ADVICE ON DRAWING UP A PAY CLAIM

Introduction This factsheet will assist branches and members who are involved in local pay negotiations with putting together a pay claim. This guide gives practical advice on the production of a pay claim, how to cost a claim and information on where to source data to help you in its production. Appendix 1 of this guide contains UNISON’s generic pay claim which is frequently updated - branches can use as a framework and amend to use as their own pay claim.

PlanningPlan a timeline and the process for assembling and submitting a pay claim well in advance of the date of submission. Each employer will run their own yearly pay cycle (e.g. from April to April), so the first step is find out when this is. It is advisable to start your pay claim around three months in advance of the annual settlement date. Such a timescale will give you time to consult fully with your members and survey them if you feel this would be of benefit to your claim.

Collecting InformationThe aim of the pay claim is to achieve an uplift in pay for all employees in order to maintain or improve the value of earnings. Other criteria you may want to consider putting into a pay claim include:

If your employer isn’t already a Living Wage employer, you may want to promote the Living Wage as a minimum floor of payment in your organisation;

Equal pay – making sure that all people doing the same job are paid the same; Benchmarking pay with similar employers in your region; Gender pay gap reporting.

Data to be used in the pay claim can take some time to pull together. As mentioned before your best source of information is your members. Consider conducting a short survey using programmes like Surveymokey or Typeform to gather rich data on issues experienced in the workplace. Surveys are also a good way of collecting quotes and examples to use in your pay claim.

Always remember to emphasise to your members that the survey is completely anonymous and always make sure that the data you submit to the employer protects your members’ identities. Examples of a short member’s survey are in appendix 2 of this guidance.

Advice on drawing up a pay claim Last updated: October 2017 Contact: bsg@unison.co.uk 1

Membership lists should be checked before any survey is sent out to make sure that the link goes out to members only.

Intelligence gathering may also include reviewing the annual report and accounts of your employer and if you work in some sectors, for example Health or Education, there will be minutes of board meetings that are published on the employer’s website. These are always a rich source of data and will often indicate if an employer is having financial issues, or other problems that may mean that they are not in a position to pay an uplift.

It can be harder to find financial reports for private companies without subscribing to financial database websites like Endole. UNISON’s bargaining support team has access to the financial reports of most private companies and upon request we can email branches a copy of this report. Any branches wishing to use this service should email bargaining support at bsg@unison.co.uk. Most private companies with shareholders will publish their annual report on their websites. These can include information on staffing costs (permanent and agency), the number of staff employed by the organisation and Director’s remuneration.

Another area to run a quick search on whilst gathering data for your pay claim is the news. Branches can run a quick Google news search on their employer. Often this will bring up any stories connected to your employer, including financial stories and any stories around litigation.

Information in the ClaimThe information in a pay claim will vary depending on what sector you work in and what information is available to you. In determining and developing themes for a structured pay claim, standard areas to look at include:

Inflation rates – Inflation is the rate of increase in the price of goods and services. Inflation is one of the most important economic factors to consider in a pay claim, as inflation determines what rate we receive on any savings we have and for some employees it will impact on how much they will pay out each month on their mortgage. It also has an impact on pensions.

The most commonly quoted rate of measurement for inflation in the media is the Consumer Price Index (CPI). UNISON is campaigning to maintain the Retail Prices Index (RPI) as the truest measure of inflation as this includes housing costs and it remains the most common reference point for pay bargaining.

