Pay claims lodged with Capita for all O2 & Tesco Mobile contract staff
Capita November 21 2019Identical pay demands have been lodged on behalf of members in both the Capita O2 and the Tesco Mobile Capita partnerships – with the union seeking ‘a significant, consolidated increase in base rate pay for all CWU represented grades employees’ from January 1.
The claims – which cover both members on Capita contracts and their longer-serving TUPE counterparts – are for a 5 per cent increase in the base pay bill, allowing for flexibility in negotiations as to how it will be divided between the two groups.
CWU assistant secretary Brendan O’Brien explains the challenge is to narrow the difference between the pay levels of the increasing percentage of team members employed on Capita contracts and those of the higher paid TUPE population, while still securing a decent cost of living increase for the latter.
Pay talks are complicated this year by the fact that Capita CEO Jon Lewis has announced that the company will pay a minimum of the Real Living Wage across its UK operations from April 1 next year.
At the time of that announcement, the Real Living Wage – which is the amount the Living Wage Commission believes is the bare minimum required to cover the real cost of living – stood at £9 for those living and working outside London. Last week, however, that hourly rate was increased to £9.30, which any organisations accredited as Living Wage employers are obliged to pay by April 1, 2020.
At present Capita pays a minimum of the legal minimum wage – which is £8.21 per hour for over-25s and £7.70 for people aged 21 to 24 – though, in practice, the lowest hourly rates in both the CWU-represented Capita O2 and Tesco Mobile partnerships stand at £8.83.
Submitting this year’s pay claim to management at both Partnerships. Brendan said: “The CWU recognises the pledge from Capita to pay the Real Living Wage, but does not believe this goes far enough for those on low pay.”
Formal talks with Tesco Mobile Capita Partnership management will commence on Monday December 2, while the date of the first Capita O2 Partnership pay meeting is expected to be finalised shortly. In advance of the both meetings the CWU is seeking a detailed breakdown of current pay rates to establish the precise impact of Capita’s adoption of the Real Living Wage.
Brendan concludes: “I’m not expecting either set of pay talks to be easy or simple, but it’s essential that the huge contribution our members make in keeping both Partnerships successful is recognised in this year’s pay round – regardless of whether those members are on Capita contracts or part of the TUPE population.