Update on pay negotiations

27 February 2019

The States Employment Board (SEB) has authorised formal pay offers to be made to teachers and Police officers, 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 teachers and police officers could receive increases worth 4.7% from 1 January 2020. If inflation is higher or lower, the pay offers will be adjusted accordingly.

Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, who chairs SEB, said: “These pay offers for 2020 demonstrate that the government genuinely values our employees, and that we have listened to their concerns. We wish to ameliorate the impacts of pay constraint and the rising cost of living in recent years.

“The pay increases proposed are significant and compare well with similar roles in the private sector or in the UK public sector. I hope that employees will accept these offers, so that we can resolve the current pay disputes and work constructively together to address the remaining anomalies in terms and conditions through the pay and reward review.”

Details of pay offers for each group are below. The overall pay package includes a contributory pension scheme, into which the government contributes up to 16% of pensionable pay.

Teachers

Teachers have been offered RPI+1.3% with effect from 1 January 2020.

The offer for 2018-19 remains a consolidated, flat-rate percentage offer worth 2% in both 2018 and 2019, plus a non-consolidated lump-sum payment worth 1.1% for 2018 and 1% for 2019. Unions representing teachers have agreed to consult their members on the offer.

Police officers

Police have been offered RPI+1.3% with effect from 1 January 2020.

The offer for 2018-19 remains a consolidated, flat-rate percentage offer worth 2% in both 2018 and 2019, plus a non-consolidated lump-sum payment worth 1.1% for 2018 and 1% for 2019. The Jersey Police Association has agreed to consult its members on the offer.

Other groups

Discussions and mediation continue with unions representing head teachers, prison officers and civil servants.