Four year forecasts on inflation can be found on the Bank of England website here; Previous pay awards – It is always advantageous to have the previous five years pay

awards to use in any pay claim. Your employer should be able supply you with this data;

Turnover projections – check annual report; Productivity gains – These are sometimes set out in the annual report, for example if

the employer has introduced new ways of working or technology; Annual accounts – often published on the employer’s website;

Advice on drawing up a pay claim Last updated: October 2017 Contact: bsg@unison.co.uk 2

Staff surveys – As explained previously in this factsheet, the information you receive from members, will be valuable to your pay claim;

Director’s pay awards – More often than not these are published in the annual accounts;

Pay bill and gender breakdown – Pay bill information can be sourced from the employer’s annual accounts. New regulations in England, Wales and Scotland regarding the publication of gender pay gap information come into force 1 October 2016. More information on this issue can be found here;

Average house prices and rental costs in the region you work in – bargaining support regularly update the factsheet on London Allowances which can be found here. This factsheet contains average house price and rental rises across the UK;

Cost of travel in your region; Average cost of childcare – The Family and Childcare Trust run an annual survey

where they publish average childcare costs across the whole of the UK; Benchmarking pay in your sector / region – Bargaining Support have access to

Labour Research Department’s database of average sector pay rises. Please contact bsg@unison.co.uk if you wish to make use of this service.

The Living Wage – If you have decided to make a case for your employer to pay the living wage, UNISON’s Living Wage Campaign and the Living Wage Foundation has further information on the benefits of paying the Living Wage and also a list of companies who have already become Living Wage accredited employers.

Structure of the pay claimBe clear on what you are asking your employer for. It is always advisable to start with an introduction, which identifies who the pay claim has been submitted by and on behalf of what group of staff. This is particularly important if your employer recognises more than one trade union for the purposes of bargaining on behalf of different groups of staff.

UNISON’s generic pay claim in appendix 1 details some key points that can be used, however you may wish to add some employer specific key points from results of a survey.

The second section of your pay claim should bullet point a summary of your claim. This makes it explicit what percentage increase you are asking your employer to consider and other areas you would like to be considered such as bringing pay up to the level of the Living Wage. It is always worth exploring with your members other areas that could be improved to conditions of employment, for example an increase in annual leave entitlement.

The next sections of your pay claim sets out the economic arguments for your claim and why you think the claim is reasonable and justified, using the evidence you have gathered. It is easier to understand if these sections are separated into the following headings:

Falling Value of Pay Falling behind average pay rates Living Wage becoming standard minimum pay benchmark Recruitment and Retention pressures Morale under threat Affordability

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Conclusion

Costing your claim – for pay negotiationsTo cost the claim, the branch will need some basic information which should have been gathered at the beginning of this process. The information required includes:

The current pay bill Number of employees covered by the claim Any costs of pay related items which are affected by any increase in basic pay –

such as sick pay, pensions, shift pay and overtime. Depending on the organisation, details of any funding which may be obtained in the

settlement year. Ask your HR department what percentage of the pay bill is compared to the total cost

of running the organisation and any projections the employer may have about future turnover.

You may not wish to publish the costing of your claim in the actual pay claim; however this is important information to obtain and have during pay negotiations.

Organising around a local pay claim

The success of the pay claim will be determined by how engaged the members are on the issue of pay. It is important that UNISON members in your branch are fully consulted with while the claim is being written. Pay is a key campaigning issue and can be used within the branch to organise around. A pay campaign may contribute to increasing membership in your employer, it will make the union more visible in the workplace, may assist with establishing good employment relations with your employer and other staff-side trade unions. The information you have gained from a staff survey and identifying the issues faced by staff can be used in negotiations and as a recruitment tool.

1. Constructing a claim:- Consult workers on what should go in a pay claim built. Good practice is to start with an open meeting for members and non-members where the workforce is briefed about the current situation and potential improvements. The decisions about what pay claim should be put to the employers should then be made in a meeting open to members only.

2. Mobilising the membership:- Members and non members need to see that the union has been instrumental in achieving the pay claim. Members should be asked to support the claim by, for instance, signing a petition, wearing a badge or taking some other action. In this way, workers are empowered by showing that they can change things through joining together in the union, rather than simply being recipients of services.

3. Recognising wins:- Too often we undermine our achievements and fail to point out that, without UNISON and more importantly our members, any improvements would not have been won.

For more advice on organising issues see UNISON’s Organising Space

Key Points for a local pay campaign

Advice on drawing up a pay claim Last updated: October 2017 Contact: bsg@unison.co.uk 4

Pay is an important campaigning issue for the branch to organise around and in the process recruit new members.

