Union protest over East Riding £2.25m pay review scheme
- Published
Union officials said the review was undermining staff morale
Union members have held a protest over concerns about a lack of transparency over a council plan to review pay and conditions.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has appointed a private firm to evaluate the pay and roles of its 10,500 employees at a cost of £2.25m.
Union Unison said the review could have been done in-house for far less money.
The council said the review would ensure its organisational and pay structure were fit for purpose.
The review, approved by the council on 1 February, is expected to take up to two years.
Protesting outside County Hall, Beverley, regional organiser with Unison Sarah Keig said the job evaluation scheme chosen was "not fit for purpose".
"It was created in America in the 1950s and we feel it is very biased towards women," she said.
"It is a scheme that is predominately used for senior professional roles and not for roles in local government."
A spokesperson for the authority said the review was needed to ensure its pay structure was fit for purpose and to ensure it could offer career development opportunities.
They added: "We have investigated any concerns raised through the process regarding equal pay issues and found it to be a robust scheme which many other councils use."
East Riding of Yorkshire Council said producing the review in house would have cost a similar sum
Ms Keig said the council's decision to pay a private American-based company was unnecessary and costly.
"We know it can be done in house for a fraction of the cost."
She said there were two other schemes the council could have chosen which had been used by other local authorities.
The use of external consultants is not uncommon in both public and private sector organisations, including the BBC.
The council said it had chosen an external partner in order to minimise uncertainty for staff and had it done the work in house it would have resulted in a "similar cost".
It said the money paid was a fraction of its total wage bill of £328m.
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