Public sector pay strategy 2023 to 2024: technical guide

11. Pay Strategy Quick Reference

Pay Metrics and Limits

• Full cost of pay award must be shown to be affordable with budget settlements.
• Floor metric of 2%. Based on the assumed 2% overall increase in paybill included in the Resource Spending Review for 2023-24 to 2026-27.
• Central metric of 3.5%. The Pay Strategy recommends that the average paybill increase will be 3.5%.
• Ceiling metric of 5%. Where business efficiencies and/or savings have been identified, paybill increases can exceed the central metric of 3.5% but are restricted to an overall maximum of 5%.
• Chief Executives basic pay uplift is capped at the same cash amount as the lowest paid employees.

Low pay measures

• Sets guaranteed wage floor of the real Living Wage of £10.90 per hour.
• Pay awards must be progressive, protecting the lowest paid and continuing to reduce income inequality.
• Suggested cash underpin of £1,500 for those earning a full-time equivalent salary of £25,000 or less.

Addressing inequalities

• Provides the flexibility for employers to use paybill savings to address evidenced equality or pay coherence issues.

Other Elements

• Retains the position on progression as a matter for discussion between employers and their staff and/or representatives (limited to a maximum of 1.5% for Chief Executives).
• Strongly encourages employers to standardise to a 35-hour working week.
• Requirement for employers to have Right to Disconnect policies agreed with staff representatives.
• Continues the commitment to No Compulsory Redundancy. Proposals to change the NCR through the application of the Severance Policy for Scotland (extend, pause or reverse), will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Maintains the suspension of non-consolidated payments (bonuses).
• Continues the expectation to deliver a 10% reduction in the remuneration package for all new Chief Executive appointments.