Council says nearly 50% of staff have received pay rises

Amidst news that many council employees have been devastated by pay cuts of up to £11,000, the local authority has claimed that 44.8% of the workforce will receive a heavier pay packet under the pay and grading review.

While the proposed model has seen 1,694 employees' pay reduced, at an average drop of £2,300 per worker, 3,088 employees are to go up in pay, also at an average increase of £2,300.

The pay of the remaining 2,133 council employees will see their pay stay at the same level.

Rochdale Council notified employees of their proposed outcomes as part of a council wide pay and grading review this morning (Thursday 11 December).

Councillor Keith Swift, cabinet member for corporate management on Rochdale Council, said: "We are carrying out this review because we have to – and our aim throughout has been to develop a pay structure which ensures that the different groups of staff that we employ are paid and rewarded in line with the demands of the Equal Pay Act and nationally made agreements with trade unions.

"Throughout this process the welfare of our staff has been a priority and we recently decided to produce a new grading model because the first one we had would have meant a lot more of our staff would lose money. We have worked hard to ensure that as a result of the review, the majority of council staff will either have no change in their current salary or will receive a rise in their salary appropriate to the evaluation of the role. Most of those whose salaries are expected to increase are among the council's lowest paid employees. In all of this, every effort has been made to minimise the impact of the review on both the staff affected directly by it and to council tax payers."

It is proposed that for anyone losing pay there will be a minimum 12 month period of salary protection.

Once the individual outcomes have been given, the council will carry out a process of consultation with the unions and directly with employees, prior to any final decisions being made by councillors.