1. Benchmarking Pay and Conditions 2018 Longitudinal analysis
Professor Ian Cunningham, Dr Alina Baluch, Doug Young and Professor Philip James
Department of Human Resource Management

2. Quantitative & Qualitative Findings 2015 - 2018
What do the four studies tell us?

3. Persistent insecurity for organisations and employees
Tables: Lost and Gained public sector contracts (%)
Report Year
Lost
Gained
2014 – 15 57 67
2015 – 16 39 71
2016 – 17 59 69 62 65

4. Persistent insecurity for organisations and employees
Table: Redundancies and losing public sector contracts
% of organisations making redundancies
% of those losing public sector contracts making redundancies
Year 1 64 71
Year 2 48 50
Year 3 77 76
Year 4 59 81

5. Increasing % of providers using zero hours contracts
Table: What kind of contract do you offer front-line care staff? (% of respondents using ZHCs)
Year 1
53%
Year 2
64%
Year 3
76%
Year 4
83%

6. Fragmentation of the working day:
% of staff on split shift arrangements
Table: Percentage workers split shift working
Year 1
11%
Year 2
11.5%
Year 3
4.9%
Year 4
19.9%

7. Reliance on agency support workers remains high
Table: % of respondents using agency support workers
Year 1
78%
Year 2
71%
Year 3
77%
Year 4
84%

8. Qualitative data: Working time
Importance of flexibility to providing services: if ZHCs, or relief abolished providers will be unable to deliver services.
Increasing turn to split shift systems and implications for employee satisfaction and recruitment
Result of customer choice and cuts
Significant restructuring of working time appears to be underway, with implications for worker security and retention.

9. Training budgets Table: Training and development Year
Average training budgets across benchmarking organisations
% of organisations admitting budgets didn’t meet all their training costs
Year 1
£123,594 76
Year 2
£158,980.40 66
Year 3
£125,434 64
Year 4
£231,707.70 54

10. Qualitative data: Training
Training resources not enough to cover demands on the sector and its workforce
SSSC registration viewed with some concern because of organisational difficulties
Suggestion of more punitive measures to ensure workers take responsibility
Ending of casual registers because of SSSC requirements?

11. The Scottish Living Wage
Table: Voluntary organisations and Living Wage numbers of organisations below the existing SLW rate
Scottish Living Wage
% of organisations below current SLW for front-line care staff
£7.85
50%
£8.25
£8.45
30%

12. The Scottish Living Wage
Table: Voluntary organisations and the Living Wage – numbers of organisations below the ‘new’ SLW rate
Scottish Living Wage
% of organisations below new SLW for front-line care staff
£7.85
81%
£8.25
70%
£8.45
63%
£8.75
62%

13. The Scottish Living Wage

14. Qualitative Data: Scottish Living Wage
Overall, welcoming of move to secure decent wage for front-line
Continuing inability of some providers to keep up with SLW
Dissatisfaction from ‘good payers’
Variable engagement and payment from local authorities
Differential issue is on-going and has implications throughout front- line grades
Implications for sleepovers continue to be shrouded in uncertainty
SLW will become the ‘rate for care’
What about the broader fair work agenda?

15. Measures of organizational/HR health

16. Negative turnover normally more significant than positive
Table: Employee Turnover (%)
Year 1
17.84
Year 2
18.7
Year 3
20.3
Year 4
19.3

17. Exit interviews
Table: 1st most common reasons for leaving
Year 1
New Job, Career change, Pay and conditions, Redundancy, Study, Personal
Year 2
New job, Personal, Career progression, Pay and conditions, Retirement, Voluntary redundancy, Lack of job security, Dormant relief worker
Year 3
New job, Resignation, Career progression,
Pay and conditions, Personal Reasons, Career Change, Working Hours/Patterns, Education
Year 4
New job, Career progression, Pay and conditions, Personal Reasons,
Career Change, Working Hours/Patterns, Resignation
Continued lack of career opportunities, dissatisfaction with pay and conditions, and with working hours/patterns

18. Qualitative data: Employee turnover
Inexperienced staff find the job too challenging
Bad relationships with line manager could also be an issue
Organisational restructuring and insufficient working hours
More attractive options in care work
‘Burnout’ from too many hours, or the emotional strain of the work
Inexperienced staff – find the job too challenging
Working time – intensification of demands for greater flexibility
Lack of career development

19. Overwhelming majority report growing recruitment needs
Table: % of respondents reporting recruitment needs higher than the previous year
Year 1
67%
Year 2
63%
Year 3
52%
Year 4
69%

20. Continual difficulties in recruiting front-line staff
Posts most difficult to fill remain consistent: front-line services, followed by supervisory roles and managers

21. Qualitative data: Recruitment
Despite pay increases, persistent challenges around recruiting
‘Leaky bucket’ of recruitment… recruiting to ‘stand still’… ‘perpetually recruiting’
Attractiveness of care at home jobs?
Two sides of the same coin:
Personalisation- and flexibility of the workforce
Flattening of structures- and lack of career opportunities
Myth of deskilling- and reality of increasing qualifications
‘Short-termism’ of LA planning- and of workforce planning

22. Sickness and Absence Table: Average Days Lost Through Sickness Year 1
10.7
Year 2
9.9
Year 3
8.8
Year 4
10.4

23. Sickness and Absence Table: Major causes of absence Report Year
Report Year
Top 3 causes of absence
% EAC service
Average % of Staff using EAC service
Year 1
Mental health/stress
Colds and flu
Muscular Skeletal, gastric
100%
6.1%
Year 2
Mental health and stress
Muscular Skeletal
Colds & Flu, gastric
96%
Year 3
91%
7.3
Year 4
92%
4.4

24. Qualitative data: Sickness and Absence
Admission of care work as hard and physical; making adjustments for ill health is difficult
Mental health issues predominant as cause of absence, but not always work-related.
Interventions around mental health difficult to manage.
Complications such as parallel disciplinary procedures.
Need more work in this area of mental health and the workforce

25. Overall observations and discussion points
Comparing data from four years of Benchmarking Reports ( Report to Report):
Persistence of insecurity for organisations and workers
Ongoing long-term employee turnover problems
Recruitment problems
Persistent and unresolved absence problems
Unintended consequences of SLW policy
Increasing registration, training and skills demands with limited training budgets
Overall, improving job quality around skills and wages, but the market and government sending contradictory signals about fragmentation and increased casualization, e.g. split shifts and ZHCs.
OR: Reports draw on the data to data

26. Overall observations and discussion points
What resonates with your organisation’s experience?
What is missing that we have not addressed yet?
Beyond these challenges, where are potential opportunities?
What resonates with your experience? What is missing that we haven’t addressed yet?
Beyond the challenges, where are potential opportunities?