Slashing overtime 'could save Hull City Council £3m a year'
SLASHING overtime and other pay perks at Hull City Council could save up to £3m a year, according to a leaked letter.
Senior managers have recently started negotiations with union officials over proposed changes to staff terms and conditions.
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Campaign: A union protest was held outside The Guildhall in Hull. Picture: Jack Harland
Managers say £7m a year could be saved if changes are made to travel allowances and policies on redeployment and early termination.
However, the bulk of the potential savings are earmarked from scrapping current overtime payments for staff, which cost £6.1m last year.
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The leaked letter from the council's human resources manager Jacqui Blesic suggests £3m of annual savings can be achieved by withdrawing a range of existing pay perks.
They include time-and-half pay for staff working additional hours during the week and over weekends, double pay for bank holiday shifts and extra pay for people working at night.
Instead, the council wants to replace them with a basic flat hourly rate.
In the letter, Ms Blesic says: "Our current arrangements are prohibitive in cost to us proving services at a time when the public need them.
"It would be possible under the proposed arrangements to offer part-time jobs just at a weekend at an affordable rate to the council.
"Rather than encourage existing staff to work additional hours, a flat- rate of overtime would make it more cost-effective to have more people to do the work.
"The proposal is recommended on the basis that it protects current jobs and gives the council a possibility to increase employment opportunities.
Council leader Councillor Steve Brady said the believed negotiations over the proposed changes to staff terms and conditions would produce positive results.
Speaking at this week's full council meeting, he said: "The more progress we make on this, the greater number of people will stay working for the council.
"We can only deal with the budgets we have got and we value the staff and the contribution they make to this council.
"That is why it is up to each side to respond positively to what is put on the table.
"It is very early stages at the moment but I am confident progress is already being made."
Union members later lobbied outside the Guildhall in the latest of what are turning into monthly gatherings on the steps of the council's headquarters.
However, most of their fire was directed at the Government and its austerity programme, rather than the council.
Adrian Kennett, Unison's Hull city branch secretary, said Whitehall- imposed funding cuts on local government needed to stop.
He said: "The cuts will blight Hull, its communities and families as jobs are lost and the already-weakened economy nosedives resulting in wider economic decline.
"It is a vicious circle that is not necessary.
"Hull and northern cities and towns like it are being disproportionately attacked by this coalition Government, while their heartlands in the south and southeast are protected."
Comments
by thesnooper
Monday, November 19 2012, 11:05PM
“making sure the council workers actually get on with the work they are paid to do during working hours would be a start, there are lots of them stood around on mobile phones along with other reasons not to put in a full honest days graft.
just sorting out the slackers would save a fortune”
by mickey_luv3
Monday, November 19 2012, 9:36PM
“@smartguy1
If you want to know what old "barrel 'o laughs" Kennett is stamping his feet about read this:
http://tinyurl.com/ccrcra9
Yup he really did say cowboy providers!”
by smartguy1
Monday, November 19 2012, 7:31PM
“Can anyone tell me what overtime pay and perks are. Working for various companies over the last 30 years I don't appear to have ever been paid either. My company owes me nearly 60 hours of 'extra time' I have worked in the last 6 months and wouldn't even let me have an afternoon off the other week.”
by AstynomiaKats
Monday, November 19 2012, 7:11PM
“Slashing Mr Stephensons post would save a fortune.”
by sumsitup
Monday, November 19 2012, 6:14PM
“I too am required to work weekends, but I knew that when I took the job, I just hope the staff facing single pay for over time and weekend work, will not have been forceed into working, through pay freezes and pay cuts.Or is that the plan ? Reduce the hourly pay rate untill the staff are willing to do anthing for a little extra cash . if it comes in, I hope the the staff are in a position to shove it were the sun dont shine.”
by jezhull
Monday, November 19 2012, 5:26PM
“If council workers actually worked as hard or as quickly as we do in the private sector, there'd be no need for any overtime.
We all know council workers who take their 'allowance' in sickies every year.
It might just be me, but I can't really imagine Cllr Brady in meaningful discussions regarding complex budgets and spreadsheets, I think he's more suited to organising the sandwich list each morning.”
by RRHKR
Monday, November 19 2012, 5:03PM
“We was told in the NHS locally that 'there is to be a ban on any overtime in a bid to save money'. In our department now they dont pay overtime because its banned but will happily bring in a locum as this isnt! Overtime for our specialitity would be around the £20 per hour mark, a locum cost £35 per hour!!! Its worrying that our clinical staff have more financial sense than the finance staff!”
by Me_HedonRoad
Monday, November 19 2012, 4:54PM
“I do like reading the comments on here having a go at council workers. I agree, the top managers do not need anymore money at this time, but..........the lower workers have taken the brunt of the cuts in recent years.
I am an ex HullCC employee, got taxed on my 'profitable' expense for using my car and lost many hours worked for the benefit of the public and council, without any thanks.
So I listened to the public, took redundancy 18 months ago and got a job 'in the real world'. I must have been underpaid by HullCC as I now earn £10k more than I did there.
I like this real world, they pay me what I'm worth, no wonder no one wants to serve the public any more when all they get is insults and told how rubbish they are at their jobs!”
by fdsbfadhsh
Monday, November 19 2012, 3:29PM
“Maccy George, you're falling into the race to the bottom trap.
That's the same as saying that because a billion people in the world face a daily untold hardship of starvation and war, we shouldn't complain if we were in the same boat.”
by Maccy_george
Monday, November 19 2012, 3:14PM
“Of course, nobody in the private sector has had their pay frozen or cut or faced redundancy.”