The campaign should aim to raise awareness of the falling value of pay within the workplace and publise the branch’s efforts to work with management to address this issue.

The campaign should promote the message that paying the Living Wage / implementing a fair pay rise for all is good for staff and good for the employer!

Branches should hold workplace meetings where they can speak directly with members about pay issues and discuss what members would want to be considered in a pay claim.

Branches can raise awareness by emailing all members and promoting the campaign. As part of the campaign the branch should circulate a confidential on-line pay survey or paper questionnaire. The findings of this survey can then be reported back to members. The results obtained from the survey can be used to put forward in a pay claim to management

Achieving a pay uplift for staff would be a good win to promote UNISON within the workplace, encourage more staff to join UNISON. It may also help encourage and promote positive collaborative working with other trade union colleagues in the organisation.

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Appendix 1 – Model Pay Claim

PAY CLAIM FOR [INSERT YEAR] SUBMITTED BY UNISON TO [NAME OF ORGANISATION]

1. INTRODUCTION

This pay claim is submitted by UNISON on behalf of staff working for [organisation].

The claim is set at a level that we believe recognises the following key points:

Major increases in the cost of living over recent years have significantly reduced the value of staff wages;

Appropriate reward is needed to sustain the morale and productivity of staff in their crucial role of delivering high quality services;

Appropriate reward is needed for the increased workload and stress placed on staff against a background of major budget cuts;

Average pay settlements across the economy have been running ahead of those received by [organisation] staff over recent years, increasing the likelihood of recruitment and retention problems in the long term;

Increased vacancy rates across the economy make a competitive wage rate ever more crucial;

Nobody should be paid less than the nationally recognised Living Wage rate, which has become a benchmark for the minimum level of decent pay across the UK and is now paid by large sections of the public services and many major private companies.

2. SUMMARY OF CLAIM

We are seeking:

A [__%] increase on all salary points and allowances

An additional increase in rates for staff at the bottom of the pay scale to bring their pay up to the level of the Living Wage.

[Any other additions to payments or improvement to conditions – UNISON guides on typical additional components are available on these links: Unsocial hours payments Leave and pay for working parents Hours and leave London allowances Motor allowances ]

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3. FALLING VALUE OF PAY

The table below demonstrates the major fall in living standards suffered by staff over recent years.

  [Organisation] pay increases Rise in cost of living1 (as measured by Retail Prices Index)

2010 [Insert pay rise] 4.6%

2011 [Insert pay rise] 5.2%

2012 [Insert pay rise] 3.2%

2013 [Insert pay rise] 3.0%

2014 [Insert pay rise] 2.4%

2015 [Insert pay rise] 1.0%

2016 [Insert pay rise] 1.8%

This means that, while the cost of living has risen by 22.6% over the last six years, pay has risen by just [x%], which means that thousands of pounds have been cut out of the value of staff wages [if you need assistance in calculating the actual loss on some example salaries, contact Bargaining Support on bsg@unison.co.uk]

Studies have also shown that the low-paid have tended to suffer even higher rates of inflation than the average employee. A 2014 report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies found that, between 2008 and 2013, the lowest income fifth of households had faced average annual inflation that was 1% higher than the highest income fifth.2

Latest inflation figures have now hit 3.6% and Treasury forecasts indicate that the cost of living is set to average 3.5% throughout 2017 and 2018, followed by three years of 3% inflation, in line with the graph below.

2017 2018 2019 2020 20210

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

43.5 3.5

3 3 3

Forecast annual increase in cost of living

% in

crea

se

Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK Economy, August 2017

1 Office for National Statistics, Consumer Price Inflation Reference Tables, December 20142 Institute of Fiscal Studies, IFS Green Budget 2014

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4. FALLING BEHIND AVERAGE PAY RATES

The ability of [organisation] to attract and retain support staff in the long term will be damaged if the pay of its staff falls behind the going rate in the labour market.

