The Authority’s Definition of ‘Lowest-Paid’ Employees
The Authority regards its lowest-paid employees to be those employed on its Green Book conditions of employment. These are employees who do not wear a uniform and who work in administrative and corporate function areas. Employees can be employed on grades which range from 2 to 12. The Authority currently does not have any Grade 2 posts in its establishment, but it does have a few Grade 3 posts, which are support and administrative roles which have a minimal level of responsibility. This means that the Authority recognises that the necessary training and development can be provided in-house over a relatively short period and therefore specific skills or experience are not specified as essential at the recruitment stage. The salary range that applies to grade 3 is £18,491- £20,846. The minimum hourly rate for a grade 3 role is £9.58 per hour, which is greater than the current National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (£8.21 per hour as at 31 October 2019). The Authority will ensure that with the further increase of the National Living wage in April 2020 that all graded staff will continue to be paid at least the National Living wage.
As at 31 October 2019 there were 9 apprentices working within the support functions of IT, HR, Business Support, Fleet and Property.
The apprentices are currently paid £5.61 per hour. After the first 12 months, if an apprentice is performing well they will be placed on the national living wage dependent on age.
The Authority has recruited 22 new trainee firefighters and as part of their two year development plan they have been placed on the firefighter apprenticeship standard. These apprenticeships will be completed in March 2020.
The Authority has met the requirements under the Apprenticeship levy.