Your leisure rep is Kevin Bennelick please contact him if you want to talk about this further - Remember this IS affecting you if you work in leisure

WHAT IS SINGLE STATUS?  

An agreement reached in 1997 by the National Employers and UNISON to end discrimination and unfair pay in Local Government by harmonising working hours and pay and conditions for all local government employees.  

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR IN MID DEVON DC ? 

• Reduction to standard 37 hour week achieved for all MDDC employees by 2001
• Other measures introduced in Refuse & Streets, Building Maintenance and Cleaners in 2001
• Job Evaluation started in 2003

WHAT ABOUT LEISURE SERVICES? 

Mid Devon UNISON raised this matter with the Corporate Management Team (CMT) on 31^st March 2003, which resulted in an investigation into the question of Single Status in Mid Devon DC, headed by Stephen Hill, Head of CDR. 

Leisure Services is the only service in MDDC where the requirements of the Single Status Agreement have not been fully implemented, particularly in the areas of weekend working, shift allowances and premia payments, such as : 

• Double Time for Sunday working as part of normal hours
• Double Time for Bank Holiday working
• Shift Allowances

These payments are made to other workers, e.g. in Refuse & Street Cleansing and Building Maintenance. This is clearly not fair.

In June 2003 CMT informed UNISON that, due to the cost implications (estimated by Stephen Hill to be £150,000) these remaining issues would not be resolved in Leisure until the implementation of the Job Evaluation Scheme, currently underway, although it was not clear how this would be achieved. 

Job Evaluation (JE) does not, in itself, address the issues of weekend working payments, shift allowances, etc. as it (JE) deals solely with basic pay. (JE is planned to be implemented in early 2005.)

EQUAL PAY LAW

At the regular meeting with CMT in January 2004, UNISON once again pressed for the remaining issues to be resolved. Again UNISON reminded CMT of their failure to meet their legal requirements in respect of equal pay legislation. The current situation clearly discriminates against low paid women working in Leisure, a largely female workforce. 

One successful Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) case against the council could easily dwarf the £150,000 estimated cost of implementing Single Status. One recent EAT case taken against another authority awarded a female council employee £600,000 in punitive damages – with costs the case cost the council in question over £1 million. Can MDDC afford this ?

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE 

CMT’s response to UNISON is that it will implement Single Status in Leisure with JE, and a timetable for doing so will be drawn up soon, however it may do this by withdrawing ALL weekend or premium payments for ALL Mid Devon District Council employees. This is hardly likely to be well received by anyone, and will of course be vigorously opposed by UNISON, and would, incidently, have a major impact on the delivery of services. 

Such threats do little to convince employees that they are the councils’ “greatest asset” – quite the contrary. 

UNISON continues to argue that the introduction of weekend enhancements is long overdue in Leisure Services, and should even be backdated to match their introduction in the other former “DSO” workplaces. UNISON has been very successful in similar cases all over Britain, affecting not just Leisure but school kitchen staff and cleaners, winning millions of pounds for it’s members. 

LEISURE TRUST AND PRIVATISATION 

There is some concern that implementing Single Status would make Leisure Services “too expensive” and will result in some form of privatisation or contracting out. 

The truth is that Single Status will enhance the pay and conditions of Leisure Services employees and bring them into line with other local government staff, reducing staff turnover and staff retention difficulties, saving the growing costs of recruitment, and helping to protect the service rather than threaten it. 

And if any council service is contracted out, employees are better protected by the TUPE regulations than ever before, maintaining their pay and conditions, and that of any new employees too. Private companies used to “cherry pick” council services by offering low pay and reduced conditions – those days have gone and there are scant few private companies prepared to offer services at the level provided by councils or pay the costs of doing so. 

The formation of a Leisure Trust would have no impact on the implementation of Single Status, or vice versa, as any costs would effectively be borne by the council either way.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? 

UNISON continues to fight for fair pay and equality for Leisure Services. 

We need the help of those working in Leisure, and especially we need you to recruit your colleagues into joining UNISON. This is vital if we are to have the strength to succeed. Explain to them why it is important to belong to the union. Bring them along to the branch AGM on March 3^rd. You could even join the branch committee as a workplace rep. 

Ultimately, if the council refuses to pay Leisure employees what they rightfully deserve we need individual members who are prepared to take the matter further. 

We CAN win – UNISON has won the same argument many, many times before, but only if you are prepared to do your bit. We cannot do it without you.