The table below shows that pay settlements over the last year across the economy have been running at 2%, which stands in contrast to the most recent [organisation] settlement of [x%].

A sample of economic sectors that can provide alternative career options for [organisation] staff shows that pay settlements are running at the rates shown below.

[Amend this table to show the sectors most relevant to staff within the organisation]

[If you need assistance in showing a comparison with a more specific group of workers contact Bargaining Support at bsg@unison.co.uk ]

Year Private Not for profit [Organisation] pay increases2010 2.0% 1.0% [Insert pay rise]2011 2.7% 2.0% [Insert pay rise]2012 2.8% 1.8% [Insert pay rise]2013 2.5% 2.0% [Insert pay rise]2014 2.5% 2.0% [Insert pay rise]2015 2.4% 2.0% [Insert pay rise]2016 2.0% 1.5% [Insert pay rise]

[It may also be useful to highlight how pay in the organisation has fallen behind private or not-for-profit sector pay settlement averages over a sustained period using the table above]

In order to remain competitive with wages across the economy, [organisation] will need to keep up with average earnings growth predicted to rise across the economy at 2.6% during 2017 and climb steadily to 3.6% by 2021, following the pattern shown below3.

3 Office for Budgetary Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, March 2017

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Sector Average pay settlementsAcross economy 2.0% Private sector 2.1%Public sector 1.0%Not for profit 1.8% Energy & gas 2.6%Water & waste management 2.0%Retail & wholesale 2.5%Information & communication 1.5%Admin & support services 2.3%

Source: Labour Research Department, settlements year to August2017

2017 2018 2019 2020 20210

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Forecast average earnings growth%

ann

ual g

row

th

5. LIVING WAGE BECOMING STANDARD MINIMUM PAY BENCHMARK

The Living Wage has become a standard benchmark for the minimum needed for low-paid staff to have a “basic but acceptable” standard of living.

[Organisation] is now competing in a labour market where the Living Wage of £8.45 an hour outside London and £9.75 an hour in London has become an increasingly common minimum point in the pay scale.

Studies supported by Barclays Bank have shown that Living Wage employers report an increase in productivity, a reduction in staff turnover / absenteeism rates and improvements in their public reputation.

Consequently, there are now almost 3,500 employers accredited as Living Wage employers by the Living Wage Foundation, including some of the largest private companies in the UK, such as Barclays, HSBC, IKEA and Lidl.

Across the public sector, the Scotland government has established the Living Wage within all its public sector organisations, minimum rates for NHS and Further Education College staff in Wales have been raised to the Living Wage and all UK universities have established the Living Wage rate (for staff on a 35-hour week) in the most recent pay settlements. Support staff in more than 12,000 schools across the UK are also set to be paid the Living Wage as a result of national agreements.

Furthermore, even where national agreements have not achieved a Living Wage settlement, a major proportion of individual councils, NHS trusts, schools and academies have taken up the Living Wage on their own initiative. A UNISON Freedom of Information survey covering local government, the NHS, universities, further education colleges and police authorities that drew over 900 responses found that 51% of employers across these sectors already pay at least the Living Wage to their lowest paid staff.

[A listing of accredited Living Wage employers is published here and may be useful for developing a list of organisations most relevant for highlighting as relevant for this pay claim]

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[For more detailed guidance if you wish to expand on arguments for the Living Wage, see the UNISON guide here – this includes further material on the damaging impact for employers of low pay, dispelling confusion with the government’s “national living wage” and cascading benefits up the pay scale].

6. RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PRESSURES BUILDINGWith the unemployment rate at its lowest level in 42 years and vacancies escalating across the economy, competitive wage rates are becoming ever more crucial.

