Pay Policy Statement

1. Introduction

The key themes of the workforce strategy are:

• organisation culture and change
• resourcing
• development
• reward

These strategic themes recognise the importance of pay and rewards as fundamental to our role as an employer. Our work on pay and rewards began in 2006 with an equal pay audit resulting in significant changes to the council’s terms and conditions. The work continued through the implementation of the work force strategy and the development of a total rewards approach to remuneration for council staff.

We have our own terms and conditions and undertake local pay bargaining with trade unions.

3. Reward strategy

The reward strategy was developed in full consultation with trade unions, staff and members. This was a very thorough piece of work that ensured the council managed the terms of employees at all levels in the same way and applied the principles of equal pay and performance management to the scheme that was developed. The strategy has been refined over time but the principles have remained in place.

The principles for the reward strategy are to:

• Support a performance orientated organisation;
• Provide an attractive employment package at all levels;
• Be relevant to a modern local government authority;
• Have a pay structure that is transparent and straightforward;
• Reward people fairly and consistently;
• Move toward a Total Reward approach; and
• To be affordable within the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The reward strategy takes a ‘Total Reward’ approach to the benefits package received by employees at the council to ensure that maximum benefit is gained from all aspects of what is on offer to employees. The key elements of this package are set out below.

3.1 Pay scale and pay progression

Our policy for grades within the organisation is to apply an objective assessment of the relative ‘size and value’ of all our roles using a formal job evaluation process. Posts are graded through the HAY Job Evaluation Scheme and this process measures the requirements of the role against the key criteria of Know How, Problem-Solving and Accountability when all the duties are being performed and the employee is fully effective in the role. Job evaluators are drawn from different parts of the organisation and trained to use the HAY scheme; every panel has one trade union representative as part of the panel. The Lowest Paid employees are defined as those whose posts have HAY points of up to 66 which place them into grade 2 of the pay scale, the same process is applied to Chief Officers whose roles are evaluated at the highest level of points. It is the policy of the organisation to refer to the HAY salary data for Local Government and to reflect the median salary for the south east public and not for profit sector. In April 2020, the council agreed to move to the real Living Wage which is independently calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. This will ensure our lowest paid staff are rewarded appropriately to meet their living cost needs.

Each pay scale has up to four increments which recognises that with development in a role over time an employee’s skills are of more value to the organisation and therefore warrant a higher salary. New appointments to post will normally be at the first point of the grade unless there is evidence of a skill shortage in line with the criteria set out in the Market Supplement Policy. The pay scale is at Appendix I(A).

Incremental progression is assessed against the agreed Competency Profile for the role and evidence of the necessary Performance Standards and agreed objectives being met. Assessment takes place on an annual basis but will be linked to the clear and continuous performance at the level required at each incremental step. Standard progression for fully effective performance is not beyond scale point four. The rules for pay progression are set out in Appendix I(B).

Incremental progression is assessed by an employee’s line manager in consultation with the Head of Service and Director who has to approve the recommendations within their Directorate; this is monitored by Corporate Leadership Team. The process and timetable for appraisals and incremental progression for the Chief Executive and Directors is set out at Appendix I(C).

3.2 Market supplements

Currently there are twenty seven employees in receipt of Market Supplements within the council; this is an increase of eleven from the previous year; the policy is at Appendix I(D).

3.3 Pension

The council offers access to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) which is a significant benefit to employees and is one of the aspects of the Total Rewards package. The LGPS is a defined benefits scheme which requires contribution rates from employees of between 5.5% and 12.5% depending on earnings in accordance with the following table; in April 2014 there was an option to make lower level contributions with the introduction of the 50/50 scheme.

The employer contribution rate for 2022/23 will remain at 17.6% although this does vary from year to year, this is the future service rate excluding past service deficit.

The pension scheme is standard between all local government employers and in broad terms offers a pension benefit equivalent to 1/49th of pensionable salary per year of service, where pensionable salary is calculated on a career average with benefits paid at state retirement age.

Although most of the rules associated with the scheme are set centrally there are a few areas where local employers must define their own policy; the discretionary policy is attached at Appendix I(E). In broad terms it is not the policy of the council to increase pension benefits to employees through any form of enhancement.

Kent County Council is the administering authority for the Maidstone Borough Council scheme.

