Pay rise for lowest paid!

OVER 3,000 of the lowest paid council staff in Carmarthenshire are set to get a pay rise.

The move, agreed yesterday by the Leader and Executive Board, will mean a 4.56% increase for 3,042 posts.

It would cost around £315,000 to implement the pay award which would start from this April if approved by council.

The request for officers to look into increasing pay for the council’s lowest earners comes at the same time as savings of £30million need to be found over the next three years.

However, council Leader Cllr Kevin Madge said that the investment in staff was important to the Executive Board.

“We have already raised the starting point for salaries from scale point four to point seven over the last two years,” he said.

“This has given those on the lowest wages a substantial pay rise, and our plans will further increase the lowest point.”

The increase would bring salaries closer to the Living Wage which currently stands at £7.65 per hour.

Cllr Madge added: “I certainly support the principle of paying our staff a living wage, but this is not something that can be achieved overnight, particularly in these difficult financial times.

“But this will ensure that thousands of our lowest paid staff will enjoy a pay increase far above and beyond the 1% which is recommended for all public sector employees.”

At the moment Carmarthenshire’s budget makes provision for a 1% pay award for all staff.

Officers have been asked to remove scale point seven from the pay model from this April, thereby giving those staff a 4.56% increase.

The cost of this is now being reflected in the budget proposals, which are due to be discussed by council on February 19.