[If you can obtain figures for the organisation showing an increase in the vacancy rate (the number of vacant posts divided by the total number of posts in the organisation) set them out here. Median turnover rates are estimated at 13.3% among public sector services4, so if you have figures on turnover rates (calculated by taking the total number of leavers in a specified period - usually 12 months - and expressing the number as a percentage of the number of people employed during that period) that indicate the organisation is suffering higher than average turnover, insert them here. [For information on turnover rates in other sectors, contact Bargaining Support at bsg@union.so.uk]

7. MORALE UNDER THREATWorking against a background of budget cuts, staff have been facing greater workload pressures. The resulting increased stress puts the morale of the workforce at risk and poses a long term threat to [organisation’s] ability to provide a consistent quality of service.

[Set out any evidence you can gather on the following factors Increasing demands on the service;

Reductions in staffing;

Staff feeling greater stress;

Staff suffering falling morale;

The impact of these pressures showing themselves in rising sickness absence, higher staff turnover or declining service standards

It is in this area that a short survey of staff may provide the most valuable material to support the evidence. An amendable basic pay survey is set out in appendix two below]

Analysis by the Social Market Foundation has shown workers in the public sector and the energy sector are experiencing some of the highest levels of stress across the economy. You may be able to pick out the figures for relevant sectors taken from page 9 of its 2015 Working Well report ]

8. AFFORDABILITY

4 XpertHR, Labour turnover rates 2017

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The affordability of this claim is clear from the latest [organisation] accounts, which show a surplus of [£_] for 2016/17.

[For the accounts of a private or community / voluntary organisation, contact Bargaining Support at bsg@unison.co.uk]

9. CONCLUSION

There can be no doubt that all [organisation] staff have seen the value of their earnings fall considerably over recent years and evidence suggests that they are also falling behind pay settlements for comparable jobs.

Combined with these developments, the last year has seen intensified pressures placed on staff at the same time as greater job choices are opening up for staff in an improving labour market.

Therefore, this pay claim represents a very reasonable estimate of the reward staff deserve for their dedication, skill and hard work and the minimum improvement in pay needed to maintain workforce morale for delivering consistently high quality services.

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Appendix 2 - AMENDABLE BASIC PAY CLAIM SURVEY

PAY1. Compared to 12 months ago, how do you feel your pay has changed relative to the cost of living?

I am better off

I am worse off

Neither better nor worse off

2. Are you dependent on any of the following additional payments to sustain your standard of living?

Unsocial hours

On-call

Overtime

Second job

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Other - please specify here

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WORKING CONDITIONS3. Compared with this time last year, what would you say have been the changes to the following dimensions of working conditions in your working area or department?

Increased Decreased Remained the same Don’t know

Workload

Stress

Number of staff

Number of service users

Quality of service

Use of temporary staff

4. Has your increased workload resulted in?

A detrimental effect on your job performance

A detrimental effect on your personal life

Little or no effect

5. In relation to your working life, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is extremely low and 10 is extremely high, how motivated are you?

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

89

10

6. How would you describe morale in your workplace?

Very high

High

Moderate

Low

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Very low

7. Compared to 12 months ago, how has morale changed?

Improved

Worsened

Remained the same

Not sure/don’t know

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RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

8. How worried are you about your job security?

Very worried

Fairly worried

Not worried

Not at all worried

9. How seriously have you considered leaving your current position over the last year?

I have not considered leaving

Not very seriously

Fairly seriously

Very seriously

10. How have recruitment and retention difficulties over the last year changed in your department/workplace?

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Less difficult

About the same

More difficult

Do not know

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11. Over the last year, have staff shortages occurred in your workplace ...?

Frequently

Sometimes

Occasionally

Never

Not sure/don’t know

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PROFILE

12. What is your gender?

Male

Female

13. What age range are you in?

16-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-65

66 or over

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14. What is your ethnic group? White / British

English Scottish Welsh Irish Any other white background

Mixed

White and Black Caribbean White and Black African White and Asian Any other mixed background

Asian, Asian British, Asian English, Asian Scottish, Asian Welsh

Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Any other Asian background

Black, Black British, Black English, Black Scottish, Black Welsh

Caribbean African Any other black background

Chinese, Chinese British, Chinese English, Chinese Scottish, Chinese Welsh or other ethnic group

Chinese Any other ethnic group

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