3.4 Pay protection and redundancy payments

The council has a Redundancy Policy which sets out the approach that must be followed if posts are going to be affected because of organisational change. The procedure sets out the approval process and the consultation timetable, it also sets out the terms for redundancy and the pay protection policy, the pay protection policy is set out at Appendix I(F).

Any payments paid to an employee in relation to redundancy shall be in accordance with the statutory redundancy payments scheme and any other regulations applicable except that the Council will calculate a week’s pay on actual earnings where this is in excess of the statutory maximum figure.  (Local Govt. (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000).

The policy of the organisation regarding re-employment following redundancy is that if a redundant employee commences local government employment within one month of the redundancy then the redundancy payment must be returned. Any other re-employment will only be considered where all other council rules on recruitment or procurement have been followed.

3.5 Special severance payments

In exceptional circumstances the council may make a payment to an individual under a formal agreement.

Where this is the case the following authorisation process will apply to all staff: <

• payments of £100,000 and above must be approved by a vote of full council, as set out in the Localism Act 2011
• payments of £20,000 and above, but below £100,000, must be personally approved and signed off by the Head of Paid Service, in consultation with the Leader and that of any others who have signed off the payment
• payments below £20,000 must be approved according to the local authority’s scheme of delegation.

Where the proposed payment is to the Head of Paid Service, to avoid a conflict of  interest it is expected that the payment should be approved by a panel including at least two independent persons.

3.6 Other payments

Honoraria

The council has a policy to recognise situations where an employee takes on more responsibility on a temporary basis; this helps to provide continuity of service delivery and development opportunities. In 2022/23 there were twenty four people in receipt of Honoraria during the year and by the end of March this had reduced to twelve staff.

Cash and non-cash awards

As part of the Total Rewards package the council has mechanisms for recognising exceptional contributions both from individuals and teams. In 2022/23 these were received by thirty two employees.

Stand-by payments

A review of standby duties and payments was carried out in May 2020. This resulted in amending the Standby Allowance Policy to ensure that those employees who are required to take part in standby rotas and respond to call out duties are treated consistently across the Council and remunerated fairly for the duties. The standby payments are paid to a small number of employees (forty five in 2022/23) who are on an out of hours on-call rota for specialist duties such as emergency planning, collecting stray dogs or attending noise complaints. The level of remuneration is up to £146.81 for each week of being on-call.

Car allowances

In 2010 the council removed the facility for lease cars but retained a lease car allowance. However, in 2021 a further review on car allowances was carried out which resulted in removing lease car payments from all staff that were receiving this allowance.

The review also included staff receiving a car allowance that are required to have a vehicle in order to deliver the duties of their role.  In 2021/22 there were 114 members of staff in receipt of a car allowance and by March 2023 this has reduced to 48 staff. The majority of those staff in receipt of this payment are within the statutory services which require external visits e.g. planning, environmental health and housing. Mileage rates for those receiving this allowance are at 40 pence per mile.

Bonuses

The council does not have a bonus system for any grade of staff.

3.7 Special fees and arrangements

Special fees may be paid for certain additional duties. In general these are connected to election duties and the funding for the allowance will not come from the council’s own budget. An additional fee is paid for the role of Returning Officer for the District elections, this statutory role may be allocated to the Chief Executive or other officer within the council. Additional fees may be paid when an employee undertakes the role of Returning Officer, Counting Officer or other similar role, on behalf of another authority or organisation.

The council has adopted the Kent schedule of fees which is attached at Appendix I(G).

3.8 Other employee benefits

The council provides access to an Employee Assistance Programme which gives both telephone and face-to-face counselling on a range of issues. The council has access to an Occupational Health Service which helps to ensure that employees are properly supported to avoid taking sick leave and to return to work as soon as possible.

The council supports employees in their role with a development plan and training opportunities to ensure they are fully qualified to give excellent service.

On an annual basis the council has an Awards Ceremony which recognises the best achievements during the preceding year. The council also recognises long service and during 2014 this scheme was changed to recognise service over a longer period with shopping vouchers – the first level of recognition is at ten years and every five years thereafter up to forty years.

Salary sacrifice schemes – the council offers a salary sacrifice scheme to employees for the purchase of bicycles. In December 2018, the Council also introduced salary sacrifice scheme for the purchase of cars. There is no cost to the Council of these schemes.

