PCS rejects the DWP 2014 Pay Offer

Following the conclusion of 2014 pay negotiations, DWP have now published their pay offer for 2014.

Main Points of the offer:

·         A 1% consolidated increase to all staff

·         No pay progression

·         A 3% increase in the AA Minimum

·         No non-consolidated payments to staff with a ‘Must Improve’ box marking

·    No consolidated increase to staff with both a ‘Must Improve’ marking and who have commenced formal poor performance action during the 2013/14 year

For the third year running DWP’s pay offer is again restricted by the decision of George Osborne to limit consolidated pay increases in the public sector to just 1%. PCS rejects this 1% cap on our members pay and is committed to opposing it and arguing instead for our pay claim of a £1,200, or 5%, pay increase for our members.

Enough is enough

Another year of a miserly1% pay rise cannot be tolerated. A 1% increase in the total DWP pay bill means there was just an additional £28.2 million available for consolidated increases this year. This sum, when divided between the 95,000 staff in DWP means there is nowhere near enough money available to meet the concerns of PCS members on pay.

A 1% pay increase means:

·         There is no money to pay for pay progression. Members will again remain stranded on the pay scales with no idea of when, or even if, they may ever reach the max for their grade.

·         Another below inflation pay rise. Whichever indicator of inflation you choose, a 1% increase is well below the current rate of inflation. This equates to a pay cut for members in real terms.

·         No money to bring our members out of poverty pay, as prices keep on increasing while the value of their pay declines.

·         40% of DWP staff have to rely on tax credits to supplement their low wages. A 1% increase does nothing to address this appalling situation.

·         DWP pay remains lower than most other government departments, let alone comparable outside organisations and allows for no element of catch up.

·         Again DWP members are again being made to suffer under the government’s austerity programme. Why should DWP staff continue to have to pay the price for the economic crash?

·         Members constantly receive messages of thanks from Ministers and senior managers for the high performance of DWP. But these are just empty words unless backed up with a real monetary reward.

·         This is the seventh year of pay restraint in DWP and the third year of a 1% cap. Enough is enough!

Unsatisfactory performers

Members who have had formal poor performance action recorded on RM at any time during the 2013/14 performance year, and who have received a ‘Must Improve’ box marking will not be eligible for a consolidated pay rise.

AA Minimum

PCS persuaded DWP to increase the AA Minimum by 3%. This ensures that everyone in DWP is paid more than the national Living Wage of £7.65 per hour and goes a little way to addressing the issue of low pay in DWP. As a result AA’s on the minimum will receive a consolidated increase of 3% and those just above the minimum will receive an increase slightly higher than 1%.

Non Consolidated payments

The non-consolidated money has been distributed as follows:

	Exceeded – c. 20% of staff	Achieved – c. 75% of staff	Must Improve – c. 5% of staff
AA	£500	£450	Nil
AO	£600	£475	Nil
EO	£700	£500	Nil
HEO	£800	£500	Nil
SEO	£950	£500	Nil
Grade 7	£1,350	£500	Nil
Grade 6	£1,750	£500	Nil

Again DWP have refused to pay a non-consolidated payment to staff with a ‘Must Improve’ marking.

PCS is completely opposed to the refusal to pay the ‘Must Improve’ staff a non-consolidated payment. Again in this year’s negotiations we made the case for all staff to receive a non-consolidated payment. However DWP refused to budge on this issue. The refusal to pay to the ‘Must Improve’ staff raises the possibility that, in future, they may prefer to reduce or, even stop, making non-consolidated payments to members with an ‘Achieved’ marking and concentrate all the non-consolidated money on the top box marking.

Several other government departments have already stopped paying any non-consolidated payments to staff with an ‘Achieved’ marking and there is no doubt that DWP is under pressure to do the same. DWP have made it clear that such changes to the non-consolidated pot are the preferred direction of travel for the future.

With consolidated pay rises so restricted, and with pay progression being non-existent the non-consolidated payment is an essential element of pay for all members. It is unjustifiable to deny this to staff with a ‘Must Improve’ marking.

Members have little confidence in the people performance appraisal scheme. Year after year the appraisal system has been shown to be discriminatory and to favour the higher grades. It is wrong for DWP to base any decisions on pay on a flawed appraisal system. PCS argued instead for all of the non-consolidated money to be converted into consolidated pay increases that could have been used to fund, at least in part, a decent pay rise or pay progression. However DWP were forbidden from doing this by Treasury-imposed rules.

PCS Response – We all need a pay rise

The DWP GEC has met and rejected this pay offer in line with PCS policy. This is a derisory pay offer and goes nowhere near meeting the concerns of members.

The GEC has decided not to run a formal ballot on this pay offer given that a pay offer artificially restricted by the Treasury-imposed 1% cap cannot be acceptable. Also as PCS nationally is launching a ballot of members on the national campaign for a fair pay rise across the civil service this week there is no sense in running a separate ballot in DWP at the same time. DWP intend to pay the award in July 2014 salaries.

Charles Law              Fran Heathcote

Industrial Officer      Group President