Holiday Pay Ruling

[Tile man]

I disagree - I don't think too many would be willing to countenance an overnight 13% rise to their costs (and probably much more when other employer contributions are taken into account) which could not be uniliaterally enforced by universitys and Local government organisations, and which would not be binding on two thirds of their competiters to begin with.

[Dirty Natural]

<center>Interesting to see that York Archaeological Trust's staff are still suffering from Stockhom Syndrome ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome ).

I don't think I have ever worked anywhere where staff moaned so much about pay, conditions and staff politics and yet never left.</center>

[1man1desk]

From Real Job

quote:At present the IFA rates seem to 'set' the wage for nearly all companies (RAOs and non-RAOs). Why don't non-RAOs undercut that rate at present? Why would they be more likely to if the rate was set higher?

In some cases, the non-RAOs concerned are local authority units who are necessarily bound by local authority pay rates.

I am led to believe by previous posts on this thread that some non-RAOs do undercut the IFA rates.

I could not be certain why some non-RAOs that are also non-local authority units pay at or above the IFA rates, but there are a number of possible factors in these decisions:

1. the managers concerned may be IFA members as individuals, and want to apply IFA standards;
2. irrespective of IFA status, the managers concerned may have their own ethical standards and do not want to pay poverty wages;
3. the managers concerned are influenced by a perception of what is the 'going rate';
4. they may feel that they could not attract or retain sufficient numbers or quality of staff if they undercut the IFA rates.

They may feel that they can afford to pay these rates because they will not be at too large a competitive disadvantage - which might not apply if the rates go up too fast.

Don't get me wrong - I am not arguing that pay in archaeology is ok now, and I would be keen to see it increase. What I am saying is that unilateral action by the IFA to raise the minima too quickly may be ineffective, or even counter-productive. What is needed is incremental action, undertaken through a consensus of industry leaders, and addressing not only the actual rates but the factors that make low pay sustainable (from a manager's point of view). These factors include (inter alia):

• the link to local authority pay scales;
• grading within those scales;
• the oversupply of archaeology graduates.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[Outheloop]

on a not so similar vein..............

does anyone know of any archaeological companies that 'reward' (in the form of a pay increase) members of their field staff for prefering to work out on site long-term rather than career progress up the indoor ladder (which would have come with an increase in pay of its own). I don't just mean getting promotion to supervisor etc.. in the field, rather a pay-related-longevity-bonus type of thing!

Anyone know of any cases?

[Toby]

forum

/form/

• noun (pl. forums) 1 a meeting or medium for an exchange of views. 2 chiefly N. Amer. a court or tribunal. 3 (pl. fora) (in ancient Roman cities) a public square or marketplace used for judicial and other business.

[Reggie]

If there are/were people moaning at a unit at least it means the staff are at least acknowledging problems and vocalising, which is at least at starting point. Vocalising the same moans up the management chain would be the next move, as Toby quite rightly suggests.

Last place I worked, however, there was hardly a moan to be heard anywhere. Not that all was rosy - far from it - but it seemed that all the longer serving staff had completely resigned themselves to things being 'that way' and had buried their heads firmly in the sand as far as pursuing any chance of change was concerned. I noticed a few things in post-ex and general office admin that could be done differently or more efficiently but when I put my ideas to my supervisors I hit a brick wall. It seemed that having new ideas was seen as a 'bad thing' as it would be perceived by management to be a criticism of the way they ran their company. That would not go down well at all and was likely to lead to bad moods and stropiness which everyone wanted to avoid. In that climate I seriously doubted that anything I could do or say would make a difference.

[Tile man]

Hi Squiperi,
I have in the past worked alongside 'senior excavators' and 'senior supervisors' - people who have remained in the field ( prefering not to go into 'managment') but recognised for their experience by being paid more - It very much depends on organisation set up and individual negotiation.

[kevin wooldridge]

quote:Originally posted by Tile man

I disagree - I don't think too many would be willing to countenance an overnight 13% rise to their costs (and probably much more when other employer contributions are taken into account) which could not be uniliaterally enforced by universitys and Local government organisations, and which would not be binding on two thirds of their competiters to begin with.

It seems that university based units may have more flexibility with pay rates than has been previously suspected. Birmingham Archaeology (the university based contracting unit) are currently advertising pay rates on BAJR that are 4.8% higher than the wage they were paying archaeologists last year.

Excepting a 5% across the board rise by ASC Ltd of Milton Keynes, this is by far the largest increase in advertised basic wage rates to come through this year (so far!!). Both companies are paying well in advance of the recommended IFA minima increase. Maybe there is something in the Midlands water!!

[mercenary]

Interesting that a 5% yearly rise is seen as exceptional. I have recieved that rate or very close to it for the last three years at my non RAO company. I believe all my colleagues have too.

[kevin wooldridge]

quote:Originally posted by mercenary

Interesting that a 5% yearly rise is seen as exceptional. I have recieved that rate or very close to it for the last three years at my non RAO company. I believe all my colleagues have too.

...but why so reticent to name your exceptional employer?