Council pays electrician £124,000 in a year thanks to bonuses bonanza

Published 10th Jan 2010

A council electrician has earned £124,000 in a year, netting far more than a minister of state or headteacher at a large school.

The man claimed more than £90,000 in overtime, backdated pay and 'stand-by' allowances to reach the staggering total while in contrast a minister of state such as Olympics minister Tessa Jowell earns a relatively meagre £106,136.

The towering pay check was revealed in documents released by the UK’s biggest council - Birmingham - which also reported that 58 other workers, including binmen, gardeners and gravediggers, were paid bonuses of up to £20,000 each.

But the revelations have caused ructions within the council, with female cleaners, care workers and lollipop ladies now claiming they should have been included in the authority's very generous bonus scheme.

They feel so strongly about it they are seeking up to £100,000 in compensation each at an industrial tribunal.

Documents submitted for the hearing lifted the lid on pay in 2006 to 2007.

Among the other employees to cash in was the driver of a dustcart who was paid £50,917, including £24,000 in bonuses.

Binmen were paid up to £46,000 and a staff member who repaired traffic lights received £81,940. A road painter netted £57,591.

Public sector workers can earn seven per cent more on average than their counterparts in the private sector but can quadruple their pay under such bonuses schemes.

Staff can boost income using over 100 different types of additional payments, including attendance allowances and a special allowance if they undertake messy work, known as 'dirt money'.

Stefan Cross, a lawyer fighting the council in court over its pay policies, said: 'These are mind-boggling sums. Refuse workers in Birmingham are getting paid more than many solicitors and social workers.'

Birmingham City Council, which employs 60,000 people, first faced public scrutiny over large bonuses three years ago when the wage slips of staff in its highways department were leaked.

The female complainants taking the council to tribunal number 3,000 and maintain they were paid less than their male counterparts doing jobs at a similar level.

A female grade-two manual worker earned around £11,700 a year as a kitchen assistant or lollipop lady, but a binman was able to boost his almost identical basic salary with more than £30,000 in bonus payments.

A 40-year-old care worker said: 'We now know they got paid extra for turning up to work and extra for tidying up, while we were being paid a pittance. It’s just terrible.'

Birmingham City Council began removing pay inequality in 2007 but male-dominated departments were still subject to large bonus arrangements a year later.

About 30 per cent of councils in England and Wales face similar claims but council chiefs in Birmingham say the bonus structure was phased out last year and insist legal action is not in taxpayers' interests.

Alan Rudge, the council’s cabinet member for equalities and human resources, described the huge payouts as 'historic'.

Source: ' Mail on Sunday '

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