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Social workers and other care staff are losing out on pay increases because local authorities are stalling on a national job agreement drawn up four years ago by unions, writes Gideon Burrows.

Only five per cent of local authorities have implemented the single status agreement, which requires employers to evaluate jobs and re-grade pay accordingly.

Social care professionals are set to benefit from the agreement because most methods of job evaluation set a high value to work which involves front line contact, difficult working conditions, unsociable hours, specific skills and knowledge.

Approximately 20 out of 410 local authorities have implemented the scheme, with some 200 still in the process of doing so.

Lesley Skinner, head of local government services at the Employer’s Organisation, which represented local authorities in negotiations with unions on the agreement, said cost and the fear of upheaval might be contributing to slow progress. She added that local authorities were prioritising other initiatives like Best Value.

Vic Citarella, workforce consultant at the Local Government Association, claimed implementation was difficult because local authorities have insufficient resources for both pay rises and providing a good service.

"The outcome will be either more money and less service, or greater cost on the national purse; or it could lead to more outsourcing and potentially greater privatisation," he said.

Unison has threatened to bring equal pay claims against local authorities that do not begin the process soon. The single status agreement sought to tackle pay differences between jobs requiring comparable levels of skill or knowledge in local authorities. Jobs such as social care, though highly skilled, are low paid and are traditionally done by women. Local authorities could face pay outs of thousands of pounds if the current situation is challenged in court.

Unison’s head of local government, Malcom Wing, said when the agreement was drawn up there was a recognition that if it was not implemented quickly, local authorities would face equal pay claims.

"We’re saying to local government: either put money in now, or there’s an equal pay time bomb waiting to go off," he said.

But Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, said some members felt they would not get better conditions out of single status. He said councils are forced to cut other benefits to fund the process.

"If councils have to find other ways of making savings, then benefits will go like overtime," he said.

East Riding council in Yorkshire was one of the first local authorities to implement single status evaluation, finishing the process last summer.

According to Chris Jenkinson, unison’s regional officer for north-east Yorkshire, sixty five per cent of employees got pay increases, adding around £1m to the council’s wage bill. Those who received pay cuts had their salaries protected for two years. In north Lincolnshire unions are currently finalising a pay agreement with the council which will see 34 per cent of workers receive increases.

But implementation in north-east Lincolnshire was less successful. One hundred workers staged a one-day strike in June after job evaluation resulted in pay cuts of up to £6,000 for some, and no salary protection was offered. The council has been forced to withdraw the offer and restart negotiations with unions.