Update: 2018/19 national pay negotiations
An update on this year’s pay negotiations is provided below.
Each year the University & Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) negotiates the national pay increase on behalf of the University, and all other participating universities. This negotiation is carried out through the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) which is made up of UCEA and the five Higher Education trade unions (EIS, GMB, UCU, UNISON and Unite). These pay negotiations determine the basic increase on the values of the 51 spine points on the national pay scale.
This year's pay negotiations concluded on 10 May with UCEA making a best and final offer of 2 per cent on spine points 16-51, with £425 on points 2-15 (worth up to 2.8 per cent).
This brings the hourly rate on the bottom spine point to £8.68 based on a 35 hour week, however the University has already committed though our Voluntary Living Wage accreditation to pay a minimum £8.75 per hour.
This offer has been made on behalf of all participating universities and takes into account the financial challenges and uncertainties facing the HE sector as a whole and the broader reward package, including pay progression for staff not yet at the top of their grade.
At Edinburgh, the increase to the spine points will be supplemented by an incremental progression increase (around 3 per cent) for 60 per cent of staff on Grades UE01 to UE09 bringing their total pay uplift to 5 per cent. The final offer also includes agreement to further joint work on casual employment and the gender pay gap.
This offer is now being considered by the five trade unions at meetings in the coming weeks ahead of consulting their members. It is expected the consultations will take place from late May to mid-June. It is not currently possible to say when the University will be able to implement an agreed pay award. However, we will keep you informed as soon as we receive updates from UCEA.
Please note that University staff eligible for incremental pay progression will have this implemented in Augusts payroll.