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I started a Civil Service job 18 months ago at an agreed grade on a negotiated offer of £x which was just below threshold on the job grade Pay Range. This was to reflect my previous experience in industry within the grade pay range.
The terms of my contact include a policy of pay progression within the Grade Pay Range. Pay progression is a reward policy within my contract whereby increases within the Pay Range are attainable ( but not guaranteed) based on performance. This performance is a function of (and mapped against) my grade and a mandatory employment condition.
My employer has not changed my grade. Indeed if you move to (for example) a higher grade you would expect your position on that new grade’s pay range to reduce. They have changed my Pay Range (without any prior consultation which may be another issue). I am not directly seeking a rise in pay, I am seeking to maintain my relative position within my grade pay range ( relative to colleagues with greater and lesser experience in the same grade).
The change to a new (higher) pay range should be a good thing right? And it is for those low down within the range. But not for those of us higher up the scale. The employer has elected to place me at the new pay range minimum rather than pro-rata map my old position within the old Pay Range to he new range. This means that new start employees will be on the same salary as me and many, even with less experience, likely be on more through initial negotiation. Clearly this does not seem fair.
My position therefore is that it amounts to a breach of contract to ‘zero’ an employee from a higher to lower level across a pay range WITHIN the same job grade as my position within that range was an agreed condition of my initial contract and offer from my employer. It was not simply an agreed salary. It was an agreed position on a pay range for a job grade.
Furthermore I was informed that this was happening by email out of the blue. I wonder if changing my grade pay range without consultation is legal or whether it flouts any agreement between the employer and the unions and/or my self under the ICE 2004 (variance of contract).
To further muddy the waters the minimum in the new Pay Range is not the same as the one in the published Pay Award which was ratified and agreed between the employer and the unions ( the Threshold and Maximums are unchanged). It is slightly higher and a cynic may think this was to ensure all employees to threshold gained a nominal pay rise ( I would have got nothing at the old published minimum) for reasons unknown. It is unclear whether this new minimum was approved by the unions due to the lack of any prior consultation. If it wasn’t then there is a distinct possibility that there is also a breach of employer/ union agreement.
I am not in a union (even though I was a Shop Steward several decades ago). The employment world has changed a lot since then but I do still think my argument has some substance. If this matter is not resolved I will pursue it within the CS process and external arbitration (would ACAS cover this?) but would obviously value the knowledge of others in this forum.
The terms of my contact include a policy of pay progression within the Grade Pay Range. Pay progression is a reward policy within my contract whereby increases within the Pay Range are attainable ( but not guaranteed) based on performance. This performance is a function of (and mapped against) my grade and a mandatory employment condition.
My employer has not changed my grade. Indeed if you move to (for example) a higher grade you would expect your position on that new grade’s pay range to reduce. They have changed my Pay Range (without any prior consultation which may be another issue). I am not directly seeking a rise in pay, I am seeking to maintain my relative position within my grade pay range ( relative to colleagues with greater and lesser experience in the same grade).
The change to a new (higher) pay range should be a good thing right? And it is for those low down within the range. But not for those of us higher up the scale. The employer has elected to place me at the new pay range minimum rather than pro-rata map my old position within the old Pay Range to he new range. This means that new start employees will be on the same salary as me and many, even with less experience, likely be on more through initial negotiation. Clearly this does not seem fair.
My position therefore is that it amounts to a breach of contract to ‘zero’ an employee from a higher to lower level across a pay range WITHIN the same job grade as my position within that range was an agreed condition of my initial contract and offer from my employer. It was not simply an agreed salary. It was an agreed position on a pay range for a job grade.
Furthermore I was informed that this was happening by email out of the blue. I wonder if changing my grade pay range without consultation is legal or whether it flouts any agreement between the employer and the unions and/or my self under the ICE 2004 (variance of contract).
To further muddy the waters the minimum in the new Pay Range is not the same as the one in the published Pay Award which was ratified and agreed between the employer and the unions ( the Threshold and Maximums are unchanged). It is slightly higher and a cynic may think this was to ensure all employees to threshold gained a nominal pay rise ( I would have got nothing at the old published minimum) for reasons unknown. It is unclear whether this new minimum was approved by the unions due to the lack of any prior consultation. If it wasn’t then there is a distinct possibility that there is also a breach of employer/ union agreement.
I am not in a union (even though I was a Shop Steward several decades ago). The employment world has changed a lot since then but I do still think my argument has some substance. If this matter is not resolved I will pursue it within the CS process and external arbitration (would ACAS cover this?) but would obviously value the knowledge of others in this forum.
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