Moving into Civil Service - Pay Question

[Horowitz89]

I have been offered a job an organisation which aligns to civil service pay structures. The role has a very wide pay band- 20k. My current salary is at the top end- I am coming from the private sector. I applied knowing the pay and with the expectation to start at the bottom.

However, some friends in the civil service have suggested there might be some room for negotiation as I'm coming in from external- not to match current salary but to come in not at absolute bottom, so have a smaller pay cut. Others say there's no chance.

I haven't heard from HR yet. The hiring manager said he'd put me in touch and said something along the lines of "if you want to chat about anything as you're going through that process please just let me know" which I thought was a reference to pay. I am the second choice for the role and, reading between the lines, I think the first choice pulled out due to salary negotiations. It's a G6 role, not super technical/ specialist but a little bit, and the experience I bring is valuable I think.

I am 95% sure I will take the role anyway. I am excited about it, I have young kids so the flexibility of public sector appeals, and I can see long-term career possibilities from making this move. My DP and I have planned for it. But obviously want as high a salary as possible.

Interested for any advice on how to approach this!

I mean it can’t hurt to ask but you’d have no chance in my area of the civil service. Don’t forget the pension is extremely generous though so that might help make up some of the short fall.

As previously poster said, no harm in asking! In my area there's also no chance of negotiating pay unless it's a vert technical / skilled role. The pension and flexibility were the 2 big draws for me.

It's worth a go. The recruiting manager has to fight for a salary upgrade and supply various bits of evidence. But I've known it succeed.

Either do it at before you join or accept that you will be at the bottom of the bracket. Sometimes you can never reach the top BC there are no annual increments, which they never tell you until you have joined!

I think it depends. I had to negotiate hard for a level transfer from another department and that was almost 20 years ago.

As a pp said you need to be aware you will move up the scale at a glacial pace due to the lack of increments beyond cost of living.

You can NEVER move up the salary scale - increments were abolished during austerity. So YES negotiate now as you'll never be in a position to do it again.

Ask - the last CS dept I worked in would negotiate salaries, but they would never tell you that unless you asked. None of the others I worked in would tho.

I did it, though this was a few years ago. Came in at very top of scale. But it was a specialist role and they just offered that money. Challenge was I was then stuck on that salary as it was the ceiling for my band.

Ask them. Don't ask, don't get! Worst they can say is no and it sounds like you really want the job anyway. Good luck!

You’re def better negotiating the best you can now. I mean what’s the worst they can say, no. The part I work in def pay more for folk externally or well they used to a few years ago, the pay rises have been better the last few years. I’ve even known people to leave for a year or two then come bk with a much improved salary.

Pay rises are so little. I have stayed on the same step band for 10yrs. In the part of civil service I’m in, no one ever moves unless u get a promotion. The best I’ve had is the last few yrs getting about 3% pay rise. There was many years of zero or 0.5-1%.

I came into a public sector role in the middle of a pay band. I think there is flexibility depending on the role.

in my situatuon i think they were aware i was a good candidate and they wanted to secure me with a decent offer. It worked! The CS pension is obviously a hige part of the remuneration package so i was very conscious of that as well.

I would ask the recruiter/HR, if theres room for movement. Theres no harm in asking, so you might as well?!

Yes you can negotiate when joining within the parameters of the pay range for that grade.

It does depend. In my (very large) department higher starting pay has to be approved before the vacancy goes live and then there are very stringent, pre-agreed parameters. If not it is bottom of the band. It doesn’t harm to ask if you could get higher starting pay, but if the answer is no that really means no.

I think sometimes people in the private sector dont understand that a low salary is what you trade for flexibility (sometimes) and a decent pension. At the end of the day though, a good pension based on poor pay is not great. I would ask about the salary and emphasise what you are already earning and what you will bring to the role. Obviously dont let on that you will take the job anyway

I’m a civil servant, you can negotiate if coming in externally, but it may depend on the department or organisation. Now is the time to do it though. On moving up pay scale, our department did reintroduce this recently so it’s no longer totally banned. If not you would get the usual pay increases agreed for civil service each year- tends to be around same as rate of inflation.

How does your package compare? It’s not just about pay. What about your pension? I have negotiated a slight pay increase for a new starter, but I had evidence in writing about her pay.

Thanks everyone this is really helpful.

I've had an initial chat with HR where I set out that I would expect a cut but suggested a figure in the middle. They were surprisingly breezy in their response and said I had to confirm in writing and share payslip info to prove current salary and the they'd go to hiring manager. No idea if it was just politeness on the phone or really a commitment. We'll see!

Thanks again.

We advertise at the bottom of the pay band and would only deviate from that to match a level transfer from another gov dept.

And as others have said you stay at this salary only going up by cost of inflation pay increases ie 1.5% a year. So a wide pay band is a bit misleading.

You say that it's a organisation that aligns with CS pay structures, but not actually the CS so they may be a bit more flexible.

I would say if they didn't knock you down straight away that's a pretty good sign. No guarantees and there will probably be some wrangling required to get it through wherever committees have to approve it, but I reckon you've got at least a 50-50 chance of success.

Until recently I was in a similar role and I did just as you have. They always start people at the bottom of the scale until it gets to higher grades and then you can have some flexibility but it depends on the departments budget and how much they want you.

I asked the question and I got more, no-where near the top but more than was on the table to begin with, you have nothing to lose .

Update: had a few more chats and they have offered the middle of the band which I have accepted. Very pleased and feeling good about the move! Thanks everyone for the advice.

I've just joined the CS. In the advert it had the starting salary between X and Y. I was offered the X but negotiated to start at next grade up.
HR I thought were a bit snippy initially saying I shouldn't forget I had retention rate on top and the essential car user rate but ultimately wasn't anything to do with them and my manager agreed it.

External candidates normally start at the bottom of the advertised pay band . It’s very rare to negotiate a starting salary in the Civil Service.