This policy sets out the Council’s approach to pay within the organisation. It will be reviewed and updated as required via the normal consultative and Committee arrangements.

Principles

The core principles behind this policy are:

1. To enable transparency in the Council’s pay and benefit arrangements
2. To give clarity to all involved in the Council’s running on pay and benefits
3. To ensure the Council can recruit and retain officers across a wide range of professions whilst demonstrating value for money

Pay Structure

The Council has a well established pay and grade structure which is used across the entire organisation at all levels. The structure is shown within this policy. This structure seeks to balance the management hierarchy needed within such an organisation, the range of professions we employ and a wide range of support staff.

The only occasions when this structure may not be applied is in the case of a TUPE transfer, where the member of staff will often have their previous terms and conditions protected in some form, or when a member of staff is being hosted by Rother as part of some partnership arrangement.

At the high end of this grading structure is the Chief Executive post which ranges from MG7 to MG6 with a top scale point of 70. Below this, Head of Service posts range from MG3 to MG2. At the lower end of the structure are ancillary staff such as cleaners and the most routine of support staff roles. It is also the case that the Council has promoted Apprentice posts which have a specific apprentice grade. The grade for a post is established by job evaluation under the “Hay” scheme, an exercise undertaken by the HR department.

Performance and Increments

The Council has a pay structure based on grades and incremental points within these grades. Generally staff are appointed at the bottom of the grade and then progress up with annual increments until they reach the top of the grade. There can be differences here when looking at external recruitment situations. These increments are acknowledgement of greater competence and experience in the role. Should the member of staff fail to meet the level of competence expected or their performance is unsatisfactory then these increments can be withheld.

The Council has not adopted performance bonuses and all salary is based on this approved
pay structure.

Other Benefits

There are other benefits as part of the Council’s policy and these are outlined below:

• Pension. All staff at any grade are able to join the Local Government Pension Scheme and are encouraged to do so. The contribution rate for staff is set nationally.
• Car Payment. This is a standard part of a pay package for officers designated as essential users and/or officers graded PO2 and above. The value of the package is £2907, £3768 for officers graded MG1 and above.
• Sports Centre Membership. A small subsidy for membership of the Bexhill Sports Centre is offered to all staff at the current rate as set by the sports centre.
• Electoral Service Payments. Some staff, as a result of their employment by the Returning Officer across the range of elections, receive payments for their involvement in running an election. These are outside the Council’s pay policy and are set externally as part of the elections process.
• Relocation. A relocation package is sometimes offered as part of a recruitment package. This is a one off package, up to a maximum £7000, covering relocation costs. Alternatively a smaller relocation grant of £1500 is offered in some circumstances.

Changes to this Policy

Any changes proposed to this Policy will be brought forward via the Council’s consultation route and via the appropriate committee. The obvious mechanism for this will be the negotiation on pay awards, which will then be fed into the enclosed pay structure.

Rother Pay Grades