Guernsey

GUERNSEY NEWS UPDATE

8 Oct 2024

Update on budget amendments

In response to media reports that new public sector employees would no longer receive incremental pay increases each year and that vacant posts would be deleted after 6 months, cross unions issued a joint press release to highlight the extensive damage this would cause to public services.
Following this the States agreed to adopt a late amendment ‘to consider the mechanisms that apply to incremental progression, as it applies to public sector staff’. The positive news is that the incremental progression will continue for new employees pending the outcome of this review, and that consultation with unions is explicitly part of the consideration.

We have been able to use the thoughts, views and experience of our members to highlight the very serious issues that need to be considered within this amendment. If you have further feedback please do contact us via the Guernsey email.

30 Sept 2024

The joint union group have met with the States to begin pay discussions. 

23 Sept 2024

The history of pay parity

The delay in process of pay negotiation for 2022, resulted in the unions and the employer meeting with the Industrial Disputes Officer.

An outcome of that intervention was an agreement between the Trade unions and the employer to review the feasibility of pay parity.  The purpose of this work was to establish what is meant by pay parity, and to determine whether achieving it is desirable and, if so, the extent to which that is feasible.

This work was due to be completed within 12 months, but delays including organising Job Evaluation Training and changes in workforce have led to significant delays. This was part of the reason that we asked for this years pay claim to be a single year deal.

The RCN has been vocal in pushing to have this piece of work completed at the earliest opportunity.

Until it is completed, we will not know what the outcome is, or what the benefits/ disadvantages may include. Once completed there is no guarantee that the findings would be implemented.

18 Sept 2024

The meeting with the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian was cancelled due to sickness.
Pay: Nothing to update

5 Sept 2024 

Pay - We, along with the other health unions, are holding 30 September for the start of pay talks. In April we submitted our pay claim and we will be using this as our starting point (see 2025 pay negotiations below).

Bank Worker Contracts – This item has now closed. What is clear from this case is the dissatisfaction with how the States manage the changes that affect nurses, in particular the lack of engagement and/or consultation.  We have spent time discussing this with both HR staff and management staff – we understand a staff survey has been undertaken recently and that this is an opportunity for the senior team to hear from nurses about how they feel. We have recommended an open discussion with staff to talk about what has come out of the survey and to hear what plans are in place, or collaboratively work on plans to make improvements.

Staff survey results – We would be interested to hear how members feel about this survey and how confident they are in feeling heard.  We would do this through branch meetings and by working collaboratively with management. Please come along to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 15th October. Come along, vote for your branch executive leads, even consider putting yourself forward for a role. The more active the branch the more influence you will have.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardian – we are linking with the new Freedom to Speak Up Guardian to understand how this role can support members and how we work alongside each other.  

AGM  - The AGM is on Tuesday 15th October Guernsey needs a Branch Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Please support each other by attending, nominating, voting for colleagues. This ensures the nursing voice is strong on Guernsey.

Contact us - If you need to ask the regional team anything, please email: guernsey.inbox@rcn.org.uk

2025 Pay negotiations 

The RCN consulted members at the start of the year. The joint union AfC group (RCN, RCM, Prospect and Unite) all consulted with their members and we combined our findings for the pay claim: Guernsey-AfC-pay-claim-2025. All unions were in agreement to ask for a one year deal because work on pay parity remains the priority. Whilst work behind the scenes on training on Job Evaluation and benchmarking roles has taken place, we have not had a response to the pay claim.

The monetary part of the pay claim is:

From 1 January 2025, an increase in all pay, bonuses and allowances for Agenda for Change (AfC) staff of RPI (as at 30 September 2024) plus 3%.

There are two secondary asks which are:

• To establish a joint employer/union working party to investigate and make recommendations on a scheme to assist States’ employees and their immediate families with the costs of primary health care, the terms of reference for which are to be agreed no later than 31 March 2025.
• To routinely, to consult with each union on: (i) the provision of ‘key worker’ accommodation; (ii) the eligibility criteria for its occupation; and (iii) any schemes of financial assistance with mortgage or rental costs provided to States’ employees or agency staff, e.g. rent allowance.

Pensions update from the joint unions: 

All of the Joint Unions have been in discussions on changes to the States wide pension scheme. This joint unions update is an additional statement from this group for all union members.

A joint union letter to the States can be read here regarding the amendment to the Funding and Investment Plan that may have an impact on your pension.

Job matching/job evaluation

Rather than jobs being marked by the employer alone, the Agenda for Change (A4C) Pay, Terms and Conditions Group (which comprises representatives of the employer and union representatives of Prospect, the RCN, the RCM and Unite) has agreed to reintroduce a joint employer/union panel to ‘match’ A4C jobs. This ‘matching’ process will follow that contained in the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook.

This will mean that any new A4C posts created, or where a job has changed and needs to be reviewed, will be marked by a panel of 4 people.  It is anticipated that this will be two panel members from the employer, made up of HSC staff and HR representatives, and two panel members from a pool of individuals nominated by the unions with A4C Members. The union panel members do not need to be Accredited Representatives but must be nominated by the relevant union.  Preference will be given to those with experience of working in health and social care.  

Two panels will be created, and each will meet approximately once per month. In the event of a jobholder/manager not agreeing with the outcome and requesting a review, the job will be marked afresh by the other panel. The time commitment for each panel member is likely to be about 3 hours a month.  All panel members must be able to commit to two full days of initial online training and thereafter be able to agree the ongoing time commitment of three hours per month with their line manager (as paid facilities time). 

Read the Guernsey Recognition/Facilities agreement

If you are interested, please contact: berkshire.inbox@rcn.org.uk