Setting appropriate pay and conditions for employees can be amongst the most exacting decisions voluntary management committees must make. SCVO is unable to give specific advice on salaries as this is dependent on so many variables, such as the size and structure of the organisation, the level of responsibility of the employee, the income of the organisation and the local job market. We recommend that looking at current recruitment adverts to see what other organisations are paying for similar sounding posts and get hold of their application packs to compare job descriptions and person specifications.  Voluntary sector posts are regularly advertised in the Scotsman, Herald, Guardian, The Big Issue and SCVO’s weekly newspaper, Third Force News. Job opportunities also appear online at Good Moves and the People channel of Work With Us (see links below).

Rather than devise their own system, many organisations link their pay and other conditions to those set out in other employer’s agreements. The scales most commonly used in the Scottish voluntary sector are found in the SJC terms and conditions for Scottish Local Authorities and current levels are noted below.

There is currently no requirement on employers to review wage levels regularly. However, all workers of 16 years of age and above (with very few exceptions) must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.  From 1st October 2009 the adult rate, for those of 22 years and above, is £5.80 (from £5.73) per hour.  For workers aged 18-21 inclusive, the 'development' rate rises to £4.83 (from £4.77) per hour.  Young workers aged between 16-17 are entitled to a minimum wage of £3.57 (from £3.53).  For details on this and any exceptions see the website of the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulator Reform (BERR). There is a National Minimum Wage helpline as well: 0845 6000 678.

Basic pay is the amount the employer is contracted to pay. This can be given as an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual sum. The rate and means of pay must be stated in the document that outlines the terms and conditions of employment. Once the contract of employment or an offer letter has been accepted the employer becomes legally bound to pay the basic pay. In addition pay can include a number of other elements e.g. allowance for unsocial hours, standby, overtime etc.

All employees should be given an itemised pay statement before each pay date. As well as stating gross pay, it should include itemised deductions and net pay.

Employers may only make deductions from pay where they are authorised to do so by legislation or by the contract of employment, or where the employee has agreed in writing in advance to the deduction. Examples of deductions that are authorised by legislation include income tax and National Insurance, with the employer having a duty to deduct these and keep records relating to them (see link to ‘Employment Related Taxes’ below). The pay statement may also include other elements, e.g. employers' contributions to a pension scheme, which must be regarded as a salaries cost to the employer.

Payment of employees is a complex legal and financial operation and many organisations use a ‘payroll service’. This involves an outside organisation (e.g. SCVO) being contracted to perform all the functions associated with payroll, including paying the employees. There is a charge for this but many organisations find it extremely useful.

SJC Salary Scales

This information about salary scales is provided by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and is adopted by many voluntary organisations. SCVO provides this information as a service to its membership but is not responsible for deciding the salary scales. These salary scales incorporate a 3% increase from 1st April 2008 and a 2.5 % increase from 1st April 2009. They are based on a 37 (thirty seven) hour week.

Notes on use of the scales:

The minimum entry point on the spine for new employees is spinal column point 3. There is no minimum point for 21 year old employees. Point 3 is the minimum for 18 year olds. For 16 and 17 year olds, locally determined rates will apply.

Assimilation Notes: spinal column points 3-34 are divided into pre-determined bands and given appropriate titles, such as General Grade 3 or Administrative and Professional Grade 2. No such guidance is given by COSLA for points 35-73, the Principal Officer grades. At these levels, each employing authority determines its own salary structure. Some use simple blocks of four points without overlap e.g. 35-38 (PO1), 39-42 (PO2), etc. Others overlap the four point bands and may, for example, only span 35-40 to generate the scales PO1-PO2. Irrespective of which spinal column points are allocated to a named scale, the assimilation is always from spinal point to spinal point. SCVO members applying SJC salaries should follow the same principle.

Please note that pay figures with effect from 1 April 2008 and 1 April 2009 have been rounded to the nearest £3 - as taken from the Unison Scotland website.

The SJC salary increase to be applied from 1st April 2010 has not yet been agreed.

Negotiations between Cosla and the Unions are ongoing, unfortunately we don't know how long these may take. We will update the information below as soon as we hear that an agreement has been reached. You may like to check the Unison Scotland website for updates.