Buying annual leave – subject to agreement with their manager, employees are allowed to sacrifice some of their salary to buy more annual leave. In 2022/23 there were twenty three members of staff that used this benefit, eight more than the previous year.

4. Monitoring

Salary budgets are monitored through the normal budget management processes by line managers. Members and senior officers regularly consider the Medium Term Financial Strategy and in particular to consider ways to reduce costs to the council.

As required by the Equality Act 2010 the council undertakes an equal pay audit of salaries which is published on the council’s website. This helps to identify whether there are significant differences in any employees that have the protected characteristics.

From April 2017 under the Equality Act 2010 employers with more than 250 employees have been required to publish statutory gender pay gap calculations on an annual basis.  The data must be a snapshot of salary data on 31 March 2022 and must be published on our own website and a government website by 30 March 2023.

The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency 2011 required that salary data was published on the highest earning staff within the council; this was actioned by March 2011 as required by the code. There has now been further qualification of the salary threshold for publication which has been set at £50,000 and above. This information is at Appendix 1(H).

The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency September 2011 (updated 2015) also requires that there is a process established to monitor the rate of growth of senior earnings compared to all other employees in the organisation. The formula required is to calculate the pay multiple of the Chief Executive compared to the median earnings of all other employees and where there is any significant change year on year this should be explained. It is the council’s policy to use this pay multiple to monitor the relationship between remuneration of chief officers and other employees.

The recommendation in the ‘Hutton Review of Fair Pay’ 2011 has been followed:

‘the pay multiple should be calculated on the basis of all taxable earnings for the given year, including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits in kind’

The calculation for earnings changed in 2016 from previous years following the guidance from the Local Government Association (LGA). In previous years the calculations have included earnings subject to national insurance contributions but this has been amended to include just the taxable earnings; the main difference between them is the pension contribution made by the employee.  

Taxable Pay

The main difference in the Chief Executives pay relates to receiving a payment for her role as the Returning Officer at the Local elections during 2022/23. In addition, there has been progression of one incremental point on the salary scales which has slightly increased the median pay.

It is important to emphasise that the pay policy of the council is to pay at the market median and this is only reached at the top of the incremental pay points for each grade. This ensures that people are paid at a lower level than the council policy until they have fully matured into the role and, although these are contractual payments, they are withheld if performance is not satisfactory at the expected level.

5. Trade Union Facility time

The Council recognises three trade unions, UNISON; UNITE and the GMB. However, there are only representatives for UNISON.

The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 came into force on 1^st April 2017 which requires public sector employers to publish specified information relating to facility time provided by trade union officials.  Under the regulations, the relevant information will need to be published on an annual basis for the period 1^st April to 31^st March.

The council has a history of co-operative employee relations and with a range of fair employment policies there is a low level of trade union activity. None of the trade union representatives spend more than 50% of their working time on trade union duties; the council allows reasonable time for trade union duties (attending management meetings, pay negotiation, etc.) but no time is given for trade union activities (canvassing for additional membership etc.).

The total number of employees who are trade union representatives is:

Percentage of time spent by union officials on facility time is:

Note: only 6% of facility time is spent by union officials

Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time:

There has been no time spent on paid trade union activities.

6 Contact

If you require any further information regarding the salary policy of the council you should contact Bal Sandher, Head of HR Shared Services on 01622 602165.

Appendices

Appendix I(A) - Maidstone salary scales with hourly rates 2022/2023

Appendix I(B) - Pay progression

Annual inflation award

Annual pay consultation will consider the cost of living, the position of MBC pay in comparison to the market but affordability will be the foremost consideration. Consultation will commence annually in September with the aim to reach agreement within the budget cycle so that payment can be made in April salaries.

The Chief Executive and Head of HR are responsible for undertaking pay negotiation with trades unions.  but Full Council takes ultimate responsibility for agreeing the budget.

Pay progression within grade

The pay scale has up to four standard increments which recognise that with development in a role over time an employee is of more value to the organisation and therefore warrants a higher salary. New appointments to post will normally be at the first point of the grade unless there is evidence of a skill shortage in line with the criteria set out in the Market Supplement Policy.

