Youth and Community Workers’ JNC (Pink Book) pay offer.
The Employers have offered an increase of £1,925 on all pay points and an increase of 4.04% on all allowances from 1 September 2022.
Branches are asked to consult members on this offer. The deadline for branches to get their results to regions is 5pm, 21 November 2022.
On 13 October 2022, the Employers’ Side of the Youth and Community Workers’ JNC wrote to the Staff Side (i.e. the trade unions) with a final pay offer.
The headline offer is an increase of £1,925 on all pay points from 1 September 2021.
The Employers’ Side rejected our proposed definition of evening sessions, but confirmed that they want to develop some guidance on good practice and are
committed to working jointly with the trade unions to address any concerns on this issue. They also stated their intention to make progress on a joint workforce
survey on race and gender pay gaps and committed to further discussion on this work with the Staff Side on a without prejudice basis.
UNISON’s Youth and Community Workers’ Committee is therefore consulting members on the final pay offer.
The Employers’ final pay offer is:
A £1,925 increase on all pay points and allowances as of 1 September 2022. Any agreed award will be backdated to this date.
A 4.04% increase on all allowances from 1 September 2022.
The Employers’ Side also:
Proposed that the current guidance on work life balance be updated and include good practice provisions on time off in lieu (TOIL).
Rejected our demands on consecutive non-working days and a 35-hour working week due to a need for local employer flexibility and on the grounds of affordability respectively.
Rejected the proposed definition of an evening session, but can suggest national guidance on good practice.
Stated their intention to make progress on a joint workforce survey on race and gender pay gaps and committed to further discussion on this work with the Staff Side on a without prejudice basis.
What was in the trade unions’ original pay claim?
i) A 10% increase or RPI plus 2 % whichever is greater across all grades.
ii) Address work-life balance and time off in lieu – by making the current guidance on work-life balance mandatory and ensure compensatory leave (TOIL) is always granted for extra hours worked.
iii) Each working week should contain two consecutive days that are designated as non-working days. Any TOIL for residential work will be completely separate from these designated non-working days.
iv) Formally define an evening session as any session that finishes after 6pm.
v) Move to a 35-hour working week without loss of pay – with sufficient time for planning and admin.
vi) Joint work on race and gender pay gaps in youth work.
UNISON’s Youth and Community Workers’ Committee’s view
Pay negotiations have gone as far as they can, and so the Youth and Community Workers’ Committee is asking members to vote to accept or reject the pay offer.
The Committee recommends that members ACCEPT the pay offer.
The Committee gave full consideration to the offer and its implications for members. It was noted that the offer is below the current rate of inflation but is still a considerable
improvement on previous pay awards. It was further noted that this does not address longstanding real-terms pay erosion. However, the Committee took a steer from members’
responses to similar consultations on the same offer where members voted to accept, as well as feedback they were receiving from members directly. The Committee decided that
a recommendation to accept would hopefully get the additional money in members’ pay packets as quickly as possible at this time of a cost of living crisis.
Branches are consulting members on this basis.
The UNISON Youth and Community Workers’ Committee will meet once the consultation has closed, to consider the results of the consultation and agree the next steps.
THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
It is vital that as many members as possible take part in the consultation.
Only members contractually conditioned to the Youth and Community Workers’ JNC (Pink Book) in England and Wales should be consulted on the pay offer. Those on the Local
Government NJC, or on other local arrangements, should not be consulted so if you are being sent this in error please let us know.
A ballot paper is attached, you can either print it out and post back or reply by email
