28 February 2019
The States Employment Board (SEB) has authorised pay offers to be made to nurses and midwives, which will protect standards of living by effectively matching inflation over three years, and unions have agreed to consult their members on these offers.
The offers for 2018 and 2019 have not changed. But SEB has decided to use the greater flexibility available after the Medium Term Financial Plan to authorise offers for 2020 that take account of the impact on employees of the pay restraint that has been in place in recent years.
The offer is September 2019 RPI plus 1.3%, consolidated.
The Fiscal Policy Panel currently forecasts RPI in September 2019 to be 3.4%, which means that nurses and midwives could receive increases worth 4.7% from 1 January 2020. If inflation is higher or lower, the pay offers will be adjusted accordingly.
The offer for 2018-19 remains a consolidated, flat-rate percentage offer worth 3.1% for 2018 and 3% for 2019.
In addition, the offer commits that where nurses and midwives have pay differentials between their pay scales and those of other, comparable health care workers, this will be resolved, again from 1 January 2020. The details of these further increases are now being discussed with nursing and midwifery unions.
The overall pay package includes a contributory pension scheme, into which the government contributes up to 16% of pensionable pay.
Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, who chairs SEB, said: “We have always wanted to address the pay gap between nurses and other pay groups, and this offer fully closes that gap. Across-the-board increases, which protect spending power over the three years, with additional increases for nurses and midwives who are paid below comparable health professionals, are very significant improvements. This shows that the government has sought to address the genuine concerns of nurses and midwives, and recognises and values their commitment to caring for islanders.”
Other groups
Discussions and mediation continue with unions representing head teachers, prison officers and civil servants.
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