Pay Policy

The overarching framework for pay and conditions of service for staff employed by the Authority is governed by three National Joint Councils (NJCs). These are the NJC for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services, the NJC for Local Government Services and the NJC for Brigade Managers of Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services. The principal role of each of these national bodies is to reach agreement on a national framework of pay and conditions of service for authorities to apply locally. Each NJC is made up of people who represent the employers and others who represent employees (usually trade union representatives). The frameworks of pay and conditions set by each of these national bodies are locally referred to as the Grey Book (applies to uniformed staff); the Green Book (applies to staff who do not wear a uniform); and the Gold Book (applies to the Chief Executive and two Directors) respectively.

Each NJC acknowledges that its national framework of pay and conditions will need to be adjusted locally to reflect local needs. Where appropriate this will be undertaken through local agreement, with recognised trade unions where they exist, or alternatively through local decision-making processes. 

The Equality Act 2010 gives women (and men) a right to equal pay for equal work. The Authority undertook an equal pay audit in 2017 to ensure that its pay and benefits policy and practice were being applied consistently, therefore ensuring equal pay for work of equal value for men or women. There were no areas of concern identified as a result of the audit.

From 2017, Regulations included in the Equalities Act 2010 mean that any organisation that has 250 or more employees has a legal responsibility to publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap. The gender pay gap shows the differences in percentages in average pay between men and women within an organisation across all types of work/staff groups. (It is not the same as Equal Pay which is the difference between men and women who carry out the same or similar jobs or work of equal value). 

Public Sector organisations must provide a snapshot at 31 March for any given year. For the Authority the first snapshot is 31 March 2017, published by 30 March 2018 and each year thereafter. The Authority has registered its intention to publish its figures by 30 March 2018.

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