Around 600 NHS staff could be forced to take out loans to make ends meet if their employer switches from weekly to monthly pay, says UNISON today (Thursday).
Low-paid cleaners, porters, caterers and others at NHS Forth Valley, already struggling to make ends meet, could face increased financial hardship if their private contractor employer Serco implements the change, the union says.
The shift to monthly pay will force staff to stretch a week’s wages across a month, increasing the risk of debt and missed bills, UNISON says.
UNISON warns that if workers are forced to take out loans, they’ll spend months re-paying them.
For low-paid staff, weekly pay is often essential to budget for food, rent, and bills, says the union. A move to monthly pay cycles could also disrupt benefits, run up rent arrears, bank overdraft costs and cause mental distress, UNISON adds.
UNISON Forth Valley NHS branch secretary Karren Morrison said: ‘Staff don’t want to be forced into debt to adjust to a change they didn’t ask for.
“It’s not just a small administrative change for these families. The proposal is causing serious anxiety because it will disrupt family budgets.
“Serco bosses have no idea what it’s like to budget for a family on a low wage, living pay cheque to pay cheque. Workers are unlikely to have savings to fall back on.
“The employer makes a considerable profit from the NHS. It has a responsibility to avoid leaving families in hardship. The move must be paused until a fair solution is agreed.”
Notes to editors:
Last week UNISON surveyed staff employed by Serco about the impact on their finances of a shift from weekly to monthly wages. Key findings were that more than eight out of ten (86% ) don’t feel well informed about the proposed changes, more than two thirds (67%) say moving to monthly pay would cause major financial difficulty; and only one in 20 (5%) believe an interest-free loan would help them manage the transition.
In addition, more than eight out of ten (83%) say they’re willing to take part in collective action if Serco imposes this change unfairly.Worker quotes from the survey:
“Serco could not have picked a worse time. Shifting me to monthly pay would literally break me.”
“I live week to week. If they do this, I don’t know how I’ll survive.”
“This change is going to push me back into debt after years of hard work to get out of it.”
“As a working mum with three young children, one week’s wage will absolutely not cover my bills until my next payment if it changed to monthly. That would leave me no option other than taking out a loan, which I’ll struggle to pay back.”
“My wife and I would never be able to catch up, as the loan would need to be done every month, which makes no sense.”
“This is going to cause lots of problems, direct debits all through the month, it’s so much better to keep on top of my finances with weekly pay.”
– UNISON Scotland represents more than 150,000 members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, care, police services, water, and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.