NJC Pay – Employers make improved offer

At a meeting of the NJC Executive on 24 August, the employers made the following improved offer.The offer is backdated to 1 April and is as follows:

• 3.4% increase on scale point 4, giving a new bottom rate of £6 an hour
• 2.475% increase on all other pay points
• The offer is not staged

The offer commits both sides of the NJC to a review of pay and rewards, “with nothing ruled in and nothing ruled out”.

Review of pay and rewards

This review will start in October. It recognises the key role that local government workers have played in delivering “high standards of service delivery” and efficiency savings. The offer comes at the end of lengthy and difficult negotiations, in which the employers have been under great pressure not to exceed the Government’s public sector pay target of 2%.

For the first time local government workers on the lowest pay point will receive £6 an hour. The 2.475% delivers the same increase on most scale points as would a 2.5% increase across the board because of the way pay is calculated.

The largest annual difference in pay between the offer of 3.4% on scale point 4 plus 2.475% and a notional 2.5% on all pay points is £10.

What happens next?

The NJC Committee will now meet on 04 September to consider the offer and decide on the next steps.