End of the road for devolution of pay decisions?

COLLECTIVE PAY BARGAINING

After a long period during which organisations have been devolving decisions on pay and breaking up their centralised bargaining arrangements, there are signs that the process is going into reverse, says Incomes Data Services.

According to new research published in IDS Pay Report, "pay convergence" is replacing "pay devolution" in three major sectors:

Electricity, gas and water industries -- the growing concentration of ownership of the utilities in the wake of privatisation is leading to the restoration of common pay and conditions arrangements within the major corporations.
Civil service -- a new "coherence agenda" is being developed to bring greater consistency to salary levels for similar jobs in government departments and agencies.
Network Rail -- a new single collective agreement is under negotiation and the longer-term aim is to establish one set of pay rates and conditions for thousands of rail maintenance workers formerly employed by firms such as AMEC, Jarvis, Amey, Balfour Beatty and other rail infrastructure companies.

A final word

"During the 1980s and 1990s the drive by government and major employers was to break up national negotiations and to let local managers follow their own agendas on pay. The results were not always the smooth running operation of the market that theorists intended. For all sorts of reasons including making transfers of staff easier, heading off equal pay claims and better administration, a growing band of employers are seeing virtues in moving back to greater centralisation of pay arrangements. The tide seems to be turning." -- Alastair Hatchett, head of IDS pay services.

Want to know more?

Title: "Convergence replaces devolution as key pay theme in 2005", IDS Report 924, March 2005, Incomes Data Services.

Availability: Call IDS customer services in London, tel: 020 7324 2599.

Incomes Data Services is an independent research organisation providing information and analysis on pay, conditions, pensions, employment law and personnel policy and practice in the UK and rest of Europe. For more information about IDS jump to www.incomesdata.co.uk

Posted 1 April 2005