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Hundreds of Dundee council staff left waiting months for bonus annual leave payment

Workers have accused the local authority of prioritising payments for teachers.

Nursery workers are among those affected. Image: Shutterstock
Nursery workers are among those affected. Image: Shutterstock

Hundreds of Dundee council workers have been left waiting at least two months for a bonus agreed during a pay deal last year.

Term-time workers, including some school and nursery staff, are due payment for an extra day’s annual leave.

The payment was agreed by union officials during negotiations for the 2022/23 year.

But the money did not arrive at the end of the financial year as planned – and was also not included in April’s pay.

Workers have now been told it will be at least May before the payment hits their bank accounts.

Claims teacher pay ‘prioritised’ by council

Union reps – who estimate up to 1,000 workers are impacted – say they have been told the delay is down to the payroll department having to “prioritise” its workload after a pay deal for teachers was reached late in the year.

But one affected worker told The Courier: “Why are teachers being prioritised over other workers?

“We agreed our deal months ago, before the teachers did, yet we are being told we have to wait.

“It is only one day’s pay so it’s not like we’re having to wait for a fortune but that money is owed to us and we should have had it by now.”

Unison official Jim McFarlane.

Jim McFarlane, Unison branch secretary, said: “For our members who work term-time it’s an adjusted calculation.

“We were originally told it would be March and then April, but it wasn’t processed in time.

“We are unhappy at the delay and that our members have had to wait. We understand it’s a capacity issue – the payroll staff have had a lot of demand put on them.

“But this is a deal we agreed months ago that they are still waiting for and the council have prioritised implementing the teacher pay deal.”

Council ‘hopes payment will be made in May’

A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances we have not been able to make this payment as quickly as we would have liked.

“However, we hope it will be received in May.”

It comes as some council staff have already rejected a pay offer for the year ahead.

Unison members have rejected a new pay offer. Image: PA

Workers across Scotland were offered a 5% rise from this month, with a further rise in January 2024, from council umbrella body Cosla.

But Unison says 87% of members, including cleaners and refuse workers, voted rejected the offer – with nine out of 10 backing action including strikes.

Cosla insists the offer is “strong” and compares well to other sectors.

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