Almost all of Scotland’s colleges say they have introduced, or are making progress towards, national measures aimed at paying staff a fair wage.
But the sector still appears to have further to go to ensure that the benefits of these changes - such as the introduction of the real living wage - are spread across its entire workforce.
This is the finding of a Tes Scotland analysis, as well as being a theme in FE minister Shirley-Anne Somerville’s annual letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council last week.
Her letter stressed the importance of ensuring fairness and equality on pay. Somerville, who is also the HE and science minister, suggested that colleges had more work to do on the government’s real living wage initiative, which she called “an important part of the Scottish government fair work agenda”. The real living wage, currently £8.75 per hour in Scotland, is based on the cost of living.
Colleges are also being encouraged to gain living wage accreditation, which celebrates employers that choose to pay more than the government minimum.
Somerville’s letter stated: “I would ask the SFC to encourage further progress to be made across the college (and university) sector.”
Paying the living wage, and securing living wage accreditation, she said, “not only treats people more fairly, it benefits the economy and sends a positive signal about the organisation into the wider community”.
She stressed that national pay bargaining remained a priority, and said the SFC “should encourage senior figures within the college sector to demonstrate restraint in their own pay settlements”.
Traditionally, wages at Scottish colleges have varied significantly, owing to institutional level bargaining for pay and conditions. Tes Scotland has reported on the disparities in salaries at all levels, which the reintroduction of national bargaining set out to address.
Unsurprisingly, Somerville’s message is welcomed by the EIS teaching union. General secretary Larry Flanagan says: “The EIS agrees with the minister that all colleges should be seeking accreditation as living-wage employers, and we further agree that restraint should be demonstrated with regard to senior managers’ salary levels.”
Not only has the college sector seen a significant increase in management posts at a time when lecturer numbers have fallen, he adds, but “many of these posts carry significant remuneration packages which are difficult to justify in a public sector provision”.
Whether or not these remuneration packages are justified, they certainly contrast sharply with those awarded to staff at the other end of the pay scale.
A Tes Scotland survey shows that more than half of Scottish colleges (15 out of 27) already hold living wage accreditation, and almost all of the remaining institutions say they are going through the accreditation process. But challenges remain. For example, some colleges are struggling to ensure that a living wage is paid to staff not directly employed by them, such as those who work in catering.
A number of institutions have outsourced such services to reduce costs, but these staff are still accounted for in the living wage accreditation process.
While Argyll College UHI pays all its staff the living wage as a minimum, it has not, as yet, applied for accreditation because it uses “a number of small, local contractors, including sole traders, who may not be in a position to offer the [living wage]”.
And apprentices may not be benefiting from the real living wage. A spokesperson for City of Glasgow College, which is currently working towards accreditation, says: “All our current staff are paid the living wage as a minimum, regardless of their age.
“The only exceptions to that are three modern apprenticeships, who are also paid well above the minimum required rate.”
North East Scotland College, Inverness College UHI, Dumfries and Galloway College, and Ayrshire College have also applied for accreditation.
Shetland College UHI and Orkney College UHI are both affiliated to local authorities, but say that they pay the living wage.
Some colleges that have attained accredited status say they have taken the step for business as well as ethical reasons. For example, Stewart McKillop, principal of South Lanarkshire College, believes his college was the first to obtain accredited status: “We wanted to make sure that all our staff, but particularly those who are paid the least, get a wage that they can live on,” he says. “We want to pay all our staff the best that we can, because we think that this makes good business sense.”
And a spokeswoman for Edinburgh College says: “As a college of further and higher education, our aim is to give people a platform to improve their lives; receiving the living wage can make a huge difference in enabling people to do this.”
A spokesperson for Colleges Scotland points out that 15 colleges are now “living wage employers”, compared with just five in January last year. And all colleges are paying all directly employed staff the living wage rate, the spokesperson says, adding: “We are continuing to encourage and support all colleges to gain living wage accreditation”.
