To be absolutely gutted at getting the lowest payrise in the organisation?

[MassageGun]

I am the only person, out of 130 staff to be getting less than 5%.

I have a senior support staff role on a school, the most senior. It's a tough job juggling conflicting priorities and basically any problem that isn't directly related to teaching and learning lands on my desk. I do a good job and always get excellent reviews. Pay is comparable to an upper scale teacher without allowances.

This year teachers are getting a minimum of 5% with some of the lower paid getting more. Good.

Support staff points are all getting the same amount in pounds. For some staff this is up to 10%, also good for the lowest paid, but doing it that way means that people higher up the scale get a lower %.

I'm happy that ridiculously low paid staff will be getting a decent rise for a change, but to be getting significantly less than anyone else in the organisation, including some paid a lot more than me is really hard to take.

It's no one at the school's fault (LA school tied to national payscales) but to say I'm feeling unvauled and unmotivated would be putting it mildly.

AIBU and how do I get over it?

If you think you can do better, maybe polish up your CV
Or, as you say, get over it. Do something about it or get over it. Don't let it eat you up.

It is crap. Its starting to feel like it's not worth taking on extra responsibility when a less responsible job is isn't far behind in terms of financial renumeration.

I have been applying for other jobs, but after a lifetime of pretty much being successful every time I applied, I'm finding it harder now, which I'm putting down to being in my 50s 😥

Applications I know are strong aren't even getting interviews.

The op is doing better if she has the most senior post. She's just not being rewarded for it.

Keep applying for a new job then

Local authority pay award will be the same and like you I am disappointed. The further up the scale you progress it seems like 'they' value your contribution less.
I fully understand that lower paid workers need to earn more in order to afford the cost of living but I do wonder at what point will it be pointless paying out for degrees, training etc because you won't get that money back. The whole workplace will then suffer because it's not worth anyone progressing

If no one else will pay you what you want, why should the taxpayer do so?

That said, I'm sure you'll get into your stride with the interviews and get the pay you want.

Applying for a different job is not the point is it

Of OP doesn't feel appreciated I don't see why it's not the point. They'll only learn to treat people better when they can't hire anyone.

You're the 'most senior support in the organisation' - head's PA? I'm assuming you're not business manager because you'd say you were senior leadership. And data managers don't tend to get upset or say they have to do all the work.

You'd be surprised just how much work doesn't get to you because people on far, far less deal with it.

You were already getting more than anybody else if you were most senior/important, I'd remind myself I had a far higher starting point than the rest, really. Or get a job in the private sector.

Guessing this is the local government pay award of £1,925?

It makes sense OP, to give everyone a % the same as they did in the past costs a lot for the higher grades which limits how high the % can be, and means the lower people who did the big increase in order to afford to live don’t get enough. Do varying %s and it brings the grades closer together so you don’t get much of an increase from a promotion.

Not to mention, the lower grade roles have low retention due to the pay, that would only get worse without the increase. Retaining the lower grade staff most likely makes yours, and everyone else’s at the schools job easier.

If you are talking about the £1925 uplift then you have to be on around £40k or over to get under 5%
I am in same position but am very pleased for everyone on lower pay scales who are getting more
We are still waiting though as it hasn’t been formally agreed yet

No, I am the business manager, part of SLT with the responsibility that goes with it, but on the support staff pay scale, albeit towards the top.

It has, it was agreed yesterday.

I absolutely understand and support lower paid staff getting more, but so are my SLT colleagues who all earn more than I do.

Did you vote to reject the pay offer?

Presumably they are teachers though, and so are on teachers terms and conditions not NJC?

Unfortunately sometimes that is the way of the world. If you want a bigger proportional increase then take a lower paid job

I think this is one of those situations where - as you’ve already recognised- it is a bit of a shitty luck-of-the-draw thing, not a ‘We don’t value MassageGun thing’.

There are sound economic reasons behind why you’re getting less than support staff colleagues on lower existing wages.

You’re really annoyed you’re not getting the same % as the teaching staff colleagues on SLT.

But I think the only solution to that would be to become a teacher - and I assume that’s not the career you wanted or you’d have pursued it?

You say the school you work in values you - your colleagues are good? Concentrate on that. Comparison is the thief of joy.

Agree with this

Then become a lesser paid member of staff? And get the salary increase? Presumably they've done it because the disparity between the bottom rung and the top of the scale is too much?

Or get a job in the private sector
And this is happening but then people outside of the public sector complain that they aren't getting the service they are used to.
Losing experienced staff at the top impacts right across the service especially when the pay is too low to attract new staff

Speaking as a local authority worker, local authority workers deserve what they are getting. Not because I think the pay is good - I don't. But because for well over a decade both UNISON and the GMB have overwhelmingly voted to reject industrial action of any kind to support their services, pay and conditions. If you are going to act like a doormat, then you will be treated as one. And they have just done the same thing again, knowing for a fact that other workers have had enough and are fighting for pay and conditions and also knowing fully about the cost of living and energy prices.

It isn't "they" who don't value you - it's "you" who don't value yourselves.

And if anyone wants to know my union voted overwhelmingly for strike action on local authority pay but regrettably it's a case of two out of three unions accepting being binding nationally.

If you’ve got £1925 then I’d say that’s really good in any case. I’m in the private sector and would get nowhere near that or anywhere near 5% either

I won't get the full amount, it will be pro rata because I don't get paid for all the holidays.

I know, for a change schools, are getting a proper payrise. That's a reflection on how hard it to retain staff, except me, apparently.

I get why you're a bit fed up op, that's the issue with set value pay awards rather than percentage awards. If you're on a higher rate, they represent a smaller overall percentage of your salary, and that can feel a bit demoralising.

I had a similar thing in my previous role, and to be honest that was one of the catalysts to me leaving that role and moving on. They gave everyone who's performance was considered acceptable the same pay award amount. This was everyone from people who had completed probation that month to people like me who had been there over 18 months without a pay review. I didn't feel the award reflected the work I'd done or my performance over the period, which I was assured was excellent, they agreed I had regularly gone above and beyond. They were not moving on that set amount though and there was no performance bonus or incentive, so ultimately I moved on instead to a role which offered a higher salary and better pay structure for me.