Progress through the grade will be assessed annually. This will not be an automatic progression but will require an assessment against the agreed Competency Profile and Performance Standards for the position. Where the employee has progressed towards the full competency profile they will be awarded an increment. Assessment for incremental progression will take place by October each year. This will therefore not be linked to the annual appraisal but will take place mid-year. Increased increments will be paid with effect from 1st October.

Employees must have six months service in their role by the 1st October to be eligible for assessment, if they are more recently appointed they will receive a review after six months in the position, thereafter they will be reviewed annually for the October increment.

Individuals will need to consistently demonstrate the behaviours required by the Competency Profile and Performance Standards for their role in order to maintain their incremental position. One off performance will not be sufficient to merit or maintain an increment.

Where individuals do not sustain the level of performance or where they have been assimilated to the top of the grade but are assessed as not having the full range of competencies they will be given time to improve but their pay will be frozen until they drop to the pay level that matches their performance, this includes any rise in annual pay as a result of pay inflation. This is outside the normal Pay Protection policy as it does not represent an organisational change. Where the individual is assessed as not meeting the requirements of the grade their performance will be treated as a capability issue.

Career grades and incremental progression

A Career Grade offers the opportunity of a long path of progression to a particular professional position. As such the nature of the role and the requisite competencies are likely to vary considerably between the entry point and final destination. This means that through Job Evaluation the Career Grade is likely to span several grades and have many steps. To enable this clear stepped progression there may be some need to have interim points between the normal incremental points e.g. in recognition of the achievement of some particular milestone. These half incremental steps will be allowed providing that there is prior agreement with the Head of HR and that they are applied equally to all those who meet the criteria and are set out as part of the agreed career grade structure. Progress through the career grade will need to be evidence based and the Head of HR will need to agree to the progression if it is between grades.

Appendix I(C) Chief Executive and Director appraisal process

The appraisal panel for the Chief Executive will consist of a sub-committee of the Employment Committee.

This committee will also take a ‘grandparent’ role to review and comment on the full annual appraisal and objectives for the Directors as set by the Chief Executive.

An indicative timetable and process for the Chief Executive and Directors is set out below:

Chief Executive
Department: Chief Executive
Contact details: 01622 602019
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 18
Salary bracket: £130,000-£134,999
Salary ceiling: £133,871

Director of Strategy, Insight & Governance
Department: Strategy, Insight & Governance
Contact details: 01622 602620
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 15
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £92,395

Director of Finance, Resources & Business Improvement
Department: Finance, Resources & Business Improvement
Contact details: 01622 602297
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 16
Salary bracket: £105,000-£109,999
Salary ceiling: £107,637

Director of Regeneration & Place
Department: Regeneration & Place
Contact details: 01622 602364
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 16
Salary bracket: £105,000-£109,999
Salary ceiling: £107,637

Mid Kent Services Director
Department: Mid Kent Services
Contact details: 01622 602168
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 16
Salary bracket: £95,000-£99,999
Salary ceiling: £107,637
Department: Finance

Head of Finance
Contact details: 01622 602048
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Property & Leisure
Department: Property & Leisure
Contact details: 01622 602120
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £75,000-£79,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Environmental Services & Public Realm
Department: Environmental Services & Public Realm
Contact details: 01622 602400
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Housing & Regulatory Services
Department: Housing & Regulatory Services
Contact details: 01622 602207
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Development Management
Department: Development Management
Contact details: 01622 602214
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of New Business & Development
Department: New Business & Development
Contact details: 01622 602170
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £80,000-£84,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Spatial Planning & Economic Development
Department: Spatial Planning & Economic Development
Contact details: Position vacant
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: Position vacant
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Mid Kent Audit
Department: Mid Kent Audit
Contact details: 01622 602057
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £75,000-£79,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Mid Kent HR
Department: Mid Kent HR
Contact details: 01622 602165
Contract: Permanent
Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £75,000-£79,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Mid Kent ICT
Department: Mid Kent ICT
Contact details: 01622 602284
Contract: Permanent Grade: MBC 14
Salary bracket: £70,000-£74,999
Salary ceiling: £82,092

Head of Mid Kent Legal Partnership
Department: Mid Kent Legal Partnership
Contact details: 01622 602124
Contract: with Swale Borough Council

Interim Head of Mid Kent Revenues & Benefits
Department: Mid Kent Revenues & Benefits
Contact details: 01795417306
Contract: with Swale Borough Council