Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

National living wageLiving wageLatest NewsPay & benefitsMinimum wage

Key workers thousands worse off this Christmas

by Jo Faragher 23 Dec 2021
by Jo Faragher 23 Dec 2021 Local government care workers are among the worst off this Christmas
Shutterstock
Local government care workers are among the worst off this Christmas
Shutterstock

Thousands of key workers will earn less on Christmas Day than they did a decade ago, according to analysis from the TUC.

Its research found that nurses’ real wages are down more than £2,700 per year; local government care workers earn £1,600 less a year; and chefs £1,050 less a year.

Police sergeants and constables have had the biggest reduction, with inflation-adjusted pay £5,595 a year lower than a decade ago, or a reduction of 12%.

The TUC compared pay data between 2010 and 2021, adjusting amounts for inflation using the consumer prices index (CPI) measure. NHS and local authority wage differences were estimated using current pay offers.

The union body wants the government to raise the national minimum wage to £10 an hour “immediately” and ensure that all outsourced public sector workers are paid at least the real living wage, a rate recommended by the Living Wage Foundation based on living costs.

It said that many key workers had spent months on the frontline during the pandemic and would be at “breaking point” due to low pay, excessive workloads and lack of recognition.

General secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Many of the key workers who are bracing themselves for another surge of Covid cases are earning less in real terms than they were a decade ago. That is not right.

“While many of us are tucking into the turkey, thousands of key workers will be hard at work on the frontline, many of them dealing with staff shortages as a result of the Omicron variant. But their pay awards are falling way short of what they should be, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.

“The pandemic must be a turning point. 2022 should be the year that the government finally gets wages rising across the UK. They can start by giving our public service workers a proper pay rise, and by raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour.”

Earlier this month, the TUC urged the government to raise statutory sick pay for workers hit by the pandemic such as hospitality, retail and the arts, as almost 650,000 do not qualify as they don’t meet the lower earnings limit of £120 a week.

The government announced earlier this week it would reintroduce the statutory sick pay rebate scheme for companies with fewer than 250 employees.

Jo Faragher
Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
BrewDog to expand HR in response to work culture allegations
next post
Employment law in 2022: Eight action points for HR

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Sharp rise in firms offering enhanced parental leave...

11 Aug 2022

Top earners’ pay soars by 10% while lowest-paid...

8 Aug 2022

Office could be sanctuary for workers fearing winter...

4 Aug 2022

Inflation forecast to hit 13% in autumn says...

4 Aug 2022

Shell to pay workers a one-off 8% bonus

4 Aug 2022

BT strike: company ‘has stuck two fingers up...

29 Jul 2022

Police ‘let down’ by ministers with insufficient pay...

28 Jul 2022

UK employees increasingly seek temp work for extra...

28 Jul 2022

Average UK households £8,800 poorer than French and...

21 Jul 2022

Women over 50 hesitant to progress due to...

19 Jul 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+