HR
directors in the NHS are being paid well below the levels of their counterparts
in the private sector, research has revealed.
The
survey of directors of HR in the NHS, carried out by Pay Workforce Research, reveals
that the average salary of the 119 respondents was £52,000. This is 9 per cent
less than average HR directors’ salaries in a recent CIPD survey and nearly 19
per cent less than those in the 1999-2000 REL management survey.
The
PWR survey shows that female NHS HR directors are paid on average 7 per cent
less than their male equivalents, but this is an improvement on the findings of
the CIPD survey, which highlighted a gender pay gap of 17 per cent.
John
Adsett, secretary of the Association of Healthcare Human Resource Managers, was
not surprised by the findings.
He
said, “As far as I am aware, HR salaries are still counted in the NHS as being
part of management costs.
“There
is a drive to reduce management costs and the message we are receiving, whether
it is the message intended, is that there is a huge HR agenda, but HR has got
to take its share of management cost reduction.
“For
the first time, I have seen some trusts advertising for HR directors offering
salaries beginning with a six, but they are the result of trust mergers.”
The
PWR survey also reveals that HR directors in the NHS work an average of between
10 and 12 hours a day and 60 per cent of those taking part were unable to take
all their annual leave.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Nearly
all HR directors responding to the PWR survey note that the move towards shared
services across local health economies, implementing the NHS plan and the
National HR Strategy, are the main issues they feel will affect their roles in
the NHS in the short and long term.
By
Ben Willmott
