019
Anne Connolly - Strategic Adviser to the Chief Executive
£82,348 + £15,893 = £98,241
Chris Starrs - Executive Communications Manager (from 1 April to 28 January 2017)
£57,674 plus Election Duty Fees of £2,150 = £59,824 + £11,131 =£70,955
Morag Johnston - Action Executive Director of Financial Services (from 3 October 2016)
£56,412 (Full Year Equivalent £122,562) + £21,825 = £78,237
George Gillespie - Acting Director of Land and Environmental Services (from 1 January 2017)
£25,959 (Full Year Equivalent £122,562) + £20,298 = £46,257
Glasgow's ALEOs
City Building - £137,477 (Graham Paterson) + £26,533 = £164,010
Glasgow Life -£135,209 (Bridget McConnell) + £23,256 = £158,465
Cordia - £105,091 (Andy Clark) + £20,426 = £125,517
City Parking - £71,980 (William Taggart) + £13,892 = £85,872
City Property - £102,521 (Pauline Barclay) + £19,787 = £122,308
Jobs and Business - £80,398 (Calum Graham) + £13,168 = £93,566
A little reminder from the blog site archive of the remuneration package Glasgow City Council paid its chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, in 2017 - the year in which the Court of Session, Scotland highest civil court, judged Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme to be 'unfit for purpose'.
Later today I'll be sharing a post on Glasgow ALEOs including Cordia which are being dismantled as 'arm's length' companies and returned to direct council control - a very good thing if you ask me!
But Annemarie O'Donnell who is now overseeing the dismantling of these discredited organisations is the same Annmarie O'Donnell who played a key role in their creation in the first place - back in 2007/08.
So it will be interesting to see what, if anything, Annemarie has to say about this latest 'about-turn' in council policy!
I plan to publish the salaries paid to all of Glasgow City Council's senior officials on the blog site over the next few days, but to kick things off here is the remuneration package for the Council's Chief Executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, for the year to 31 March 2017.
Basic Salary - £167,853
Election Duty Fees - £46,662
Employer's Pension Contribution - £38,345
Total Remuneration - £252,860
Now 2017 was the year in which the scandal of equal pay in Glasgow City Council finally came under the spotlight as the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, handed down its damning and unanimous judgement - that the pay arrangements of Scotland's largest council are 'unfit for purpose'.
To add insult to injury, Glasgow City Council now claims to have no proper records to clarify how its controversial WPBR pay scheme was put in place back in 2005/06/07 and senior officials are either unwilling or unable to explain:
It really is a disgrace when Glasgow City Council is in such a scandalous mess over equal pay.
Jobs and Business - £80,398 (Calum Graham) + £13,168 = £93,566
Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (11/04/18)
A little reminder from the blog site archive of the remuneration package Glasgow City Council paid its chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, in 2017 - the year in which the Court of Session, Scotland highest civil court, judged Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme to be 'unfit for purpose'.
Later today I'll be sharing a post on Glasgow ALEOs including Cordia which are being dismantled as 'arm's length' companies and returned to direct council control - a very good thing if you ask me!
But Annemarie O'Donnell who is now overseeing the dismantling of these discredited organisations is the same Annmarie O'Donnell who played a key role in their creation in the first place - back in 2007/08.
So it will be interesting to see what, if anything, Annemarie has to say about this latest 'about-turn' in council policy!
Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (23/03/18)
I plan to publish the salaries paid to all of Glasgow City Council's senior officials on the blog site over the next few days, but to kick things off here is the remuneration package for the Council's Chief Executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, for the year to 31 March 2017.
Basic Salary - £167,853
Election Duty Fees - £46,662
Employer's Pension Contribution - £38,345
Total Remuneration - £252,860
Now 2017 was the year in which the scandal of equal pay in Glasgow City Council finally came under the spotlight as the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, handed down its damning and unanimous judgement - that the pay arrangements of Scotland's largest council are 'unfit for purpose'.
To add insult to injury, Glasgow City Council now claims to have no proper records to clarify how its controversial WPBR pay scheme was put in place back in 2005/06/07 and senior officials are either unwilling or unable to explain:
- the WPBR's Terms of Reference
- the WPBR's procurement arrangements
- the cost of the WPBR to the public purse
It really is a disgrace when Glasgow City Council is in such a scandalous mess over equal pay.